Macron unveils his “atomic plan” to revive France and keep the Elysée
“We have no other choice.” She announced it like this, Emmanuel Macronhis project “atomic“Yes, atomic, because while Europe and Italy are hit by a stellar increase in bills of energy, the French president has decided to focus firmly and with conviction on nuclear to revive France in the post Covid. A wide-ranging plan, which is intended to last “in the decades to come”. The head of the Elysée, two months after the elections in which he has not yet officially run, used the ‘stage’ of the GE Steam Power factory to illustrate the guidelines of his policy, focused on investments in the field of renewables and relaunch of atomic energy.
And to say that a few months ago, the proposal to relaunch nuclear energy cost the Minister of Ecological Transition, Roberto Cingolani, even some death threats arrived via the web. “At the moment, clean nuclear power is not there, so it is not among the options: however, as with all technologies, I believe it is necessary to go to the bottom, and leave no stone unturned to get to energy sources that do not produce greenhouse gases” , Cingolani a Cernobbio after the controversy, which involved political parties, industrialists, environmentalists and even bishops.
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“France first country in the world in 30 years to get out of dependence on fossil fuels”
Macron obviously does not have these problems and has announced that the goal is “to make France the first major country in the world in thirty years to come out of dependence on fossil fuels and strengthen our energy and industrial independence by setting an example in the climate “, explained the leader of En Marche, who looks to the long-term “40% reduction in energy consumption” and to the replacement of “part of fossil fuels with electricity”. Macron’s agenda includes the construction of six new Epr2 reactors, along with eight others under study, for a total of “25 gigawatts by 2050“, and an analysis to extend the ‘life’ of current reactors beyond 50 years, where possible without compromising safety.
Not only. An increase in the 10% of the share of renewable gas by 2030, the creation of 50 offshore wind farms by 2050, while for solar energy Macron spoke of “tenfold it” within the same time horizon. An all-out commitment that will require an increase in manpower, with training and the creation of “jobs”.
Macron also takes advantage of his neighbors’ hesitation. Together with Italy, Germany of post Angela Merkel is also moving towards retirement from nuclear energy. And France smiles. The country will equip itself with “new ones innovative small nuclear reactors with better waste management. “That’s right, nuclear power occupies a central position in the France 2030 plan:” The 200,000 people who work in the nuclear sector in France represent a fortune because there allow us to be among the countries in Europe that emit fewer tons of CO2“said Macron, who has made € 1 billion investments in small reactors to be developed within the decade.
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France, how many advantages also in energy export
The benefits for France could also come in terms of energy exports. Already in the data dating back to 2019, the role of French energy was fundamental and main in the energy mix of the countries communicated. Like it or not, the 13% of the energy consumed in the EU two years ago it was covered by nuclear sources, even the 32% considering only the energy produced within the EU. A share literally dominated by France. While countries like Germany and Belgium have decided to give up their nuclear power plants, France doubles the bet on reactors and goes to cash. It is certainly no coincidence that over the last few months the import of energy needed to generate electricity has increased by 121% from Paris, which suffers less than the others from the global energy crisis and rising commodity prices.
On the other hand, elsewhere in Europe there are those who get into more problems, even if on a global level the tendency towards the atom seems to be recovering. L’total nuclear energy produced in 2020 was down slightly from 2019, after seven consecutive years of increase. But even during the first year of the pandemic, 13 countries have produced at least a quarter of their electricity from nuclear power. Starting with Europe, nuclear power supplies three quarters of the electricity to the Franceover half to Slovakia and Ukraine, while about a third to Belgium, Bulgaria, Finland, Slovenia, Hungary, Czech Republic. In South Korea the figure is 30%, while for Spain, Romania, Russia, United Kingdom and the United States it drops to a fifth.
It is also interesting to note the geography of the new plants under construction around the world. Let’s start from Europe, where the France is building a new reactor in Flamanville. There Russia he wants to build another 11 by 2030. Going against the trend Germany, which wants to bring nuclear retirement in the coming years. There Turkey has started work on its first plant, which is expected to go into operation in 2023, the same year that the first plant in Bangladesh will open its doors. Iran and the United Arab Emirates, both with only one operational reactor, plan to open more in the coming years. South Korea is building another 4, while India at the beginning of 2020 it was working on 7 new reactors. However, the greatest impulse for growth comes from China. At the beginning of 2021, according to World Nuclear Assciation data, 16 of the 54 reactors under construction worldwide were in China. A tension towards nuclear power increased after the announcement by the government of the goal of carbon neutrality to be achieved by 2060.
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