France’s questionable record on nuclear reliability and safety
In August 2008, Sortir du nucléaire described Areva’s radioactive emissions as “very dangerous” and demanded an official safety inspection of its factories. The French nuclear establishment cannot claim to set public fears on this and similar other counts at rest….
Sarkozy’s India Visit: The Nuclear Fallout, 22 December 2010, by: J. Sri Raman, t r u t h o u t“….What, however, is the French record in this particular field [nuclear public acceptance,reliability and safety] ? Continue reading
AREVA nuclear company in the economic doldrums
Drumming up investor interest in such a politically sensitive business has proved tough……………..there are good industrial reasons why even long-term investors are wary of Areva. ….. growth in new nuclear capacity is sluggish.
Areva Capital Raise Is Just a Stopgap – WSJ.com,
By MATTHEW CURTIN
14 Dec 10, Selling 15% of Areva to strategic investors was supposed to herald a fresh start for France’s state-owned nuclear-technology champion after years of dithering. Instead, the government has come up with a temporary fix Continue reading
Fundraising for AREVA to meet its financial needs
Though President Nicolas Sarkozy gave his blessing last year to a sale of 15 per cent of Areva’s shares to strategic industrial and financial partners, the process has been beset by controversy and public bickering among France’s nuclear champions…………
French state in U-turn on Areva listing, FT.com By Peggy Hollinger in Paris December 10 2010 20:11 The French government is aiming to bring Areva to a full market listing before June next year in a U-turn on the future of the strategic and politically sensitive nuclear group. Continue reading
France moving towards agreement on NATO missile defence system
During the recent Lisbon Summit NATO’s member states — including France — agreed to a new Strategic Concept that included a missile defence system. …… France no longer blocked NATO’s use of new defensive weapons….
France’s Silent Strategic Revolution, THE HUFFINGTON POST, Rabah Ghezali, 10 Dec 10, France has always maintained that the possession of nuclear weapons first and foremost provides a deterrent to aggressive acts against its interests. However, it retains the policy option of using nuclear weapons in a further first strike capacity.
The French strategic doctrine has always been and remains one of crushing retaliation, in contrast to the US and UK strategy of allowing for more flexible responses such as a gradual, “pre-strategic” use of nuclear weapons.
In the light of this policy divide, the negative French reaction to the 1999 US National Missile Defence Act was entirely consistent . Paris considered anti-missile defence unnecessary and destabilizing. Since the 1972 Anti-Ballistic Missile Treaty and the doctrine of Mutually Assured destruction remained the foundations of French strategic thinking, missile defence appeared to jeopardize the status quo and risk starting a new arms race with Russia.
Even more fundamentally, however, Paris feared that missile defense would undermine its nuclear posture. The French position was clear. Nuclear capabilities, it insisted, must remain the sole strategic system protecting the country. ……
During the recent Lisbon Summit NATO’s member states — including France — agreed to a new Strategic Concept that included a missile defence system. President Sarkozy’s approval constituted a rupture in France’s long-standing opposition to strategic missile defence. Recognizing options other than “all or nothing,” France no longer blocked NATO’s use of new defensive weapons….
France’s struggle to be the world’s king of nuclear reactor sales
The real problem, ….. is that Areva’s main reactor offering, one of the most advanced on the market, is too expensive—
France Aims to Be Atop the Nuclear Pile – WSJ.com, 29 Nov 10, “……..In an attempt to restore its companies to prominence, the French government has reorganized the nation’s nuclear sector. Continue reading
Nuclear company EDF has financial and legal problems
The European Commission plans to take France to the European Court of Justice over a provision in the reform which maintains local taxes on electricity, La Tribune reported today……..….
EDF May Sell Nuclear Power Below 42 Euros, Deputy Says, Bloomberg, By Tara Patel – Nov 26, 2010 Electricite de France SA may be forced to sell nuclear power to rivals at less than it says it needs to recoup production costs under a law adopted yesterday by France’s National Assembly, according to a lawmaker. Continue reading
AREVA nuclear company doesn’t like India’s Nuclear Liability Law
Areva will await clarifications on Indian nuclear liability law, The Hindu, 26 Nov 10, The French nuclear company Areva declined from clarifying its position on the issue of supplier’s liability in the Indian civil nuclear liability law at a press briefing here on Thursday. Continue reading
Nuclear company AREVA hits a snag in expansion – short of money
In case of a new delay, the capital increase, aimed at helping Areva fund its international expansion, could be postponed to next spring,
Areva’s planned capital hike could stall-reportsMon Nov 22, 2010 PARIS (Reuters) – French nuclear reactor maker (CEPFi.PA: Quote) may have to postpone a supervisory board meeting on its planned capital increase, threatening to stall the process, Continue reading
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……. Continue reading
French nuclear firm stuck, unable to sell nuclear reactors in USA
EDF Puts U.S. Nuclear Expansion Plans on Hold, BloombergBy Tara Patel – Nov 16, 2010 Electricite de France the biggest operator of nuclear reactors, put on hold a plan to develop atomic plants in the U.S…. EDF is reviewing its business in the U.S. and supply contracts for developing a reactor, Thomas Piquemal, chief financial officer, said today on a conference call. “When we have a better visibility on the regulatory environment and price evolution, we will be in a better position to see whether we go ahead with U.S. projects.”
