But politicians welcomed the choice of Penly in France's northern Normandy region as the site for the second EPR pressurized water reactor, arguing it will bring jobs to an area hard hit by recent car industry layoffs.

"This second EPR shows that in France, we are in favour of all-out consumption and not energy efficiency or renewables," said Yannick Rousselet, spokesman for Greenpeace France.

Sarkozy, who has described nuclear power as "the energy of the future," has actively promoted sales of French nuclear reactors abroad and holds up France's current network of 58 reactors as one of the safest and cleanest in the world.

The president in July announced plans to build a new EPR nuclear reactor despite problems with two other models under construction in northern France and in Finland.

On Thursday, he announced that the new reactor would be built at Penly, northwest of Dieppe, by electricity giant EDF. GDF Suez, which is seeking to diversify its activities from gas, will also have a stake in the project.

Construction at Penly will begin in 2012, with the reactor expected to go online in 2017, the presidency said.

Dieppe Mayor Sebastien Jumel said the project would generate 2,000 jobs over the next five years and described it as "extraordinary compensation for our region which is suffering from the crisis in the auto sector."

Minister for Europe Bruno Le Maire said the new reactor was an opportunity, at a time when Europe was making choices about its energy future, "to showcase the savoir-faire of the region."

The reactor will be the third of its kind under construction after one in Finland that has experienced repeated major delays linked to the quality of concrete used and a second one in Flamanville, also in Normandy.

Construction on the Flamanville EPR began in December 2007, with the final bill expected to reach 4 billion euros (5 billion dollars), more than the initial budget of 3.3 billion euros.

It is scheduled to go online in 2012, the same year as Finland's EPR begins producing electricity.

But for the anti-nuclear group "Sortir du nucleaire" (End Nuclear Power), the latest addition to France's nuclear network means the government will not be able to meet it commitment to achieve 20 percent renewable energy by 2020.

Sebastien Genest, president of France Nature Environnement, a coalition of 3,000 environmentalist groups, said Sarkozy was making a "historical mistake" and that the planned new reactor "ran counter to developing renewable energy."

Oil giant Total meanwhile said it was interested in joining the consortium building the new EPR reactor. It already has joined GDF Suez in a bid to sell two reactors to the United Arab Emirates.

Total boss Christophe de Margerie said in April that he expected nuclear energy in the future to be one of its key products.

EDF is to unveil details of the plan in the coming weeks to allow for public debate.

Nuclear power accounts for 87 percent of France's electricity production and its national champions EDF and Areva are world leaders in their field.

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