Publication Laka-library:
Electricity costs in France, EDF becomes a burden for France
| Author | WISE, H.Damveld, Lenoir, Orfeuil |
| Date | May 1984 |
| Classification | 2.02.0.00/53 (FRANCE - GENERAL) |
| Front | 
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From the publication:
INTRODUCTION France is often cited as the nuclear leader of the world. With 36 reactors operating and 2.5 more under construction, France has the most ambitious nuclear program of any nation. Its nuclear plants already produce 48% of the country's electricity and plans are to increase this to 82% by the year 2000. French nuclear generated electricity is generally believed to be very cheap. In the recently published book, State of the World- 1984 (Worldwatch Institute, 1984), Christophen Flavin writes in his chapter on nuclear power economics, that "France is a key country in making international comparisons of nuclear economics, since the French nuclear construction program has an international reputation for efficiency and speed …" Flavin goes on to say that, while it is difficult to draw conclusions because of scanty economic data, at least in relative terms, ''the French program has been an economic success" (p. 122). The studies translated here give evidence to the contrary. They show that, while Electricité de France (EDF), the highly centralized state- owned utility, continues to sell electricity to large industrial users at bargain prices, its own financial situation becomes increasingly serious. EDF is operating at a loss and has developed huge debts. Forty- four percent (about 70 billion francs) of EDF's debt is in foreign currencies. France has the third largest international debt in the world (after Mexico and Brazil) with 20% of this due to its nuclear program. In fact, the French economy is beginning to resemble the economy of a Third World country, since all the money it borrows on the international market goes to service its debt. Rather than being an economic success, the French nuclear program is turning into an economic nightmare, which threatens the whole of the French economy. "Electricity Costs in France" by Dutch energy specialist Herman Damveld was published in March 1984 as a chapter in the book Kernenergie Uitgeteld, edited by Herman Verhagen (Milieu Defensie, Amsterdam). "Ten Years of Nuclear Power: EDF Becomes a Burden for France" by Yves Lenoir and Jean Pierre Orfeuil was published in the November 1983 issue of Science et Vie. For this brochure, we have translated the entire Damveld article and sections of the Lenoir/Orfeuil article. Another study on nuclear economics with a chapter on France has been written by Jim Harding and will soon be available (in English) from Friends of the Earth, 104.5 Sansome Street, San Francisco, California 94111, USA.
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