Publication Laka-library:
Nuclear France. Power at any Price? Report on French Nuclear Industry
| Author | FOE |
| Date | October 1986 |
| Classification | 2.02.0.00/02 (FRANCE - GENERAL) |
| Front | 
|
From the publication:
NUCLEAR FRANCE: POWER AT ANY PRICE? Over the last 75 years 6 France has taken unparalleled steps towards complete dependence on nuclear power for its electricity supply. This has led to an enormous international debt problem and a large overcapacity of generating plant. Some of the faults of the predominant French reactors type, the PWR, have major implications for safety, and one accident, at Bugey, is rated on a par with Three Mile Island in seriousness. Military considerations have played a major part in the nuclear programme, especially in the Super Phenix fast breeder reactor project. The French Nuclear Power programme is held up by nuclear proponents, in the UK and elsewhere, as a model of efficiency and cost effectiveness, which we would do well to follow. The real picture is rather different. This report looks at three main aspects of the French nuclear programme: economies, safety, and the military connection, and points out some reasons for the unique French devotion to nuclear power - and the price that they are paying for it. The French achievement is certainly remarkable in its own terms: In 1973, France obtained 40% of its electricity from oil, and the rest from hydro, coal, and a small percentage of nuclear. In 1985, France obtained 59% of its electricity from nuclear, 21% from hydro, and 20% from fossil fuels, of which virtually none was oil. By 1990, 74-80% of French electricity supplies will be nuclear. This remarkable transition, unmatched by any ether country, is due to a quite deliberate policy of "tout electrique, tout nucleaire", which originated in the late 1960's before the 1973 oil crisis, and is rooted in the centralised and closed decision-making processes of the French state. In France there is a uniquely strong partnership between state and industry, which acts to minimise public debate or dissent. For industry, nuclear power, and the Pressurised Water Reactor (PWR) in particular was a unique chance to establish French predominance in a new world market. For the state, the motivation was independence:- in defence, an independent nuclear strike force; and in energy, independence from foreign imports, particularly of oil (1).
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