The French government has approved the dismantling of the oldest nuclear power plant.

The French government announced on the 3rd that it has authorized the French electricity company to dismantle the country's oldest nuclear power plant, the Fessenheim nuclear power plant. Located in the Alsace region of eastern France, near the German border, the Fessenheim nuclear power plant began operations in 1977 and is the longest-serving nuclear power plant in France. The nuclear power plant will be closed in 2020 and the spent fuel will be removed in 2022. The French electricity company stated that the preliminary preparations for dismantling the nuclear power plant have been completed, and the next step will be carried out in four phases. The focus of the first year's work will be on removing the three steam generators and spent fuel storage at reactor 1. The French electricity company plans to build a smelting plant on the site of the nuclear power plant starting in 2027 to process the low-level radioactive metal waste left by the nuclear power plant. The total investment in this new plant is approximately 450 million euros, and it is expected to be operational by 2031, capable of processing up to 500,000 tons of metal. France is heavily dependent on nuclear power. In February of this year, France announced a plan to expand nuclear energy, intending to build 6 or 8 new nuclear reactors starting in 2038, and extend the lifespan of the existing 57 nuclear reactors to 50 or 60 years.