nuclear-news

France in financial problem, with all its energy eggs in the nuclear basket

presidential contender Holland now says that he would only close the nation’s oldest such nuclear plant in his first five years in office……

Critics say that the billions it will cost to make such [necessary safety] upgrades is money that could otherwise be spent developing the country’s green energy program.

French Nuclear Debate Ignites Amidst Presidential Race, Forbes, 2/08/2012 Japan’s nuclear tragedy is igniting a debate in France , which generates more than three-quarters of its electricity from nuclear energy.  And while that nation’s presidential candidates are squaring off on the issue, an independent audit agency there may have settled the dispute for them.

The country’s powerful nuclear sector has the unflinching support of French President Nicolas Sarkozy. His opponent in the May election is Francois Holland, a Socialist who favors cutting the use of nuclear energy to 50 percent by 2025. While that pitch held lots of resonance with the French people during the early and uncertain days after the Fukushima Daichi disaster, it is losing some sway now and forcing Holland to back peddle.

Here’s why: The independent and influential French Court Audit correctly notes that the 22 of the country’s 58 nuclear reactors will have reached their 40 year lifespan by 2022. Policymakers must choose whether to extend their lives another 20 years, which is
technologically feasible, or to decommission them. That would require France to build the equivalent of 11 new electric generators before 2022 — a move that the agency says is “highly unlikely, even impossible.”

The French government, meanwhile, is expected to release its own
analysis of the nuclear energy program there by mid-month. It will say
that increasing the lives of the existing units there from 40 to 60
years is a better way to spend the national wealth than to build new
power plants from scratch. State-owned Electricite de France is a
French powerhouse, which operates all of the nation’s nuclear reactors
and which wants their licenses extended by 20 years. With the landscape changing, presidential contender Holland now says that he would only close the nation’s oldest such plant in his first five years in office……
In January, French regulators said that all of the units there passed
muster and that none of them should be closed. They did say, however,
the current security techniques must be enhanced right away.

To that end, its Nuclear Safety Authority says that stronger safety
measures are needed to prevent the spread of radiation in the event of
an accident. They will also have to outline how emergency back-up
generators will deploy — the mechanism by which to cool down the spent
fuel rods that sit in the reactor’s core. Nuclear operators will have
until mid-year to spell out their plans..

Critics say that the billions it will cost to make such upgrades is money that could otherwise be spent developing the country’s green energy program. But France, like all other nations, is striving tomeet an ever-increasing need for electricity with a plentiful resource
and in a way that minimizes greenhouse gases — the foundations
supporting the nuclear movement…..
http://www.forbes.com/sites/kensilverstein/2012/02/08/french-nuclear-debate-ignites-amidst-presidential-race/

February 9, 2012 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | France, politics