William Ramsay, Senior Fellow, Director of Energy Programme of the French Institute for International Relations, France

— Nuclear power plants around the world have had their service extended with excellent results

France ’s “Electricite de France” announced desire to extend exploitation period of its reactors up to 60 years. France’s nuclear safety authority hasn’t shown objections.

I view the French decision to extend the NPP exploitation period as a perfectly logical use of power generation assets that still have considerable economic value. Nuclear power plants around the world have had their service extended with excellent results. For me it was only a matter of time before France did this.

While there still remain challenges of effectively closing the back end of the fuel cycle, energy policy planners have long recognised that nuclear power is one of the most economically and practically available forms of low carbon electricity. It will be a necessary component of the mix of low carbon power generation needed to meet the challenge of green house gas emissions mitigation.

There is a general renewed interest in nuclear power around the world. What will be important is that every country adopting a nuclear power program have in place the necessary regulatory and oversight functions to assure the safe operation of nuclear power.