France authorizes EDF to build EPR2 reactor pair at Gravelines

The French government has granted Électricité de France (EDF) the environmental authorization to begin the works needed to build a pair of EPR2 nuclear reactors next to the Gravelines nuclear site in the Nord department. The decision is set out in Décret n° 2026-807 of 20 August 2026, published in the Journal officiel de la République française n° 0195 of 22 August 2026 (NOR TECL2620471D).

The decree, issued by the Ministère de la transition écologique, de la biodiversité et des négociations internationales sur le climat et la nature, designates EDF (22-30 avenue de Wagram, 75008 Paris) as the beneficiary and operator of the authorization. It is issued under article 11 of loi n° 2023-491 of 22 June 2023, which allows the works to proceed from the date the environmental authorization is delivered, and under articles L. 181-1 and L. 181-2 of the code de l’environnement.

Scope of the authorization

The authorization covers the implantation works for the two EPR2 units on the territories of Gravelines and Loon Plage, with a remote car park on Craywick and Bourbourg. The works include relocating protected fauna and flora, site preparation, relocating the railway terminal of the Gravelines CNPE, creating a new public information centre, earthworks and an impermeable enclosure under the future plant block, soil reinforcement, and construction of the intake channel.

The decree also covers marine works, including:

• closing the darse (basin) and creating the mouth of the intake channel at the west outer harbour;
• creating discharge outfalls along the existing CNPE discharge channel;
• dredging and dumping about 60,000 m³ of sediments in the west outer harbour of Dunkerque, with dumping at an authorized site of the Grand Port Maritime de Dunkerque (GPMD).

Environmental and technical prescriptions

The authorization consolidates several regimes under the code de l’environnement, including the water law authorization, the classified installations (ICPE) regime, a derogation for protected species and habitats, and the absence of opposition under the Natura 2000 impact assessment regime. It sets detailed technical limits, including a maximum groundwater abstraction of 2,000,000 m³ per year, the diversion of 540 m of watercourse, and the destruction of about 9 ha of wetlands.

A derogation is granted for the capture and relocation of protected species, covering amphibians, reptiles and numerous birds, with compensation measures on sites including Coquelles and the “Sud Ouest Verenseaux” compensation area. The works must begin within five years of the signature of the decree, and the operator must notify the competent authority five days before starting.

Recourse and publication

The decree is subject to appeal before the Conseil d’État within two months, by the beneficiary from notification or by interested third parties from the display in the town halls or publication on the Nord prefecture website. A copy is deposited in the town halls of the host municipalities, and the annexes are published in the Bulletin officiel of the ecological transition ministries.

The authorization marks a decisive step in France’s nuclear revival programme, unlocking the construction phase of the first new reactor pair at Gravelines and confirming the role of the site in the country’s low-carbon electricity strategy.

Source: Journal officiel de la République française, n° 0195 of 22 August 2026, p. (official reference: Décret n° 2026-807, NOR TECL2620471D).