ANALYSIS-New French reactor to supply nuclear-shy neighbours
23 Jul 2008 11:34:08 GMT Source: Reuters
By Muriel Boselli PARIS, July 23 (Reuters) - Atomic power champion France is building a new generation reactor largely to supply power for neighbours that are wary of having nuclear plants, although its own need is for more flexible sources of energy such as gas. President Nicolas Sarkozy said earlier this month France would build a European Pressurised Reactor (EPR) by 2017, bringing to 60 the number of nuclear reactors in Europe's biggest atomic energy nation. But many argue France needs other types of power generation, such as gas-fired or coal-fired plants that can be switched on and off quickly to meet peak demand, rather than more reactors steadily producing electricity. "In a strictly national framework we don't really need an EPR," said Jean-Marie Chevalier, head of the geopolitical energy centre at Paris Dauphine University. "But if we position ourselves at a European level, the bloc needs new baseload output capacity, so a second EPR in France could to a large extent provide electricity to its neighbours," Chevalier added. Nuclear accounts for only a third of Europe's electricity but makes up 80 percent of French generation, allowing France to export power to its neighbours most of the time. France's decision to reduce its dependence on imported oil and fossil fuels during the oil crises of the 1970s by building dozens of reactors has seen nuclear share of electricity production rise tenfold since 1974. Many western European countries built nuclear plants in the 1970s but their investments never reached the level seen in France and most have shunned building more plants since the Chernobyl disaster in 1986. Finland is the only other country building a nuclear plant in western Europe, while concerns over carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions causing climate change and over rising fuel prices have prompted Britain to decide to give nuclear another go. Other countries remain opposed to new build. But while nations like Italy and Germany have spurned nuclear, France's neighbours have been quietly importing large amounts of its nuclear power and that flow will probably grow when the proposed 1,650-megawatt reactor opens. "France can help its neighbours access CO2-free electricity at very competitive prices," said Colette Lewiner, head of the energy division at consultancy Capgemini. France started building its first EPR in December 2007 at Flamanville in the northern part of the country and the 3.6-billion euro ($5.7 billion) plant is expected to start production in 2012. SHOWCASE FOR REACTOR EXPORTS Some analysts argue France needs to show the EPRs -- developed by French reactor maker Areva <CEPFi.PA> and Germany's Siemens <SIEGn.DE) -- are effective and needed at home if it wants to sell them in countries warming to nuclear energy again. "France is pushing quite hard to sell this new nuclear model so it would be a bit strange to market them abroad without having them at home," said analyst Koen Dierckx at KBC Securities in Brussels. Sarkozy has placed the French nuclear industry at the heart of his foreign policy. Areva has sold two EPRs to China and hopes to sell more to Britain, the United States, South Africa, and Abu Dhabi at a time when oil prices are close to $130 a barrel and many countries want to cut their CO2 emissions. "Each EPR replacing a coal plant means cutting 11 million tonnes of CO2," Sarkozy said when unveiling his plans to build France's second EPR reactor. NUCLEAR OPPOSITION Environmentalists and anti-nuclear groups have attacked the decision to build a new reactor. "It's a big mistake on an energy, economical, industrial and environmental level," said Yannick Jadot, campaign director at Greenpeace France. Frederic Marillier, who is in charge of nuclear issues at Greenpeace France, said the decision to build the Flamanville EPR was already difficult to justify. "Studies have shown that we don't need new nuclear reactors before 2025-2030," he said. "For us, it's quite clearly a political move, which sticks to the logic (of selling EPRs) developed by Sarkozy since the beginning of his presidency." Environmentalists said the announcement coincided with the start of France's presidency of the European Union on July 1. "There are very important talks under way on climate and energy, and up to now nuclear did not have a place," Marillier said. "It's an attempt to place nuclear in this context." France is seeking to reach an agreement to implement a European climate package, which sets binding targets to cut greenhouse gas emissions by a fifth and consume 20 percent of all energy from renewable sources by 2020. But green groups say pushing nuclear power forward could delay France's drive to promote renewable energies at home. "If some believe that France can become Europe's nuclear reactor and leave renewables and energy efficiency to others, this does not work," Marillier said. (Reporting by Muriel Boselli, editing by Daniel Fineren and Anthony Barker)
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