Hollande pulls plug on shale gas permits

DURING a government backed conference on the environment in Paris, François Hollande, has said seven permits for shale gas exploitation will be cancelled.

There is no detail on the exact permits being cancelled, the website of the Ministry of Ecology will hopefully provide more detail soon.

And at the same conference the president has said that the nuclear plant at Fessenheim, in Haut-Rhin, will close by 2016, stressing that no jobs will be lost.

The Fessenheim plant is the oldest operational power station in France and was the scene of an accident earlier this month when a vapour leak injured two staff members.