The shutdown of reactor 2 started on Monday at 4:30 p.m. and ended around 11 p.m. Reactor No. 1 of the oldest nuclear power plant in France, commissioned in 1977, was shut down on February 22.

The Fessenheim nuclear power plant has been definitively shut down: its second reactor was disconnected from the national electricity grid Monday evening at 11 p.m., EDF announced. Reactor No. 1 of the oldest nuclear power plant in France, commissioned in 1977, was shut down on February 22.

15 years are planned to dismantle the two reactors

Located on the banks of the Rhine, near Germany and Switzerland, the oldest power station in France has delivered its last watts, period after years of turmoil, debate and postponement of its shutdown. The dismantling of the plant promises to take a long time: 15 years are planned to dismantle the two reactors, starting with the evacuation of the highly radioactive fuel scheduled to be completed in 2023. The actual dismantling, unprecedented in France on this scale, should start by 2025 and continue at least until 2040.