The giant French utility’s ambition to lead a global revival in nuclear energy is running into difficulties as a controversial new boss takes over

NEXT week Henri Proglio will become the boss of EDF Group, the state-controlled French firm which is the world’s biggest listed utility and operator of nuclear reactors. With its proud corporate culture, its devotion to long-term planning and its powerful unions (the Confederation Generale du Travail jointly runs the firm, in effect), EDF is sometimes described as a miniature version of France itself. Last year it began a vigorous campaign to build nuclear plants around the world. But to the dismay of advocates of a nuclear renaissance, the cost and complexity of embarking on several big projects at once is weighing on the firm, despite its size and government backing.

EDF has long exported its nuclear-energy expertise, but earned only advisory fees for its efforts. It helped build China’s nuclear fleet, for example, for a few million euros. Now, as growth at home slows, it wants to make bigger profits by building and operating nuclear plants of its own abroad. After all, it is one of very few utilities that can afford to build several reactors by itself, without sharing the risk with partners or governments. And in an industry which atrophied after accidents at Three Mile Island in America and Chernobyl in what is now Ukraine, it has relatively extensive recent experience of building and operating modern nuclear plants. …