French strikes disrupt power supply and nuclear reactor maintenance

Maintenance at nine French nuclear reactors was disrupted due to the strike against the government’s planned pension reforms.

About 8.2 gigawatts of the country’s power supply at thermal, hydro and nuclear plants was also blocked, a spokesperson for the CGT union said.

This equated to around 16% of the country’s total power production, according to data from grid operator RTE.

However, imports from neighbouring countries totalled less than a gigawatt, suggesting supply was adequate to meet demand.

The reactors were all operated by EDF.

On Thursday, around 100 protesters blocked a road leading to terminal one of the Charles de Gaulle airport, and entered the terminal building on the 11th day of national strikes.

Thousands of people once again gathered in cities to demonstrate against President Emmanuel Macron’s controversial pension reforms, which would change France‘s retirement age from 62 to 64.

In Paris, protesters set fire to one of Mr Macron’s favourite restaurants, La Rotonde brasserie, while rat catchers threw dead rodents at city hall “to show the hard reality of their mission”, a leader of the CGT trade union said at the time.