News

Going Nuclear: Is France Really the Example to Follow?

June 15, 2009

By Keith Johnson

When it comes to promoting nuclear power, even the folks who brought you "liberty fries" are happy to emulate the French. That's because France gets almost 80% of its electricity from nuclear power and has found a-albeit imperfect-solution to the nuclear-waste problem.


Presumably not part of the plan (AP)

But is the French example really applicable to the U.S., aside from the fact that France is only one-fifth as large? In other words, in order to make America nuclear-powered, would people really accept everything that entails?

One of the biggest potential hurdles to the Republican Party's newfound love of nuclear power is that in France, the government is nearly inseparable from its energy industry. The biggest power company, Electricite de France, is state-owned. Nuclear-engineering groups like Areva are extensions of government industrial policy.

That cozy relationship clears away many of the obstacles facing nuclear power-especially financing-but would require a wholesale reshaping of the U.S. energy sector to make it work here. If temporary government stewardship of the banks and automakers is anethema, it's hard to see how permanent government management of the power business would be welcome.

And of course, there's always the risk that importing the French nuclear model means importing everything about the French model. In other words, be prepared for the annual rite of strikes. Bloomberg reports today:
Electricite de France SA, Europe's biggest power producer, is seeking a court order to force employees at nuclear reactors back to work, saying the strike threatens its ability to respond to a possible jump in demand [...] EDF had as much as 38 percent of nuclear capacity offline as of June 9, according to bulletins recorded by the plants.


http://blogs.wsj.com/environmentalcapital/2009/06/15/going-nuclear-is-fr...