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| Science & Technology |
| Make Way for France! (Nuclear Energy) |
| 2006-07-14 |
| By headbutting opponents and missing penalty kicks, France showed the world how not to win the World Cup. But with the G8 leaders about to gather in St. Petersburg for their annual meetings, France does have one important thing to show the world, and thatÂ’s how to guarantee a measure of national energy independence. ... Meanwhile, the country generates nearly 80 percent of its electricity from nuclear power, and even exports significant amounts to its neighbors. Most important, France has insulated itself from the possibility of a natural gas shock brought about by anything Vladimir Putin might do, intended or not. |
| Posted by:ed |
| #11 Advanced Reactors Around the World |
| Posted by: john 2006-07-14 15:05 |
| #10 john how close are we to having operational FNRs? |
| Posted by: mhw 2006-07-14 14:08 |
| #9 But at the end of the day they are still French. Yeah, but they still have France. Doesn't seem FAIR! |
| Posted by: 6 2006-07-14 13:14 |
| #8 Plus France reprocesses fuel rods And THAT is essential. Jimmy Carter stopped all planned US reprocessing, leading to the build up of spent fuel rods. This is incredibly wasteful. More than 95 percent of the extractable energy is still present in the spent fuel. Pressurized Heavy Water Reactors, like the Canadian CANDU units, can be used to burn fuel fabricated from the spent fuel rods from the Light Water Reactors. Fast Neutron Reactors will burn up all the heavy actinides (the nasty stuff with long half lives) giving you waste that (a) occupies much less volume (b) will lose much of its radioactivity in decades. |
| Posted by: john 2006-07-14 13:00 |
| #7 And, note Chirac's recent comments about unleashing nukes if France is ever attacked. I know he's passive-agressive, but even to say that shocked the he!! outta me. I guess the "french culture" thing may be to their benefit in this case...I can't imagine Paris just letting the muzzies take over w/o a fight. Of course, WWII and other instances have proved me wrong in that arena before. |
| Posted by: BA 2006-07-14 11:41 |
| #6 BA: My assessment as well. During the not-so-cold war, the French nuclear defence strategy.... had it ever been initiated, or launched, etc, would have depopulated about 60 percent of the planet. |
| Posted by: Besoeker 2006-07-14 11:36 |
| #5 Well, I'm always of the opinion that, no matter how much you can't stand them, you need to give credit where credit's due. Viva la' France. Now, back to reality. I don't really know how this'll help when Paris starts to burn again, unless France grows a spine and begins to start bucking the Muslim overpopulation. My guess is (like all "liberal" countries), France will be open to these goons, until things get really hairy, and then (and only then) we they lash back like never before. Things will be VERY ugly for the Muslims if my hunch is true (think Bastille Day and guillotines, since the muslims are so fond of beheadings). Instead of solving the problem from the get-go, France will wait until they're cornered, then lash back like a cornered/scared animal and it won't be pretty. |
| Posted by: BA 2006-07-14 11:32 |
| #4 This is the one thing I will give the Frogs credit for. The smart thing they did was use only one and then two reactor designs. Helps control costs and IMO increas safety because if a problem does show up the fix is known for all off the other plants. Plus France reprocesses fuel rods, Thanks Jimmy. |
| Posted by: Cheaderhead 2006-07-14 10:42 |
| #3 even exports significant amounts to its neighbors. This is a lie by implication. France is the largest electricity exporter in the world. Much bigger than Canuckistan with its abundant Hydro. |
| Posted by: phil_b 2006-07-14 08:44 |
| #2 But they are certainly right about nukes. Perhaps it's the stopped clock phenomenon. |
| Posted by: Nimble Spemble 2006-07-14 08:33 |
| #1 But at the end of the day they are still French. |
| Posted by: 49 Pan 2006-07-14 08:27 |