PARIS (Reuters) - French Energy Minister Segolene Royal said on Tuesday some of EDF's nuclear plants could live longer than the 40 years they were designed for and that the country should start planning for new ones to replace them.
"I didn't include a 40-year age limit in the energy transition bill like ecologists wanted. Some nuclear plants can live longer," she told L'Usine Nouvelle magazine in an interview.
Royal's energy transition bill is currently being reviewed by the Senate after the country's lower house of parliament passed a first version last year.
"We must now also programme the construction of a new generation of reactors, which will replace old plants when these cannot be renovated anymore," she added.
(Reporting by Michel Rose; editing by Sybille de La Hamaide)
