France uses nuclear power to reduce emissions and energy dependence on ‘enemies’

France has strengthened its commitment to nuclear power as a way to cut pollutant emissions as well as reduce dependence on “now hostile” countries such as Russia, French experts told Lousa.

“The war in Ukraine and manipulation [do fornecimento] gas Vladimir Putin (Russian President) emphasized our dependence on (…) fuel from countries that are now enemies,” said Phuc-Vinh Nguyen, an energy policy specialist at the Jacques Delors Institute, in an interview with Lusa.

According to Thibault Michel, a specialist at the Center for Energy and Climate at the French Institute of International Relations (Ifri), the French government appears to have made a “rational choice” to decarbonize the country using nuclear energy, since nuclear energy is already in use. developed in France and is a low carbon energy source.

The choice is “a way of supporting French industry,” Michel told Lusa, adding that it is also “a way of developing energy sovereignty in the European Union (EU), the importance of which has been demonstrated, for example, by the war in Ukraine.”

Thibault Michel also noted that in the case of nuclear power, “there is a supply dependency: France needs, for example, to import uranium, mainly from Kazakhstan, Niger, Uzbekistan and Namibia,” but “since it is easy to store, France has large uranium reserves,” – he pointed out.

“This energy can be exported, which is already happening, because the country produces more energy than it consumes, and the excess is released into the market to help countries supply low-carbon electricity,” Nguyen said.

The benefits of this energy “depend on the ultimate cost of the projects,” over the long term (10 to 20 years), “which is relatively difficult to estimate,” Michel said, noting that the cost of materials can change greatly over that period. time.

Asked about the European Nuclear Alliance, led by France, experts support the idea and believe it could mean funding nuclear energy.

“The alliance represents a real change in what we have seen as EU countries in recent decades, it is something unimaginable,” Michel said, adding that “the formation of such a large alliance was an important development, as was the inclusion of the European Nuclear Policy Energy Commission in decarbonization legislation.

But the expert warned that it is necessary to “see concrete achievements and achievements in the future to assess whether this was truly a turning point or not” and that the European elections in June complicate forecasts, since the development of nuclear power in Europe also depends on EU member states and , therefore, from new cooperation.

Nguyen believes this could be a way to finance nuclear energy by “giving momentum to ongoing and upcoming negotiations,” mainly at the European Commission.

“New ways of financing are always welcome, what is happening now with the attempt to structure an alliance on small modular reactors will be beneficial since our opponents are China, Russia and the United States,” he said, adding that the country plans to build six new ones by 2050 reactors.

Experts also said that despite all the reluctance to pursue nuclear power due to disasters such as Chernobyl or Fukushima, the issue is the ability to deal with safety issues.

France currently has 56 nuclear reactors and produces 70% of its electricity from nuclear power, and to reduce dependence on fossil fuels it is also investing in renewable energy, Nguyen said.

According to Michel, to have an efficient and flexible electricity system, “it is also necessary to develop renewable energy sources, there is no need to choose between the two types of energy that are necessary for the energy transition.”

“It is necessary that consumption and production of electricity be equal, and since storing electricity has until now been difficult, one way to equalize consumption values ​​is to control the level of production,” added the Ifri expert.

In the case of renewable energy sources such as wind or solar energy, “they are intermittent and therefore there is less control over their production levels,” he said, noting that “flexible energy sources, on the other hand, according to data, , fossil fuels and nuclear energy, and therefore nuclear energy can provide flexibility to the electrical system without greenhouse gas emissions.”