What The Decree Actually Authorizes
Decree 2026-807, published on 22 August 2026, authorizes EDF to prepare the Gravelines site in northern France for two new EPR2 nuclear reactors. The decree covers site preparation work only, and it does not authorize construction of the reactors themselves, a distinction Euronews' report on the text was careful to spell out.
A final investment decision on whether to actually build the two reactors is expected by the end of 2026, months after this site-prep authorization takes effect. Until that decision is made, EDF has permission to ready the ground, not permission to pour the first concrete for either unit.
Six Reactors Now, Two More Being Weighed
Gravelines already operates six 900 MW nuclear reactors, and the two EPR2 units now being prepared for would each add 1,600 MW of capacity, nearly double the output of any single reactor running at the site today. Added together, the two new units would bring roughly 3,200 MW of additional capacity to a plant that already generates about 5,400 MW.
| Reactor type | Units | Capacity each | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Existing Gravelines reactors | 6 | 900 MW | Operating |
| Planned EPR2 reactors | 2 | 1,600 MW | Site prep authorized only |
That gap between what already runs and what is only cleared for site prep is the whole story here: the capacity numbers describe an ambition, not a commitment.
The Second Site Staged The Same Way
Gravelines is the second EPR2 site to receive this staged treatment, after the Penly site was granted similar site-preparation authorization earlier. World Nuclear News covered the Gravelines decree under the headline "Second EPR site authorised for site preparations," a title that names the pattern directly: prepare the ground first, decide on construction later, at more than one site.
Neither site has a construction go-ahead yet. Both are working through the same two-step sequence, authorization for site prep now and a separate, later decision on whether to commit the money and the years required to actually build.
Why Staging The Decision Is The Real Story
France authorized site preparation at Gravelines, not construction of the reactors, and that gap is the detail worth tracking, not the decree itself. Site prep is comparatively low-cost and reversible; the construction decision waiting on the end-of-2026 final investment decision is not, since it would commit EDF and the French state to years of capital-intensive spending on two 1,600 MW units.
For European manufacturers and industrial operators watching France's nuclear buildout for future grid reliability and industrial power costs, the Gravelines and Penly pattern is now a repeatable template worth tracking rather than a done deal: two sites staged the same way, both still waiting on the same kind of decision.
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