September 22nd, 2009 | 2:54 pm

Thomas Freidman on Nuclear Power

In this Sunday’s column, Pulitzer Prize winning author Thomas Friedman calls for more political bravery and will in regards to the US energy policy and energy independence…and in doing so he also brings up the role of nuclear power:

“France today generates nearly 80 percent of its electricity from nuclear power plants, and it has managed to deal with all the radioactive waste issues without any problems or panics. And us? We get about 20 percent and have not been able or willing to build one new nuclear plant since the Three Mile Island accident in 1979, even though that accident led to no deaths or injuries to plant workers or neighbors. We’re too afraid to store nuclear waste deep in Nevada’s Yucca Mountain — totally safe — at a time when French mayors clamor to have reactors in their towns to create jobs. In short, the French stayed the course on clean nuclear power, despite Three Mile Island and Chernobyl, and we ran for cover.”

  • Max Epstein
    I see the "France produces 80% of its electricity from nuclear" quote everywhere, but that 80% figure includes in the denominator all electricity produced by France, which is a net exporter of electricity. When you exclude net exports, the figure comes to just above 88%. C'mon guys, don't be modest!

    From IEA (2006):

    Total Electricity Production: 574473 GWh
    .....
    "Domestic Supply" net of import/exports: 511138 GWh
    Production from Nuclear: 450191GWh

    http://www.iea.org/Textbase/stats/electricitydata.asp?COUNTRY_CODE=FR
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