The French Nuclear Industry Up Close

Last week, a group of NEI staffers took a group of representatives from think tanks, business and organized labor on a fact finding trip to France concerning that country's domestic nuclear energy program. One of the individuals on the trip was Matt Bennett, Vice President of Public Affairs for Third Way. He shared the following note with us:

I had the opportunity to travel to France to visit French nuclear facilities and meet with leading officials of the French nuclear industry with NEI. I found the trip and meetings enormously helpful – it significantly broadened my understanding of nuclear power, issues, particularly those relating to nuclear waste materials.

Our visit to tour the Areva reprocessing plant was especially instructive. Actually seeing the transport, handling, cooling, reprocessing and storage of nuclear waste had a huge impact on all of us who were first-timers to La Hague. The level of skill that the French have developed, exemplified by the astonishingly low levels of radiation exposure at the plant, really drove home the benefits of this process. Standing in the interim storage warehouse, with nine canisters of vitrified waste stacked below each of us, helped clarify how urgent it is that we bring the benefits of reprocessing back home.

Indeed, we all came back with the faith of the converted. Those of us on the trip, from think-tanks, business, labor, and the power industry – all returned to the US committed to helping move this country toward reprocessing nuclear fuel.

Back in April, Bennett wrote a memo at Third Way entitled, Another Inconvenient Truth: Solving Global Warming and Energy Security Requires Nuclear Power (PDF).

Give it a read. For more on the La Hague facility, click here.