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France announced plans to develop up to 14 nuclear reactors to counter climate change.
French President Emmanuel Macron announced Thursday that the country would develop at least six reactors and possibly eight more after those are completed.
“Given the electricity needs, the need to also anticipate the transition and the end of the existing fleet, which cannot be extended indefinitely, we are going to launch today a program of new nuclear reactors,” Macron said, according to CNN.
The report said construction is set to begin in 2028 and the first reactor could be in service by 2035.
The Trends Journal has reported on countries attempting to go green by turning to nuclear energy. (See “A NEW PATH TO CLEAN NUCLEAR ENERGY,” “AHOY! NUCLEAR POWER MINI-PLANTS ARE FLOATING YOUR WAY” and “FRANCE EARMARKS BILLIONS FOR NUCLEAR AND ‘GREEN’ ENERGY; INVESTORS BULLISH ON URANIUM.”
Macron addressed reporters at a GE plant in eastern France and said going nuclear is the “most relevant choice from an ecological point of view and the most expedient from an economic point of view, and finally the least costly from a financial point of view.”
France already produces more nuclear waste per capita than any other country at about two kilograms per person each year, according to Bloomberg.
There are about 1,200 producers of radioactive waste in the country. About 90 percent of the waste is considered short-lived but 10 percent is highly radioactive and its half-life can extend tens of thousands of years.
Earlier this month, we reported that nuclear energy in Europe has been a contentious issue between countries. Brussels has been sued after issuing a report that said nuclear power stations would be able to qualify for the “green” label if they can lay out how they will be able to handle waste management and decommissioning.
The average age of a nuclear reactor in France is 37.
The Wall Street Journal reported that Macron’s announcement is the world’s most ambitious since the Fukushima accident back in 2011.
“We are not convinced, and I think that it’s scientifically established, that if we want to succeed in the climate transition, the energy sovereignty of our country, and industrial production, we have to make this choice,” he said, according to the Journal.
The Journal’s report pointed out that while Macron sees nuclear power a viable contributor in the country’s effort to reduce its carbon emissions.
Macron has faced some resistance from those who say nuclear power—and its waste—are far from green. The report said Germany recently announced the end of all nuclear reactors within the country.
Barbara Pompili, France’s minister for energy transition, told CNN that Macron’s nuclear policy shift was needed due to an “acceleration” of the “unprecedented” energy situation.
“To have more electricity, we need to produce more,” Pompili told CNN affiliate BFMTV.
TREND FORECAST: As we have forecast, it will be a long haul before the world goes “Green.” There will not be a fast move to alternative energies until new ones that are affordable, efficient and truly “sustainable,” are invented.
And as for nuclear energy as an energy of the future, please see: