Nuclear Power works for France

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June 30, 3:18 PM

by John Ryden, Global Warming Examiner

 

 

France has very limited reserves of fossil fuels. So back in 1973, when Arab countries caused an oil shock by withholding oil supplies, France wanted to reduce their dependence on foreign energy and nuclear was chosen because it was the one technology that could produce the power France needed. Since then France has constructed 59 nuclear power plants.

France currently produces 544 Billion Kwh, consumes 451 Billion Kwh, and exports 93 Billion Kwh.

Electricity prices per 100 kWh, excl. VAT, for standard industrial consumer 2,000 MWh/year

Jan 2006          Reactors 2008             Electricity % Nuclear

(euro)

Latvia                           4.09                          

Lithuania                       4.98                            1                                  72%

Estonia                          5.11

Finland                          5.63                            4                                  27%

France                          5.78                           59                                78%

Sweden                         5.93                           10                                52%

Poland                           6.33

Slovenia                        6.51

Greece                           6.68

Malta                             7.11

Czech Republic              7.31                           6                                  31%

Spain                             7.57                           9                                  23%

Hungary                        7.61                            4

Slovakia                        7.73

Denmark                       8.01

Portugal                         8.17

United Kingdom             8.22                           23                                20%

Austria                           8.63

Luxembourg                  8.95

Netherlands                   9.57                           1

Belgium                          9.69                            7

Germany                        9.94                           17                                32%

Ireland                         10.11

Cyprus                         11.36

Italy                             12.08                           0                                  0%

France has some of the lowest electric power costs in Europe. I took the electric costs for industrial size customers for my comparison. France also exports electricity to other countries. Clearly, France finds it economical to produce power from nuclear reactors. Many opponents to nuclear power cite the high cost as a reason to avoid nuclear power.  France is an example of why the cost is of nuclear is actually cheaper than other sources of electricity. They would not be exporting large amounts of power (17% of total) if they were losing money on it.

France has some of the cleanest air in Europe as they don’t have the pollution caused by burning coal for electricity. They have lower production of greenhouse gases. They are in a better position to help control Global Warming than most other countries. French high speed trains run on electricity. The trains will become more important as air travel becomes more expensive due to higher costs for jet fuel. When electric cars become more prevalent, they will recharge their cars without producing any greenhouse gases.

The French public was very concerned about nuclear waste disposal. To gain public support for nuclear power, France recycles their nuclear fuel. France also recycles nuclear fuel for other countries, which helps to pay for their nuclear program. By recycling their fuel, they minimize the amount of waste that is actually produced. Most of the fuel can be put back into the reactor after recycling removes the waste material. This waste material is mostly short-lived radioactive compounds. It is a very small amount compared to the amount of fuel that is re-used. The waste material is stored instead of buried. By storing it, the industry has committed to managing it long term. Each year, the decay of waste nuclear material automatically decreases the amount of waste.

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