LONDON (Reuters Breakingviews) - NUCLEAR OPTION. EDF’s stop-start restructuring just received an energy boost. France could spend as much as 10 billion euros buying out the 16.3% of the utility it doesn’t already own, Reuters reported late on Tuesday, citing union sources. Given the company’s market value was just 35 billion euros as of Tuesday’s close, that implies the minority shareholders can expect a premium of roughly 75%. The shares promptly jumped 10% on Wednesday morning. Despite the bump, EDF shares are still around 10% below where they were trading in January. The valuation has jumped around based on ongoing talks between the French government and the European Commission. At issue is what price France can offer EDF for nuclear power from its ageing reactors, and whether EDF will follow the industry craze for listing green assets, which Breakingviews calculates could be worth 18 billion euros. That perhaps explains why Paris is inclined to treat outside investors with such generosity. (By George Hay)