STOP EPR USA

The United States campaign to stop the licensing and construction of the French Evolutionary Power Reactor (EPR).

The Areva reactor, known in the U.S. as the Evolutionary Power Reactor (or EPR), is slated for six sites (seven units) in the U.S. Communities around these proposed sites have joined together to form the Stop EPR USA coalition (much like the national French Stop-EPR coalition.) The six U.S. sites are: Bell Bend (PA), Bruneau (ID), Callaway (MO), Calvert Cliffs (MD), Nine Mile Point (NY) and Victoria County, (TX - two units).

Latest News

New! Protest in Dieppe against second EPR

Protesters from Stop EPR-2, the campaign against the proposed second EPR reactor in France -slated for the Dieppe area - attended and then disrupted a September 18 meeting of the Dieppe City Council when it was poised to approve the EPR project. Informing the press in advance and providing plenty of strong visuals, EPR opponents told council members and the mayor that the public had been omitted from consultation. Handcuffing themselves to chairs and tables the opponents chanted "the city belongs to all its inhabitants!" Watch the video (in French) here. And check out here how the French really protest the EPR (warning: photo contains nudity.)

Trouble At' Mill

Areva and Electricte de France (EDF), responsible for the Finnish and French Areva EPR reactor construction sites respectively, have both run into further problems causing additional delays. Furthermore, their rivalry threatens to impede safety as the EDF-managed construction team in France races to complete the reactor there by 2012, the same deadline newly set by the Finnish construction project that is already three years behind schedule.

In France, EDF has encountered problems with the concrete foundation, casting of the steel liner, poor on-site quality control and manufacturing of forged components by its subcontractors. In Finland, Areva has encountered similar problems with the concrete, faults in the steel welding, nonconformity of essential parts and a fire at the site in late July. The French anti-nuclear network, Sortir du Nucleaire, has called for an end to these fiascos, demanding a permanent halt to both projects.

Further Information

Please join the U.S. Stop-EPR campaign today. Send us an email at info@beyondnuclear.org to sign up. And read our STOP EPR booklet for more information. For details on the French campaign, of which Beyond Nuclear is a member, go to the Stop-EPR campaign Web site. And read the Greenpeace International EPR Fact Sheet here. To keep up with unfolding developments in France, read our French Nuclear Medusa booklet or subscribe to the Beyond Nuclear weekly bulletin.

For more on the myths about the French nuclear industry, see our detailed Fact Sheet on Nuclear Power and France: Setting the Record Straight. Or download our brochure.

And see The Cogema File to better understand the culture of cover-ups and contamination that has marked the corporate nuclear history of France.