France mulls extending nuclear reactors' life span

* No official limit on life span of French reactors

* ASN to decide whether reactors to run further 10 years

* EDF aims to push the life span of its reactors to 60 years

* Greenpeace supports life span extension of best reactors

By Muriel Boselli

PARIS, July 6 (Reuters) - France will reveal on Tuesday whether or not it will allow its oldest nuclear power reactors to continue producing electricity for another 10 years, bringing their life span to 40 years.

There is no official limit setting the maximum life span of EDF's 34 nuclear reactors with a capacity of 900-megawatts, but the state-owned utility says they were originally designed to run for 40 years.

France's nuclear safety body (ASN) started in May a series of once-a-decade inspections on its 900-megawatt (MW) reactors, which will decide whether or not the reactors can continue operating for another 10 years.

The reactor 1 at Tricastin in southeastern France was the first reactor to undergo its third once-a-decade inspection but the outage was likely to be delayed by strikes and an incident which damaged the lid of the reactor's tank.

"The ASN will communicate (on Tuesday) the conditions for the reactors to continue operating," the body said, adding it would also say whether each reactor should continue to operate.

EDF, the world's largest nuclear producer with its 58 reactors, aims to push the life span of its reactors to 60 years, arguing similar reactors in the United Sates had been authorised to run for that length.

Greenpeace France, which opposes nuclear energy, said it was preferable to authorise France's nuclear reactors to run for another 10 years than to embark on a large scale renewal of French atomic reactors.

"With the emergence of renewable energies, which will soon compete with nuclear energy on costs, it is conceivable to prolong the life span of the best performing reactors to allow us to exit nuclear energy in a 20-30 year period," Pascal Husting, head of Greenpeace France, told Reuters by telephone.

Spain last week gave the go-ahead for its oldest nuclear power station to stay open for another four years in the Socialist government's first test of its electoral pledge to phase out nuclear energy. [ID:nL2578635]

For a TAKE-A-LOOK on France's nuclear industry seeking a global role please click on [ID:nNUKEFR1]

For a FACTBOX on French nuclear reactor please click on [ID:nLN493867] (Reporting by Muriel Boselli, Editing by Peter Blackburn)