UPDATE 1-EDF, GDF Suez get OK for French EPR nuclear site

* France to build second EPR nuclear facility.

* EDF, GDF Suez to be involved in second EPR.

PARIS, Jan 29 (Reuters) - Leading French utilities EDF
(EDF.PA) and GDF Suez (GSZ.PA) are to be involved in the
construction of a new French EPR nuclear facility, President
Nicolas Sarkozy's office said on Thursday.

The President's Elysee office said in a statement that the
new site would be located at Penly, northern France.

EPR (European Pressurised Reactor) facilities are
state-of-the-art nuclear plants although companies involved in
setting them up have often faced cost overruns on the projects.

Both EDF and GDF Suez, in which the French state has a
stake, could obtain big export orders if the EPRs are a success
and building the new site at Penly could help create jobs.

State-owned EDF, which is France's main electricity
provider, is already in the midst of building an EPR plant near
Flamanville in northern France.

The Flamanville EPR is due to cost 4 billion euros ($5.2
billion), more than an initial expected cost of 3.3 billion.

French state-owned nuclear group Areva (CEPFi.PA) is also
facing cost overruns on an EPR plant that Areva is building in
Finland.

The recent crisis over Russian gas supplies via Ukraine has
highlighted the strategic importance of energy independence and
France now generates about 15 percent of its total energy needs
and 80 percent of electricity with nuclear plants.
($1=.7645 Euro)
(Reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta, editing by Matthew Lewis)