France to shut down its oldest nuclear complex by June

French Prime Minister Edouard Philippe has said that the Fessenheim nuclear reactor, on the border with Germany, will be shut down by the end of June. He said, reactor No 1 will be halted on Saturday and the entire complex will come to a halt on June 30. He called the decision the first phase of France's energy strategy set out in 2018 by President Emmanuel Macron.

The plan calls for a re-balancing of nuclear-produced energy and electricity derived from



renewable sources. French Prime Minister said, coal plants are to be closed by 2022 to reduce greenhouse gases.

Germany has long called for the plant, France's oldest, to be shut down. It is the first nuclear complex to be closed under Macron's plan.

France depends more on nuclear energy than any other country, getting about three-quarters of its electricity from the plants.