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French nuclear company dreams of empire, as nuclear industry slumps in France

numerous problems…….. from industrial action to the company’s growing debt and a fall in nuclear output and capacity usage in France…..

EDF Looks To Build Nuclear Empire Outside U.S.  WSJ.com By GéRALDINE AMIEL, NOVEMBER 21, 2010,

PARIS—The future of Électricité de France SA lies primarily in nuclear energy, but probably not in the U.S.—at least according to Henri Proglio, the French power group’s chairman and chief executive…….he has worked hard to address the numerous problems left by the previous management, from industrial action to the company’s growing debt and a fall in nuclear output and capacity usage in France…..

Just four or five years ago, nuclear was considered by many the ultimate solution for cheap, clean power, but the emergence of unconventional natural gases such as shale gas, notably in the U.S., and the global economic turmoil, have since dimmed prospects for the civil nuclear industry…..
He also points out that not all EDF’s eggs are in the nuclear basket—the company is also big in wind power, through its EDF Energies Nouvelles unit, and hydro power………..
EDF is now in charge of leading any French team bidding for nuclear contracts abroad. For Mr. Proglio, this will mean setting aside his animosity toward Anne Lauvergeon, the feisty boss of French nuclear engineering firm Areva SA, with whom Mr. Proglio, himself no shrinking violet, has publicly clashed over a number of issues……
 

November 22, 2010 - Posted by Christina MacPherson | business and costs, France | antinuclear, EDF, France, nuclear, nuclear costs, nuclear technology, reactors, uranium