French parliament votes to cut nuclear energy reliance

PARIS - Agence France-Presse

This file picture dated October 13, 2009 shows the French state electicity utility EDF nuclear plant of Flamanville in northwestern France. AFP Photo

Lawmakers in France, the world's most nuclear-dependent country, on Oct. 10 voted to cut reliance on the energy source from more than 75 percent to 50 percent within a decade.
      
The vote comes as part of an ambitious makeover of France's energy use promised by President Francois Hollande during his 2012 election campaign.
      
The measure calls for renewables to increase in the energy mix for electricity production, rising from 23 percent in 2020 to 32 percent in 2030.
      
Use of fossil fuels should drop to around 30 percent.
      
The measure also sets a goal for a reduction of 40 percent in greenhouse gas emissions from the 1990 levels by 2030 and a 75 percent reduction in 2050.
      
It also targets a 20-percent reduction in energy consumation by 2030, in line with a draft project EU leaders are set to consider at an October 23-24 summit in Brussels.
      
France's conservative opposition sharply criticised Hollande's anti-nuclear stance as "ideological" and driven by a need to satisfy green parties which helped get him elected.