EDF agreed last month to pay about $249 million partly to buy out Constellation Energy Group Inc. from a venture to develop EPR reactors in the U.S., including one in Maryland. Slumping power prices has cut the value of three U.S. atomic plants that the two utilities own together and forecasts of sustained low prices prompted Constellation to withdraw from talks on a government loan guarantee for the Maryland reactor…..
AREVA illegally storing radioactive nuclear waste
These containers are highly radioactive, and the rail terminal has not been classified as a basic nuclear installation – a classification necessary for any building storing nuclear waste. Greenpeace has therefore filed a complaint against French nuclear giant Areva for use of an undeclared basic nuclear installation, by storing nuclear waste in a place not designed for this purpose.
Complaint against AREVA for illegal storage of nuclear waste Greenpeace International, by JulietteH – November 4, 2010, On Tuesday, at 3pm, Greenpeace conducted a citizen inspection at the entrance of the railway terminal in the small town of Valognes, France. Activists carried out radiation measurements by monitoring the passage of trucks that have been carrying containers of highly radioactive nuclear waste for a week. Continue reading
Sarkozy selling France’s nuclear rechnology to China
a slew of business deals including a $3.5 billion contract with energy firm Areva
France, China to form nuclear power partnership | Reuters -Areva signs three deals with China, eyes EPR sale China signs $20 bln of business contracts in France PARIS, Nov 4 (Reuters) – France and China have agreed to form a strategic partnership in civilian nuclear power that ranges from building reactors in common to exploiting uranium mines, French President Nicolas Sarkozy said on Thursday. Continue reading
Britain and France get together on nuclear weapons
The agreement was nonetheless signed on Tuesday by President Nicolas Sarkozy and Prime Minister David Cameron, both of whom are struggling with deep budget cuts and sagging economies. It will place British and French special forces together in a joint force of 10,000 troops and permit the sharing of aircraft carriers, unmanned drone aircraft and other military hardware. Most controversially, it will combine the testing and oversight of the two countries’ nuclear arsenals at a joint facility near Dijon, France…… Britain, France sign military co-operation pact – The Globe and Mail
France’s EDF faced with ‘sluggish’ nuclear revival in USA
before it can proceed with building and operating new plants, unlikely before 2012, the French state-controlled utility will have to line up a new partner with the endurance necessary for an increasingly sluggish U.S. nuclear renaissance…..
EDF’s Expensive U.S. Divorce – WSJ.co, 27 Oct 10, By MATTHEW CURTIN Paying to get out of a marriage that isn’t working isn’t unusual. But in the U.S. nuclear industry, where foreign operators require local partners to build and operate new plants, going it alone isn’t a long-term option. Continue reading
Even top nuclear officials now doubt the future of nuclear energy
Says Claude Mandil, head of atomic energy for the French ministry of industry, “If France is unable to solve this [nuclear waste] issue, I do not see how we can continue the nuclear program.”…The bottom line: Even some of its biggest users are now doubting the wisdom of continuing dependence on nuclear energy, while claims that the atom is one answer to global warming don’t hold water.
Thomas D. Elias: Pro-nuke arguments deeply flawed Colusa Sun-Herald, 22 Oct 10, “………despite its dependence on the atom, France has no more solved the problem of nuclear waste disposal than we have. Continue reading
1 This Month
Chernobyl: The Lost Tapes – A good documentary on Chernobyl on SBS available On Demand for the next 3 weeks– https://www.sbs.com.au/ondemand/tv-program/chernobyl-the-lost-tapes/2352741955560
of the week–London Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament
Tell the Ukrainian Government to Drop Prosecution of Peace Activist Yurii Sheliazhenko
To see nuclear-related stories in greater depth and intensity – go to https://nuclearinformation.wordpress.com
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