French government OKs EPR at Flamanville

[Dow Jones, 11 April] The French government published a decree giving the go-ahead for Electricite de France (EdF) to construct a 1650 MWe Evolutionary Pressurized  Water Reactor (EPR) at its Flamanville site in Normandy. The decree was published in the French Official Journal on 11 April. Construction work on the reactor is expected to start at the end of 2007 and the unit is scheduled to begin operating in 2012. EdF will invest some Eur3.3 billion ($4.4 billion) during the five-year construction phase. The reactor will be supplied by Areva, while Bouygues will provide the main civil engineering and Alstom will supply the turbine-generator.