Nucleonics Week:

French President Nicolas Sarkozy announced last week his decision to launch construction of a second new EPR in France, saying power from a new French reactor would be "30% to 50%cheaper" than power from a new gas or coal-fired power plant.

Sarkozy said he based his decision on the steep rise in prices of oil and gas. "The time of cheap oil is over," he said.

"Nuclear is more than ever an industry of the future and an indispensable energy source.

Every EPR saves 2 million cubic meters of [natural] gas if it replaces a gas-fired plant and 11 million tons of CO2 [emissions] when it replaces a coal-fired plant," he said.

Sarkozy also said nuclear power gives France "a historic development opportunity" to export energy even though it has no domestic resources. He praised his predecessor from the 1960s, Charles de Gaulle, who Sarkozy said had "anticipated [the need for] nuclear power, that is, the end of oil and gas."

"Just imagine what it means for a country like Germany to have to abandon nuclear power on the altar of [the government] coalition with the Greens," Sarkozy said to the largely pronuclear audience.

In his speech, Sarkozy also defended his policy of proposing nuclear cooperation to developing countries, saying nuclear power "can be a weapon for peace" by aiding development.

Nuclear power supplies almost 80% of France's electricity today, generated by EDF's 58 standardized PWRs.

France's first EPR, rated at 1,650 MW, is under construction by EDF at Flamanville in Normandy and is expected to produce electricity in 2012.