The French newspaper "Le Figaro" reported that French President Emmanuel Macron is going to announce before Christmas the construction of six new nuclear reactors in the country running on pressurized water.
The newspaper pointed out that the sharp rise in natural gas prices in Europe and its impact on household energy spending six months before the French presidential elections had a significant impact on the decision to build new reactors.
But a French presidential spokesman declined to comment.
"Le Figaro" quoted an unnamed senior government official as saying that the energy crisis shows that we are right in choosing nuclear energy in our endeavor to switch to environmentally friendly sources of energy."
President Macron had pledged at the beginning of his presidency to reduce the reliance on nuclear reactors in energy production from 75% to 50% by 2035.
On the other hand, at the beginning of last week, French President Emmanuel Macron announced an investment plan worth 30 billion euros over 5 years to come.
He aimed at reviving the industrial sector, with the largest share allocated to nuclear energy.
Macron stressed that the strategy for 2030 must urge us to invest 30 billion euros to address the shortfall in growth" in these areas in France.
He told about two hundred employers and students at the Elysee Palace that France must prepare seriously for a more prosperous economic future.
He affirmed that France should return to a country of great innovation.
He warned that France is "15 to 20 years" behind some of its European neighbors.
He called for France's return to "a virtuous cycle based on innovation, production, and export, thus financing its social model and making it viable."
Macron noted that the COVID-19 pandemic, which killed more than 110 thousand people in France and constituted a blow to the health system and led to a reconsideration of the economic model, made us felt our weakness."
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