Ideology vs Reality: The French Nuclear Debate

I read a very interesting article in the New York Times a few days ago on the French energy debate which you may well find useful to read.

When it comes to nuclear energy, France has long been the darling of Western Europe. Approximately 80% of their energy is generated via nuclear power, the nuclear industry employs over 400,000 people – many of them highly trained and French companies like Areva and Électricité de France are global leaders in the design and operation of nuclear technology.

With nuclear playing such a strong role in the energy mix I’ve been watching with great interest ever since the new Socialist/Green coalition came to power around four months ago. The debate on energy policy is progressing as I would expect, that is to say the anti-nuclear ideology of certain elements of the coalition has hit what I like to call the ‘reality wall’.

In this instance the reality wall is the fact that not only is nuclear power already the foundation of the French energy mix but it needs to stay that way and not just because, in a shaky economy France needs to retain it’s cheap energy and successful nuclear industry.

Don’t get me wrong, having multiple sources of energy generation is a smart move but the fact is the world must increasingly turn to clean energy sources to reduce emissions, nuclear has to play a major role. National grids demand high-base load energy generation and in my opinion renewables such as wind and solar are not going to meet the purpose on their own. Don’t believe me? Why else would oil-rich counties like UAE, which also happen to enjoy climates that lend themselves to solar power, be implementing significant nuclear energy policies? If you read some of my earlier posts you’ll find some comments on these very programs.

Dev Randhawa