France plans to build as part of climate goals

France plans to build six new nuclear reactors and to extend the life of its existing nuclear plants to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions, French President Emmanuel Macron said Thursday.

Macron said the construction work would start around 2028 so the first new reactor can be launched by 2035. Macron announced what he described as "the renaissance of the French nuclear" in the eastern town of Belfort, the home of GE Energy's European headquarters.

France's nuclear safety authority agreed last year to extend the operational lifetime of the country's 32 oldest nuclear reactors by a decade to up to 50 years. Nuclear energy currently provides about 70% of French electricity, more than in any other country.

Macron also announced that a call for projects supported by 1 billion euros ($1.14 billion) in financing will be open to developers of so-called small modular reactors or SMRs.  The initiatives are aimed at "making France within 30 years the first big country in the world to move beyond dependency on fossil energies," he said.