SosbanFach
June 27th, 2011, 04:56 PM
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-13924602
"France will invest 1bn euros (£0.8bn) in nuclear power despite warnings after the Fukushima disaster in Japan, President Nicolas Sarkozy says.
The new investment will include a boost for research into nuclear safety.
The French nuclear giant Areva is developing the fourth generation of reactors. France gets 80% of its electricity from nuclear power.
Earlier this year neighbouring Germany, Switzerland and Italy voted against nuclear power, following Fukushima.
The BBC's Christian Fraser in Paris says that as president of the G8 and G20 industrial groups, Mr Sarkozy has been pushing for an international standard on nuclear safety.
"We are going to devote a billion euros to the nuclear programme of the future, particularly fourth-generation technology," Mr Sarkozy told a news conference.
"We are also going to release substantial resources from the big loan to strengthen research in the sphere of nuclear safety."
He stressed his government was still investing "massively" in renewable energy. He announced 1.35bn euros of investment for that sector.
But our correspondent says it is obvious how important nuclear power is to the French economy and its energy security.
The Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant's cooling systems were knocked out by the 11 March earthquake and tsunami in Japan. The disaster caused a meltdown at three of the reactors and the plant is still leaking radiation."
What do you think about nuclear energy? Do you think that France have made a good move in increasing funding for nuclear power, in this time when other countries, such as Germany, have decided that they are going to completely abandon nuclear energy within the next 10-15 years, following the Fukushima disaster in March?
I personally think that this is a very good move on France's part. In my opinion, if we cut our use of nuclear energy, or abandon it altogether, we will simply end up filling the gap created with fossil fuels, which are a far bigger problem. Increased reliance on fossil fuels will lead to massive environmental problems, such as, for want of a better phrase 'global warming', rising sea levels etc. I think that until renewable sources can efficiently satisfy a majority of a country's energy needs, we must expand use of nuclear. Fossil fuels are simply not a viable option any more, for obvious reasons.
"France will invest 1bn euros (£0.8bn) in nuclear power despite warnings after the Fukushima disaster in Japan, President Nicolas Sarkozy says.
The new investment will include a boost for research into nuclear safety.
The French nuclear giant Areva is developing the fourth generation of reactors. France gets 80% of its electricity from nuclear power.
Earlier this year neighbouring Germany, Switzerland and Italy voted against nuclear power, following Fukushima.
The BBC's Christian Fraser in Paris says that as president of the G8 and G20 industrial groups, Mr Sarkozy has been pushing for an international standard on nuclear safety.
"We are going to devote a billion euros to the nuclear programme of the future, particularly fourth-generation technology," Mr Sarkozy told a news conference.
"We are also going to release substantial resources from the big loan to strengthen research in the sphere of nuclear safety."
He stressed his government was still investing "massively" in renewable energy. He announced 1.35bn euros of investment for that sector.
But our correspondent says it is obvious how important nuclear power is to the French economy and its energy security.
The Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant's cooling systems were knocked out by the 11 March earthquake and tsunami in Japan. The disaster caused a meltdown at three of the reactors and the plant is still leaking radiation."
What do you think about nuclear energy? Do you think that France have made a good move in increasing funding for nuclear power, in this time when other countries, such as Germany, have decided that they are going to completely abandon nuclear energy within the next 10-15 years, following the Fukushima disaster in March?
I personally think that this is a very good move on France's part. In my opinion, if we cut our use of nuclear energy, or abandon it altogether, we will simply end up filling the gap created with fossil fuels, which are a far bigger problem. Increased reliance on fossil fuels will lead to massive environmental problems, such as, for want of a better phrase 'global warming', rising sea levels etc. I think that until renewable sources can efficiently satisfy a majority of a country's energy needs, we must expand use of nuclear. Fossil fuels are simply not a viable option any more, for obvious reasons.