France to restart building nuclear reactors

PARIS - French President Emmanuel Macron announced Tuesday evening that France will relaunch the construction of nuclear reactors to "guarantee France's energy independence."

In his address to the nation, Macron said "we will, for the first time in decades, relaunch the construction of nuclear reactors in our country and to continue to develop renewable energies," in response to soaring fuel prices and increasing gas and electricity bills that French people have faced in recent weeks.

He explained that this is to "guarantee France's energy independence, to guarantee our country's electricity supply and to achieve our objectives, in particular carbon neutrality by 2050."

Macron said that in order to pay a "reasonable" price for energy and not depend on foreign countries, the public should both continue to save energy and invest in carbon-free energy on French soil.

Facing soaring fuel prices, the French government announced last month a special inflation allowance of 100 euros (about $116) for people with a net monthly income less than 2,000 euros.

Also, gas prices will be frozen throughout 2022 to deal with the record spike in energy prices.