Paris  - French energy supplier EDF is to build France's second next-generation EPR nuclear reactor at Penly, on the English Channel, the online edition of the daily Le Figaro reported on Friday.

The announcement was made late Thursday by President Nicolas Sarkozy, who also said that another French utility, GDF Suez, would have a minority stake in the project and would likely be chosen to build a third EPR reactor, at a site not yet determined.

The Penly EPR reactor will be the second of its type to be constructed in France, after the one currently being built in Flamanville, on the west coast.

One EPR reactor is also under construction in Finland and two are slated to be built in China. Construction on the Penly reactor is expected to begin in 2011.

EDF runs France's 58 other nuclear reactors, from which the country draws about 80 per cent of its electricity. (dpa)