Geography 3422A/B : French Nuclear Energy Under Pressure.docx
8 Nov 2012
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French nuclear energy under pressure 11/7/2012 6:10:00 pm. European pressurized reactor (epr) world"s most advanced nuclear reactor. Areva world"s only one-stop nuclear shop (uranium to fuel recycling) Operating loss in 2011 from slump in the value of uramin (uranium- mining firm) Went on hiring binge and expected rapid growth in sales before. Germany, switzerland, france, and belgium all opted to abandon nuclear power: new government will shut down a couple of reactors and freeze on new building. Even before fukushima, france"s epr hit snags: projects over-budget, behind schedule and steep price deterring customers. Fukushima proved value of paying extra for safer reactors such as. Epr and the need for fully passive systems (need no external power) which epr does not have. Biggest customer will be developing countries for which price is crucial. Electricitie de france (edf) areva"s biggest customer preparing to dump epr to a cheaper reactor in china: epr is very powerful, for some countries its capacity of.
