nuclear-news

Oh dear! a major nuclear accident would damage France’s image!

The bulk of financial losses would come from damage to France’s image

Major nuclear accident would cost France $580 billion: study By Michel
Rose SAINT-PAUL-LES-DURANCE, France   Feb 6, 2013  (Reuters) – A
nuclear accident similar to the one at Japan’s Fukushima reactor would
cost France about 430 billion euros ($580 billion), or 20 percent of
its economic output, French nuclear safety institute IRSN said in a
study on the possible financial impact of a nuclear crisis.

A major disaster damaging one of France’s 58 nuclear reactors and
contaminating the environment with radioactive material would displace
an estimated 100,000 people, destroy crops and create massive power
outages, the study said…..
The bulk of financial losses would come from damage to France’s image,
the institute said. A nuclear accident would hit exports of French
delicacies and the tourism industry, the world’s biggest in terms of
visitors, costing France about 160 billion euro ($126 billion), the
study said.

“Image costs would be considerable, as high as the radiological
costs,” Patrick Momal, the IRSN economist responsible for the study
said.

“Tourism is an important activity for France and direct costs would
not only hit the affected region, but the whole country,” he said.
Even if French products such as wine and agricultural products were
not contaminated, consumer fear could cause sales to plummet.

The study represents the first time a French public institution
calculated the possible economic cost of a nuclear disaster for the
world’s most-nuclear reliant nation. It comes nearly two years after a
tsunami smashed into the Fukushima nuclear plant in Japan in March
2011.

IRSN estimated the Fukushima disaster cost Japan about 200 billion
euros ($270 billion). While the costs were immense, Japan fared better
than France would under similar circumstances, the institute said.

“Winds were favourable to the Japanese. And in Japan, international
tourism doesn’t amount to much, international visitors are mainly
business travelers,” Momal said…..
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/02/07/us-france-nuclear-disaster-cost-idUSBRE91603X20130207

February 8, 2013 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | business and costs, France