France authorizes Gravelines EPR2 site work, Netherlands and Egypt also advance nuclear projects

In August 2025, France, the Netherlands, and Egypt each logged concrete milestones on separate nuclear power projects. EDF received environmental authorization to begin site preparation for two EPR2 reactors at Gravelines. Across the border, state-owned NEO NL awarded design study contracts to EDF and Westinghouse for two new 1,000-MW plants. And in Egypt, the Nuclear Power Plants Authority reported completing dry shielding installation at El Dabaa unit 3, a Rosatom-built site set to become the country’s first nuclear power plant.

France grants EDF environmental authorization for two EPR2 reactors at Gravelines

On August 22, the French government published the authorization in its Official Journal, formally letting EDF begin site preparation at Gravelines. EDF marked the moment through a LinkedIn post — a low-key announcement for a decision that carries real weight for France’s nuclear future.

The two planned units will use Framatome’s EPR2 design, a Generation III+ pressurized water reactor — the company’s updated take on the original EPR, engineered to be simpler and cheaper to build. France has been betting on this design as the backbone of its next wave of nuclear capacity.

France’s environmental authorization for Gravelines is an early but meaningful step, with construction permits and further regulatory approvals still required.

Gravelines is already France’s largest nuclear site, running six 910-MWe Framatome CP1 pressurized water reactors. Adding two more units there builds on existing infrastructure rather than starting from scratch somewhere new.

Why France is expanding at Gravelines rather than building at a new site

Picking an established, licensed site like Gravelines makes practical sense. Regulatory frameworks are already in place, grid connections exist, and local communities have decades of experience living near a nuclear plant — all of which cuts both cost and complexity compared to breaking ground elsewhere.

France’s energy policy has also shifted firmly toward nuclear, with expanded capacity now central to its low-carbon electricity strategy. The EPR2 program is the vehicle for that push.

That said, the environmental authorization is just the beginning. Full construction permits and additional regulatory steps remain before any concrete gets poured. This milestone opens the door. It doesn’t build the reactor.

Netherlands awards design study contracts to EDF and Westinghouse for two new 1,000-MW plants

State-owned NEO NL — Nuclear Energy Organisation Netherlands — awarded parallel contracts to both EDF and Westinghouse to run front-end engineering design studies for two new nuclear plants. Running competing studies simultaneously gives the Dutch government a comparison point before committing to a single technology.

Each plant must have a capacity of at least 1,000 MW, and both will go up at a single location that hasn’t been chosen yet. The first phase covers general design work while the government evaluates potential sites; the second phase will zero in on whichever location gets selected.

During the studies, EDF and Westinghouse will assess how their respective Generation III+ designs line up with Dutch legislation, licensing requirements, technical standards, and the overall project schedule — with potential risks flagged early. The whole process is expected to take 12 to 18 months. NEO NL was created specifically to manage this new-build program. The Netherlands currently runs only one nuclear plant — Borssele — so this represents a significant expansion of the country’s nuclear ambitions.

Egypt completes dry shielding installation at El Dabaa unit 3 as construction continues

Egypt’s Nuclear Power Plants Authority confirmed that dry shielding installation at El Dabaa’s third unit is complete. It’s a construction milestone for a project with historic weight: El Dabaa is set to become Egypt’s first nuclear power plant.

The site will eventually host four VVER-1200 units, a third-generation Russian design supplied and largely financed by Rosatom. At full capacity, those four units will generate 4,800 MW — a substantial addition to Egypt’s electricity grid.

The dry shielding update came alongside other August news from the NPPA. Egypt’s Minister of Electricity Mahmoud Esmat traveled to Russia to meet Rosatom Director General Alexei Likhachev, where the two reviewed overall project progress and construction completion rates across El Dabaa’s various components. Esmat also held separate talks with Rosatom specialists focused on small modular reactors, suggesting Egypt is already thinking about what nuclear cooperation could look like beyond El Dabaa.

Broader context: a busy August for nuclear construction across Europe and Africa

These three milestones didn’t happen in a vacuum. Governments around the world are accelerating nuclear new-build programs, driven by decarbonization targets and energy security concerns. August 2025 offered a snapshot of that trend playing out simultaneously on two continents.

France’s Gravelines site had already made headlines earlier this summer for a different reason: a massive jellyfish swarm forced EDF to shut down three of the plant’s six reactors and reduce output at a fourth by 50 percent. The environmental authorization landed in the same season — a reminder that nuclear operations and nuclear planning often run in parallel, sometimes uncomfortably so.

El Dabaa, meanwhile, holds a distinction that goes beyond Egypt’s borders. Once operational, it’ll be the first nuclear power plant on African soil outside South Africa — a landmark for the continent’s energy landscape.

Key takeaways

France’s environmental authorization for Gravelines is an early but meaningful step, with construction permits and further regulatory approvals still required. The Netherlands is running a structured, competitive design study process that’ll take over a year before any final decisions get made. Egypt keeps making steady construction progress at El Dabaa, with all four VVER-1200 units under development and early conversations about SMR cooperation already underway. Across all three countries, the direction is the same: more nuclear, sooner, which is an angle the American Nuclear Society is also encouraging.

Kelly Lippke

Kelly is an experienced writer with 15 years of experience exploring the big stories that shape our world, from tech breakthroughs and space exploration to climate, energy, and the fascinating quirks of science. She has a talent for turning complex ideas into sharp, memorable insights that stay with readers long after they’ve finished reading.