3 ms·
> But (almost) everyone would be opposed to a fission plant or nuclear waste facility next door - and rightfully so. Reading this kind of debate from France is
by arkh 6y ago
> But (almost) everyone would be opposed to a fission plant or nuclear waste facility next door - and rightfully so.
Reading this kind of debate from France is a good laugh.
If you're interested you can check where our electricity comes from here: https://www.rte-france.com/eco2mix/la-production-delectricite-par-filiere https://www.rte-france.com/eco2mix/la-production-delectricit... (between 60 and 70 percent of nuclear energy today).
- worik 6y agoBecause France was desperate to have its own nuclear weapons. It was not economic for them either (tho back in the day it displaced coal - try having a coal plant next door)
- iso8859-1 6y agoWhat is the point of bringing up economics when we are talking about life and death? How can you even measure if something is economic or not if you haven't defined what a human life is worth?
- philipkglass 6y agoFrance's nuclear power program actually displaced oil. France had a lot of oil fired electric power plants in the 1960s when it was a cheap fuel. As a reaction to the oil price shocks of the 1970s, France committed to the "Messmer Plan" for nuclear electricity: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_power_in_France#Messmer_Plan https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_power_in_France#Messme... France demonstrated its first fission bomb in 1960 and its first thermonuclear bomb in 1968: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/France_and_weapons_of_mass_destruction https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/France_and_weapons_of_mass_des... The 1970s and 1980s build up of nuclear power in France had nothing to do with desperation to have its own nuclear weapons. France already had them before the Messmer Plan.
- worik 6y ago"France's nuclear power program actually displaced oil" No. Oil is much cheaper To maintain a nuclear arsenal a nuclear industry is needed. It is the only economic justification for nuclear power
- iso8859-1 6y agoSo you don't think something can be expensive because it is heavily regulated? Or do you just think it is not possible with less regulation?
- tarsinge 6y agoAlso see electricitymap.org
- pfdietz 6y agoAnd then check out the cost overruns on Flamanville 3. What is now, 4x the initial cost promise? Or is it 6x? New nuclear is dead in France just like it is in the US.
- Retric 6y agoFrance exported and imported a vast amounts of electricity during it’s nuclear hay day and still needed huge subsidies. In effect they where little different than people living near a local nuclear reactor getting most of their power from it while extremely dependent on the wider electric grid to meet demand and lower overall prices. Which as odd as it sounds demonstrated civilian nuclear inability to scale as they still needed to reduce power plant utilization by ~10%.