Sarkozy refuses to shut down ageing nuclear plant
File picture shows France's oldest Electricite de France (EDF) nuclear power station in Fessenheim near Colmar, Eastern France. File picture.
Image by: VINCENT KESSLER / REUTERS
Image by: VINCENT KESSLER / REUTERS
French President Nicolas Sarkozy is refusing to shut down an ageing nuclear plant that has become a symbol of growing resistance to nuclear energy in France.
Sarkozy said Thursday while visiting the plant in Fessenheim that it would be a huge mistake and a "scandal" to close it and lay off its workers.
He insisted there was no doubt about the plant's safety.
The plant, opened in 1978 in northeast France, is the country's oldest. France relies on nuclear energy more than any other nation, with about three-quarters of electricity coming from its nuclear reactors.
The future of nuclear energy, especially after the accident at Japan's Fukushima Dai-chi plant last year, has become an issue in the campaigning for France's presidential elections in April and May.
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