EDF under pressure to pull out of Constellation deal in U.S.

Électricité de France, the French nuclear power operator, may pull out of its  $4.5bn deal with Constellation Energy currently on the table. The partnership could green light the construction of the first of EDF's EPR reactors in the U.S. - at the Calvert Cliffs nuclear plant in Maryland and potentially others around the country. The French utility has agreed to buy 49.9 per cent of Constellation's nuclear assets and build four nuclear reactors with the US company. But French governmental pressure may redirect EDF's focus to European contracts. The incomding new head of EDF, Henry Proglio, told French parliamentarians that he was not convinced the company should make the U.S. deal with Constellation. EDF ousted a bid by U.S. billionaire, Warren Buffett under its outgoing chairman, Pierre Gadonneix.