It provides reliable baseload electricity when sun isn’t drenching solar panels or wind isn’t wafting through turbine blades. And it does not leave its operators hostage to fossil fuels from dictators like Vladimir Putin, who has throttled the supply of Russian natural gas to Europe in response to Western sanctions over his invasion of Ukraine.
France should, in other words, be basking in the warm glow of controlled fission reactions. Instead, after a decade of mismanagement and political mixed signals, its nuclear industry is desperately trying not to implode. A third of France’s ageing fleet is out of action owing to maintenance and other technical problems. Experts warn of possible power outages during extreme cold spells later this winter. To keep up with demand, France has to import pricey electricity, from Germany of all places.
To understand the French nuclear business’s current predicament it is worth going back to its roots in the oil shock of 1973. At the time, most French power plants ran on petroleum. As the fuel became scarce, French politicians concluded that in order to be truly sovereign, the country needed an energy source it could control. Nuclear power seemed just the ticket. France already knew something about the technology, having built an atom bomb and nuclear submarines.
Meanwhile, with little accountability and oversight the industry quickly became a state within a state, characterised by groupthink and, in the words of one former insider, “a serious lack of self-doubt”. This led to some terrible business decisions. In the early 2000s Framatome, the company that built reactors for, developed ambitions of its own.
It had better. We ALL need (much) more nuclear power - the technology is there: safe, clean & green. CarolineLucas scottishgreens AlbaParty
ScottAdamsSays
Have the French ever done anything right?
This article needs a serious update…
Yeah, let's do some more media terrorism against nuclear, as if it isn't the only technology that allows us to reach our carbon targets.
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As usual TE always pessimistic about democracies and always supporting dictatorships
Why are they self destructing? I can’t understand how they are letting this happen. And If you are truly concerned about the environment and global warming then you should be celebrating what France accomplished in their energy sector utilizing Nuclear!
There are zero studies on the carbon output of building and maintaining a nuclear facility. ZERO...
The title of the article needs improvement. Not a fan of these forced wordplay things, like it's nuclear so meltdown get it haha.
Utter rubbish from someone who should know better. They'll all be back online by early January and the plan is to construct another fourteen.
La réalité c'est que la France en 2012 était autonome en électricité à 80%, le secteur de l'électricité c'est fait démonter et piller par l'UE au profit de Etats-Unis...
I don't think that's part of the script. My suggestion Wear layers sit back and wait for US to bail Europe out of shit our forefathers thought they left behind yet again
Yet they're getting knocked because they're not developing enough wind and solar. Crazy world we live in.
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Energy crisis threatens reversal of French market reforms\n\t\t\tJournalists in 50+ countries follow the constant flow of money made and lost in oil & gas while\n\t\t\ttracking emerging trends and opportunities in the future of energy. Don’t miss our exclusive\n\t\t\tnewsletter, Energy Source.\n\t\t You mean 'back to common sense'.
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