(Bloomberg) -- Electricite de France SA plans to load fuel at its new nuclear reactor in “a few weeks,” marking the final step before startup.

The fuel loading, 12 years behind its original schedule, will be followed by a first connection to the grid this summer, EDF said in a statement. The milestone comes after France’s nuclear safety authority Wednesday unveiled its project to authorize the commissioning of the Flamanville 3 reactor. The agency will take public comment on the decision until April 17.

Once connected to the grid, the 1.6-gigawatt unit will join EDF’s fleet of 56 reactors in France, which accounted for about two-thirds of the country’s power production last year.

Read More: France Returns to Being a Power Exporter on Nuclear Rebound   

The plant’s startup follows a series of blunders that have undermined the flagship project and hurt the finances of the utility, which came back under full government ownership last year. Since construction started in 2007, the project’s budget — excluding finance costs — has quadrupled to €13.2 billion ($14.3 billion).

The years-long saga has created lasting doubts about the French nuclear industry’s ability to build reactors on time and on schedule — a crucial issue as it prepares to launch the construction of a fleet of six plants in France.

EDF’s construction of two similar reactors in the UK also has suffered repeated delays and cost overruns, complicating the British government’s effort to raise funds for the construction of another pair of EPRs. 

Two similar units have been built in China by EDF and its local partner in the past decade with limited delays. A first-of-a-kind EPR started up in Finland last year, 14 years later than initially planned. 

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