French scientists discovered natural radioactivity and explored its properties early in the history of nuclear science. France was involved in nuclear research prior to WW II and, following the war, the government created the Commissariat à l'Énergie Atomique to fund and guide research. In the 1950s, the emphasis was on nuclear weapons research but progress was made on civilian use and the first nuclear reactor in France started in 1963.
After the oil crisis in 1973, France’s Prime Minister, Pierre Messmer, announced the Messmer plan. With few energy resource of its own, France was going to start a massive nuclear power program with the goal of generating all of its electricity from nuclear power. The plan called for eighty nuclear power plants by 1985 and one hundred seventy plants by the year 2000. In actuality, fifty six reactors were built and put into operation by 1990.
Today, about eighty percent of France’s electrical energy is generated by nuclear reactors. The reactors generate around four hundred and twenty five terawatts. This makes France the most nuclear powered nation on Earth. France generated the lowest amount of carbon dioxide per unit of GDP of any nation on Earth and it also exports the most electricity to other nations.
France’s 59 reactors are managed by the Électricité de France (EDF) company which has eighty five percent in government hands. France’s reactors are not being used at full capacity all the time because of low demand. This is a problem because the costs of operation are relatively constant so the return over operating costs is lower than it could be. Another company, Avera, is owned mostly by the French government and acts something like the U.S. Department of Energy.
In 2006, the government asked Areva and EDF to build a next generation nuclear reactor to be known as the European Pressurized Reactor (EPR). EDF was hurt by the 2008 recession and is heavily in debt. The EPR project is plagued by cost overruns and delays with a current projection of 2016 for completion. EDF has said that if continued political and economic problems caused further cost overruns and delays for the EPR, the new type of reactor could be replaced by a cheaper and simpler French-Japanese design.
The Fukushima disaster in 2011 has reverberated throughout the world and all countries that utilize nuclear power to reevaluate the further use of nuclear power to generate electricity. France was no exception but after consideration, France is still going to continue its dependence on nuclear power. However, the head of the French nuclear safety agency said that France really needs to upgrade the safety and security features and procedures at all of its nuclear plants. This will, of course, result to an increase in the price of electricity.
When François Hollande was elected President of France in 2012, it became probable that there would be a partial phase out of nuclear power in France. His party is in favor of closing twenty four of the older reactors by the year 2025. With the uncertainty of politics in France, this could change at the next Presidential election, of course.
Great Seal of France:
