French Sour on Nuclear Power

BY LIAM MORIARTY ⋅ APRIL 24, 2012 ⋅ 

Behind a fence outside the small town of Flamanville on the Normandy coast stands a growing mountain of concrete and steel that represents the future of one of France’s most important industries. It’s the worksite of the country’s first new generation nuclear power plant, known as the European Pressurized Reactor, or EPR. France already gets 75 percent of its electricity from nuclear power, and it’s clear that France’s powerful nuclear establishment is betting heavily on the new design.

The government-owned utility company that’s building the Flamanville reactor declined to be interviewed, but the plant’s designers say the so-called “third-generation” reactor is safer, more fuel-efficient and more economical to operate than older reactors. And the industry hopes it’ll not only maintain nuclear power’s strong dominance in France but also be the flagship technology that France exports throughout the world.