The Flamanville 3 nuclear reactor in Normandy began supplying electricity to French households at 11:48 a.m. on December 21.
“A great moment for the country,” President Emmanuel Macron shared on social network X, calling it “one of the most powerful nuclear reactors in the world.”
“Reindustrialisation to produce low-carbon energy is the French ecological style,” Mr Macron stressed.
Flamanville 3 is a new generation European pressurized water reactor (EPR) and the fourth reactor to be completed in the world, according to AFP.
Luc Remont, CEO of the power company EDF, called the commissioning of the Flamanville 3 reactor a historic event.
"The last time a reactor started up in France was 25 years ago at Civaux 2," he said, referring to the Civaux power plant in southwestern France.
Flamanville 3 is France's most powerful reactor with a capacity of 1,600 MW. When completed, the facility will provide electricity to more than 2 million homes.
The Flamanville 3 nuclear reactor has been 12 years behind schedule after a series of technical problems caused the project's cost to skyrocket to about 13.2 billion euros ($13.76 billion), four times the initial estimate of 3.3 billion euros ($3.4 billion).
The start-up of the nuclear reactor began on September 3 but was interrupted on September 4 due to an outage. The reactor was restarted a few days later.
Electricity production at France's newest nuclear reactor is being ramped up as the reactor connects to the grid.
Nuclear power accounts for about three-fifths of France's energy production. France has one of the largest nuclear energy programs in the world.
Meanwhile, neighboring Germany has abandoned nuclear power from 2023 with the closure of its last three nuclear reactors.
President Macron has decided to boost nuclear power to strengthen France's energy sustainability by ordering six EPR reactors and placing options on eight more, a move that could cost tens of billions of euros.
