Safety first
November 17, 2011
French nuclear reactors are safe, but safety standards should be improved to be better prepared for natural disasters like earthquakes, floods, fires and long-term loss of power, according to the Institute for Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety (IRSN), a French government body.
In a report commissioned in the wake of the Fukushima disaster this year in Japan, the institute states that there was "a need to improve some of the installations' safety parameters without delay."
Specifically, it urged the government to look at insufficient water reserves in some plants and connection points between pipes, some of which would not withstand an earthquake, it said.
At the same time, the report said France's 58 atomic reactors could "legitimately be considered safe."
Nuclear debate
France generates around 75 percent of its electricity from nuclear energy and has the second-biggest nuclear fleet after the United States. Nuclear power is far more accepted as an energy source than in nuclear-skeptic Germany, but recently, the nuclear debate has made headlines in France too.
The French Socialist Party (PS), supported by the Greens, is planning to reduce France's nuclear dependence to 50 percent by 2025, but the ruling conservative UMP party, fears it would be the beginning of the end for nuclear energy in France, affecting the country's economic competitiveness.
"It's a step backwards for industry, it's the death of France's nuclear energy sector, which is the world's most powerful today," Industry Minister Eric Besson said on Wednesday, pointing out that electricity prices would have to go up if nuclear dependency was to be reduced.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy also pointed out the economic advantages of nuclear power for France, calling the low electricity prices in the country "one of the rare advantages in relation to our partners."
"I will not sell this advantage for France down the river - that would be irresponsible. I will not challenge what is an exceptional asset for France," he said at an event on Thursday.
The IRSN's report has been delivered to the country's independent nuclear safety authority (ASN), which will present its findings to the government by the end of the year.
Author: Nicole Goebel (Reuters, dpa, AP)
Editor: Michael Lawton