The French government on Monday said it would give EDF a month to propose how it plans to tackle technology shortages and other problems. Ministers believe these problems have delayed nuclear power projects and damaged the reputation of the country's key industries.         

 The French electric power company's flamenville 3 nuclear power project in France is more than ten years later than the original plan, with billions of euros overspended, and the public utilities have also encountered setbacks in building plants overseas.           

According to the state audit of flamanville, this obstacle poses greater problems for the French nuclear industry as a whole at a critical time when the government needs to decide its future energy structure in the next few years.           

The report highlights framwell's planning flaws and lack of guidance in the early stages of the project, as well as poor coordination with suppliers, and points out that France has lost industry experts in the field.           

The nuclear sector must get back on track. It's a matter of energy sovereignty, "Bruno le Maire, the finance minister, introduced the report at a press conference, condemning EDF's flagship project for mishandling.           

Le Maire said framwell's delay was the failure of France's entire power and nuclear power sector. The project will take 15 years, not the six years originally planned. The cost is almost four times that of the original plan.           

Le Maire added that the skills gap was so severe that most of the welding work on the flamanville project had to be done by foreign subcontractors.           

EDF is 84% owned by the French government and aims to become a global leader in nuclear power. The framwell project, which began in 2006, will cost 1.5 billion euros ($1.7 billion) more than previously expected, EDF said in early October. Currently, the total cost is 12.4 billion euros.           

EDF must deal with some welding problems, and Asn requires it to carry out maintenance.            

The audit also highlighted that there was no clear project leader for flamanville from the beginning.           

While the company is partly affected by the changing regulatory context, the report says EDF's relationship with suppliers, particularly Areva, is strained.           

Since 2018, AREVA has been known as Framatome since 2018 and is controlled by EDF with a 75% stake, and has long been regarded as a competitor of EDF.           

Le Maire said that Jean Bernard levy, chief executive of EDF, will have a month to make his proposal. The minister reiterated his support for Jean Bernard levy, who has been head of the utility EDF since 2014, and said the government would review the implementation of the action plan by the end of 2020.           

"It's true that France's nuclear industry is in a difficult time," Levy said at the same press conference He added that EDF would "redouble its efforts".           

EDF has also had to raise its cost budget for its projects in the UK. EDF recently encountered another problem with poor welding on some of its reactor's steam generators, although ASN later ruled that they could continue to operate. (From CNNPN)