"EDF" Not to abandon EPR nuclear project

French energy supplier Electricite de France (EDF) said Monday it would not abandon the third-generation European Pressurized Reactor (EPR) nuclear project, denying reports that it intended to stop building more EPR reactors. "The teams are fully mobilized for the two sites in France and abroad. The EPR is an asset for the French industrial sector, forming a great opportunity for business and development," the state-owned company said in a statement on its website. According to earlier reports by local business daily La Tribune, the EDF group planned to stop building EPR reactors and turn the focus to other replacement but the project under construction in Flamanville city in northern France would be continued. Besides the EPR project in north France, the group said it is also in cooperation with Britain for other EPR plants. Another two reactors of this kind are under construction by the group and China Guangdong Nuclear Power Company (CGNPC) in Taishan, a city in southern China. The EPR is designed by France's state-controlled Areva SA and Germany's Siemens AG. Though claimed to be the safest nuclear technology to date, the first two EPR projects in France and Finland are both facing delays due to cost overrun. In July, the EDF announced it would delay the production of Flamanville EPR reactors to 2016, two years later than previously scheduled. Two serious accidents had hindered civil engineering work considerably for the first half of 2011. With 95 percent of its electricity generated by nuclear and water power, the EDF ranks as Europe's leading power producer and runs 58 reactors in France, the second largest in the world.