French nuclear plant to be closed 'as soon as possible'

France’s environment minister said Sunday that the country’s oldest nuclear power plant at Fessenheim, on the border with Germany, would be closed “as soon as possible.” In an interview with Le Journal du Dimanche newspaper, Delphine Batho said that President Francois Hollande’s campaign promise to close the plant “will be kept.” The 35-year-old plant would be closed “as soon as possible, at the latest in 2017″ through a process of dialogue aimed at “guaranteeing the region’s energy supply and preserving jobs,” she said. Hollande, whose Socialist government is in coalition with the small Greens party, had promised to close the plant near the northeastern city of Mulhouse by 2017. Environmentalists are calling for the plant, which is located in an area of moderately prone to earthquakes, to be closed sooner. Their calls were amplified this week following a scare over a vapour release during maintenance work. The plant’s operator Electricite de France (EDF) initially said two workers were hurt in the incident but later said no-one had been injured, reported dpa.