France enshrines decision to close oldest nuclear plant

Paris : The French government on Sunday published a decree for closing the country's oldest nuclearplant, fulfilling a campaign-trail pledge made by President Francois Hollande who is now in the final weeks of office.

The decree, gazetted in the Official Journal which publishes government decisions, sets down the conditions for closing a nuclear plant at Fessenheim, a plant in eastern France on the border with southwestern Germany.

Fessenheim will cease operations when a new reactor, currently being built at Flamanville on the Normandy coast, "enters service," the decree said. 

France's nuclear plant operator EDF last month said the Flamanville reactor -- a project that has run into deep problems -- will begin operations in 2019.

The closure of the twin-reactor plant at Fessenheim is part of a plan to slash France's dependence on atomic energy.

Hollande, who leaves office next month, vowed during campaigning in the 2012 election to close the facility as part of a promise to reduce the share of nuclear in the energy mix from 75 percent to 50 percent and boost the share of renewables.

Fessenheim, in operation since 1977, is located on a seismic fault line about 100 kilometres (60 miles) south of the French city of Strasbourg and about 25 kms southwest of the German city of Freiburg. 

Its closure has been a campaign target by French, German and Swiss environmentalists for years, as well as an enduring source of friction with Germany.