Word: frenchness
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: all
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
Security breaches at nuclear power plants are never a laughing matter. But with oil prices at near-record levels and the rush on to find safe, clean sources of energy, news of leaks at two different French nuclear sites could not have come at a worse time. Concern over the incidents is rekindling questions about the safety of France's giant nuclear power grid and could complicate the country's quest to become the world's leading purveyor of nuclear technology...
...Fighting words indeed - and over much more than simply safe drinking water. Nearly 80% of France's electricity is nuclear-generated, and French giant Areva has made a massive international business of constructing and managing nuclear facilities. France has made nuclear power a national priority since the early 1970s as French governments of all political stripes sought to lessen the nation's dependence on foreign oil. The French public embraced nukes as the rest of Europe and the world said "no thanks." The result is France today has the second-largest nuclear network behind the U.S., and is the world...
...What is troubling about both recent French accidents is that they involved nuclear waste, the disposal of which is perhaps the major curb to nuclear power's appeal. Areva cited human error in the Tricastin incident and said it had fired the responsible director after an internal investigation found "evident lack of coordination" between administrative and working units had allowed contaminated waste to seep through the plant's theoretically impenetrable safety lining. Areva also faulted local operators for significant delays in alerting authorities once the breach had been identified...
...Though both cases have been assigned the lowest rating on the seven-point scale of nuclear accidents, officials are moving to protect France's nuclear reputation. Even before news of Friday's incident broke, French Ecology Minister Jean-Louis Borloo ordered inspections of all 58 French nuclear installations and checks on radiation levels in the underground aquifers surrounding them. Borloo stressed there was no grounds to anticipate additional breaches. "I don't want people feeling we're hiding anything from them," Borloo told the daily Le Parisien...
...That increasingly deadly role of booze among French youths has generated a lot of grim headlines in recent months. In response to a spate of fatal car accidents caused by young drunk drivers, French authorities announced in May that bars, discos and other late-night spots serving alcohol must provide Breathalyzers to clients preparing to take to the road. (It's still unclear who is legally responsible if inebriated drivers take the wheel anyway...