PARIS, Nov. 8 (Xinhua) -- France will take more time to meet a pledge to trim reliance on nuclear energy, but it remains engaged to cut nuclear share in the country's power mix production, Ecology Minister Nicolas Hulot said on Wednesday.
"We will probably have to delay until 2030 or 2035, we will see, at the latest 2035," Hulot told BFMTV news channel.
As part of its "Climate Plan," the centrist government, previously, targeted to close up to 17 reactors in order to cut nuclear power of the country's electricity generation to 50 percent from 75 percent by 2025.
"Many knew that this objective was not reachable. We must look at the feasibility. So far, we had set a totem without giving ourselves the means to achieve it," the minister added.
Facing rising anger of environmentalists who cast doubt on the government's green plan, Hulot, a popular ecology advocate, stressed that "the target of 50 percent will be maintained, realized ..."
"We do not back down, on the contrary, we advance. Now we are acting. What matters to me is to be realistic. What matters is that we stop coal-fired plants, develop renewable energies and convince the French to stop opposing wind turbines," he added.
Operating 58 reactors, France is the most nuclear-energy relying country in the world, with more than three quarters of its power coming from nuclear.
