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Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.

France is starting up its first newly built nuclear reactor in a quarter of a century, 12 years behind schedule and after multiple setbacks as the industry looks to a revival with plans for more new plants. 

EDF, the French state-owned operator of Europe’s biggest fleet of nuclear power stations, said late on Monday that the first chain reactions — or so-called divergence operations — at the Flamanville 3 reactor on France’s Normandy coast were due to get under way overnight.

If these are successful the reactor will eventually be connected to the grid before the end of the year, once it has reached 25 per cent of its total 1.65 gigawatt capacity — enough to power a large city. 

The reactor, France’s 57th and a prototype of models EDF wants to develop at home and overseas, had come to epitomise the reversals the nuclear industry was suffering globally in the wake of a downturn in orders over recent decades, which prompted skilled workers to leave the sector. 

Flamanville ended up costing more than four times its initial budget at €13.2bn, and took longer to finish than similar models EDF built in China and Finland that were also hit by delays. 

Components for the complex design had to be retooled, some after complaints from safety regulators. EDF was also criticised by the French government for how it struggled to co-ordinate the project that involved hundreds of suppliers. 

“It’s a historic step in this project,” Régis Clement, co-head of EDF’s nuclear production division, said of the launch. “Our teams are on the starting blocks.”

EDF, which has contracts to build new reactors in Britain and is tendering to export its design elsewhere, said it had learned valuable lessons from Flamanville 3 that will allow it to whittle down construction times in future. 

But it still faces a series of hurdles at home despite French President Emmanuel Macron launching a plan to build at least six new reactors.

The orders have yet to be formalised, and a political impasse in Paris may only delay the process further, after legislative elections this summer delivered a hung parliament. 

EDF, which is spending money filling thousands of new positions to prepare for the orders, needs to agree on a funding plan for the projects, which could cost over €52bn.

Hopes of reaching a deal by the end of the year are fading, several people close to the company said. An initial ambition to deliver the new reactors by 2037 seems optimistic as a result, they added.

Other challenges include improving design updates for the future reactors while training a range of staff from engineers to welders will take time. 

EDF also faces competition overseas from other players, such as South Korean rivals, amid a worldwide revival of nuclear technology.

Though valued for its low carbon emissions, nuclear power has faced an atmosphere of distrust after the Chernobyl accident of 1986 and the Fukushima meltdown in Japan following a tsunami in 2011.

This story is part of the My Unsung Hero series, from the Hidden Brain team. It features stories of people whose kindness left a lasting impression on someone else. 

In January 2021, Leahruth Jemilo and three friends decided to book a weekend getaway. Jemilo was having a tough week at work, and by the Friday before the trip, she didn’t know if she could go.

“My tank was completely empty,” Jemilo said. She called her friends to cancel.

“I was crying to them saying, ‘I’m so anxious. I’m just exhausted from the week. I just don’t think that I even have the energy to get in the car,’” she remembered.

“And they said, ‘Do it, just get in the car.’ So I listened to my girlfriends, got in the car and started driving.”

As she drove down the highway, Jemilo started to cry. She put on her sunglasses to hide her tears, and pulled up to a toll booth at the Chicago Skyway Toll Bridge. Then she noticed her toll collector.

“She had these really beautiful, very bright purple long braids in her hair, and was wearing these incredible, really long purple feather earrings,” Jemilo recalled.

The worker said hello, and asked Jemilo how she as doing.

“And I immediately burst into tears and I said, ‘I am actually not good. I am really not good.’”

Jemilo took off her sunglasses and tears streamed down her face. Then the toll collector said something to her that she won’t forget.

“She looked at me and her eyes were so kind. And she pointed her finger at me and she said, ‘Listen, I got you, girl. You’re going to be in my prayers. And everything is going to be OK,’” Jemilo said.

“My tears actually dried up when she said that. And I felt lighter in that moment.”

Jemilo thanked the woman, paid the toll and went on her way. Then she found herself crying again — this time with tears of happiness.

“Her simple act of kindness in response to what is typically a very simple question … was incredibly meaningful to me in that moment,” Jemilo said.

“It was amazing to me that she showed that kind of kindness to a stranger who just happened to be driving through her part of the tollbooth.”

My Unsung Hero is also a podcast — new episodes are released every Tuesday. To share the story of your unsung hero with the Hidden Brain team, record a voice memo on your phone and send it to myunsunghero@hiddenbrain.org.

Unlock the Editor’s Digest for free

Roula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.

Volkswagen is considering shutting factories in Germany after a savings programme launched last year has fallen short of several billions of euros — a decision that would be a first for the 87-year-old company.

Chief executive Oliver Blume on Monday said the European automotive industry was in a “very . . . serious situation”, adding that manufacturing in Germany was increasingly becoming less competitive.

“The economic environment became even tougher, and new competitors are entering the European market. In this environment, we as a company must now act decisively,” he said.

As a result, the company said, it planned to walk back on its promise not to cut jobs in Germany until 2029, in a move that would put it on a collision course with its powerful works council.

The company’s flagship brand last June announced it wanted to cut €10bn in costs by 2026. Although agreements with unions meant the company had to rely on offering early retirement for its workers and not replacing them, VW on Monday said this had been “insufficient to achieve the urgently needed structural adjustments for greater competitiveness in the short term”.

Daniela Cavallo, chair of VW’s works council — which under German rules represents workers’ interests on a supervisory board level — on Monday issued a note to employees, warning that management was considering shutting German plants, as VW’s flagship brand risked slipping into the red.

“As a result, the executive board is now questioning German plants, the VW in-house collective wage agreements and the job security programme running until the end of 2029,” said Cavallo, whose clash with former VW chief executive Herbert Diess contributed to his ousting in 2022.

VW said that the “extremely tense” financial situation that the company was in meant that “even plant closures at vehicle production and component sites can no longer be ruled out”, adding that it would begin negotiations with labour representatives.

Cavallo, however, indicated that the VW executive plans would face fierce resistance. “With me, there will be no VW plant closures!” she told employees.

The brewing battle over restructuring at Europe’s largest carmaker comes as it faces lower demand both in its home market and China, where it sells most of its cars.

Blume on Monday noted that the economic backdrop was getting tougher, partially because “new competitors are entering the European market”.

Several Chinese electric-vehicle makers such as BYD have made plans to enter Europe, while VW and other legacy brands race to develop cheaper EVs.