Thanks to its $23.1 billion September takeover of British Energy, Électricité de France (EdF) is now the undisputed world leader in building and operating nuclear power plants. EdF will lead the U.K.’s nuclear revival with the construction of four new nuclear power plants, the first of which is expected to be online by 2017.

The French company will build and operate four Evolutionary Power Reactors, with 1,600 megawatts of capacity each. All will be designed by the French company Areva, the world's biggest producer of nuclear reactors. EdF is already the world’s largest operator, with 58 reactors at 19 sites in France. It has money, government backing, expertise, and top-quality technology. With a commanding presence in Germany and Italy, it has earmarked nearly $50 billion through 2010 to expand within Europe. The French utility is one of the top three power suppliers in the U.K., Germany, Italy, Belgium, and Slovakia, and is building two new-generation nuclear plants in China and vying to build another in South Africa.

The French company is also targeting the U.S. nuclear power expansion and has not given up on buying Constellation Energy Group, which owns nuclear plants in Maryland and New York. EdF already owns a 9.5 percent stake in the Baltimore-based utility.

The EdF deal comes at a critical time for the British power sector. All but one of its nuclear plants is slated for retirement in the next 15 years. British authorities say it could cost around $2 billion to decommission each one. British Energy owns nine power plants: eight nuclear plants with a total capacity of about 8,800 MW, and one coal-fired plant. It has more than enough suitable land for new plants. The U.K. power sector is facing some hard decisions in the next few years as it struggles to meet growing power demand and climate change targets, while also reducing its dependence on foreign fossil fuels. But the country lacks the skills and technology to expand its nuclear power sector. It appears to have found a stellar partner in EdF.