Nuclear power, a solution to save the climate?

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France 3

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S. Feydel, M. Anglade, A. Tranchant – France 3

France Televisions

Emmanuel Macron has announced that he wants to build new nuclear reactors in France. In the country, this energy divides because if it emits less greenhouse gases, it also presents certain risks.

Nuclear power is already one of the themes of the next presidential election in 2022. The many candidates are already fretting on the issue. If Emmanuel Macron has announced that he wants “relaunch the construction of nuclear reactors“in France, for his part, the environmental candidate Yannick Jadot believes that”always repeating the same stupidity, it will never make a successDefenders of nuclear power believe that it is an essential ally in the fight against climate change.

Electricity of nuclear origin is the production that emits the least greenhouse gases, with only six grams of carbon CO2 per kilowatt hour, against seven for wind, 55 for solar or worse coal with more than ‘a kilo.

The IPCC (International Group of Experts on Climate) has studied several scenarios in order to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees. Several issues must be taken into account, such as the financial aspect. “The cost of new nuclear power plants has increased dramatically while the cost of renewables and storage solutions has decreased dramatically. “, underlines Philippe Quirion, CNRS CIRED research director. Nuclear power also presents “inevitably safety risks, accident risks“, adds Yves Marignac, nuclear consultant.


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