Beyond Nuclear: Documents Debunk Myth of French Nuclear 'Success'
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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 27, 2008
7:31 AM
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CONTACT: Beyond Nuclear
Linda Gunter 301.270.2209 (o) or 301.455.5655 (cell)
linda@beyondnuclear.org
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Documents Debunk Myth of French Nuclear 'Success'
Reality a Radioactive Mess: Reprocessing and Plutonium Fuel Have Cost Billions
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TAKOMA PARK, MARYLAND - February 27 - Nuclear power and reprocessing in France have been a costly mistake and have contaminated groundwater, air and the sea, according to a new collection of documents released today by Beyond Nuclear.
A fully footnoted fact sheet – Nuclear Power and France: Debunking the Myths – and a pamphlet – Nuclear Power in France: Setting the Record Straight – show how the French decision to reprocess reactor fuel as well as to manufacture and use plutonium fuel in civilian reactors has burdened the French economy and created one of the most complex radioactive waste challenges in the world. Full details are found on the Beyond Nuclear Web page, France and Nuclear Power.
“The notion that the French nuclear example should be followed in the U.S. is a dangerous fraud perpetrated by nuclear merchants desperate for a sale,” said Linda Gunter of Beyond Nuclear and author of the exposé on nuclear France. “France has accumulated more than 80 tons of weapons-usable plutonium as a result of reprocessing. The reactors that use plutonium fuel still produce plutonium in the waste fuel for which there is no disposal solution. France has no high-level radioactive waste repository, and liquid radioactive discharges from its reprocessing plant have contaminated seas as far as the Arctic Circle.”
Among the findings are:
* admissions by a French government report that choosing reprocessing and plutonium fuel cost the country billions of francs* more than generating nuclear electricity alone;
* evidence of elevated rates of leukemia around the French reprocessing site, linked to aerial and water-borne radioactive discharges;
* widespread radioactive contamination of important areas such as the Champagne wine region; and
* an increase in international nuclear weapons proliferation and capabilities as a result of the export of French nuclear technology and know-how, particularly to India, Pakistan, Iran and Iraq.
Furthermore, the new French reactor design currently under construction in Finland and planned for at least six U.S. sites is beset by technical problems, delays and cost-overruns, the Beyond Nuclear documents show. A French government document, kept secret until it was made public by an anti-nuclear activist, also showed that the French reactor could not withstand an attack using a jet airliner.
“At the start of the Iraq War we witnessed embarrassing attempts to rename ‘French fries’ and destroy French wine,” Gunter added. “Yet all the time, our government was quite happy to do business with the French nuclear industry and encourage a truly dangerous French export – nuclear power plants.
“With these documents we have put together a comprehensive indictment of the French nuclear industry,” Gunter concluded. “It is patently absurd to hold up French nuclear power as anything other than a disaster in radioactive waste management and increased security risks.”
Beyond Nuclear aims to educate and activate the public about the connections between nuclear power and nuclear weapons and the need to abandon both to safeguard our future. Beyond Nuclear advocates for an energy future that is sustainable, benign and democratic. The Beyond Nuclear team works with diverse partners and allies to provide the public, government officials, and the media with the critical information necessary to move humanity toward a world beyond nuclear. www.beyondnuclear.org
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