The Western World and Nuclear Energy, Part 4

Transcription

1 The Western World and Nuclear Energy, Part 4 Theodore Sandberg October 19, On June 18, 2014, Segolene Royal proposed a bill to limit France s nuclear energy output and turn the country s energy to more renewable resource. France is the second largest nuclear energy generator, just behind the US, housing 58 nuclear plants around the country. As a French energy and environment minister, Ms. Royal states that France will not be exiting nuclear [1], as the French nuclear industry houses roughly 200,000 jobs, but proposed the bill under the claim that We must diversify our energy sources [2]. The bill is one of many plans that were introduced in response to the 2011 Fukushima plant incident in Japan, and have been set in motion to help France s nuclear energy dependency. The bill proposed by Ms. Royal aims to reduce France s nuclear energy from 75% (as of 2014) down to 50% by the year 2025, and increase the country s renewable sources up to 40% from their current 15% by Along with energy reduction, the bill s plans could ultimately close almost half of the country s power plants, up to 25 of the 58 by Thesis: France s choice to move away from nuclear energy is one of the results of the large antinuclear movement that swept through much of Central Europe during the 1970s. The story of France s switch from a rising nuclear powerhouse to a declining nuclear market can be explained from these protests that took place throughout much or rural France as well as the West German border. Through the impact of protests spanning throughout several countries and even participation from churches lead to France s decision to begin the long process of moving away from nuclear powers as a form of energy. After the second World War, France was in tatters being both economically and psychologically devastated [3]. Immediately, France began its reconstruction effort, creating a multitude of goals to reach in economics, industry, and power. Despite the large success of their plans, atomic energy s success started on the belief that a nuclear program would both elevate France s stature in international politics and accelerate its industrial and economic recovery [4]. After the U.S. had bombed Hiroshima and Nagasaki, it was clear to see the potential in atomic energy not just for warfare, but the possibility of an alternate source of national energy. France had begun their focus on building their nuclear source, and as early as 1951, had already built heavy-water experimental reactors [5], paving the way to establishing a concrete presence in the nuclear industry. The rapid pace of developing nuclear plants was impressive to say the least, catching the eyes of many across the globe, including reporters such as Walter Sullivan from the New York Times. To inform interested parties about the advancements France had made, Sullivan wrote an article detailing how France expects to derive 68 percent of its electricity from nuclear power plants making France probably the most fully nuclear-powered country on earth [6]. Sullivan explains 1 / 5

2 that one site in particular was set to defy even the American expectations of nuclear energy, soon to be called Superphénix will produce 1,200 megawatts [7] of energy. The plant model would be based on the breeder, which differs from ordinary reactors in that in can breed more fuel than it consumes [8]. Sullivan s article informs readers that France has made tremendous progress on their energy outputs, implying that the country will easily become the world nuclear powerhouse by the end of the century [9]. Despite the impressive feat, there was concern for how Frances stride towards going nuclear would impact the country and its people. Questions arose regarding the meanings of modernization, the nature of its relationship to their values, and the desirability of having the state so involved in regional affairs [10]. Those who started the protests however, were prominently locals and residents from small villages and rural areas. Farmers and rural residents perceived nuclear power stations as an injustice imposed on them by outside powers [11]. Since many of them did not really require these power plants to thrive, they saw that many of these power plants would impact locals interests and material goods, such as farming and land. One such example would be a legal battle between the Wyhl power plant and a grain mill owner, Siegfried Gopper, who argued that the plants need for water would cause groundwater levels to sink, thereby rendering his mill stream unusable [12]. Similar cases sparked outrage in these smaller communities, voicing concerns regarding the fear of power plants, and the impact on their surrounding environment. As tensions rose between protestors and nuclear companies over nuclear energy, protestors took a stand in 1977 at the Creys-Malville site. With many eyes still on France s energy market, London Times reporter Pearce Wright tries to analyze the situation from both sides to give readers a better understanding of the overall situation. Wright stated that the protest is a stand against France s first plutonium-burning fast breeder reactor [13], and at first, Wright agrees with the world s expectation of this new reactor, saying that in theory, it is a hundred times more efficient in the use of nuclear fuels [14], and that the anticipation is understandable. Wright also identifies that with the possible benefits this new reactor brings, there is also potential disaster, citing that calls for a new safety assessment [15]. Both pieces signify Wright s position on the matter and that he is willing to see both sides arguments and hoping to see the possible resolution to this. Wright recognizes what could be the main conflict between the two parties, identifying that the concern of nuclear waste hinges on arguments about the reserves or uranium to meet nuclear energy needs [16], and that by finding the answer to this could possible resolve the debate between protestor and nuclear company. French villages were not the only protesters to challenge nuclear companies, but concerns from other European countries had begun to surface, turning anti-nuclear protests into an anti-nuclear movement. Germany had taken a stance against nuclear power companies alongside France after stating their worry over the nuclear industrialization spreading beyond the planned industrial zone in Brunsbuttel [13] and spreading into the countryside, along with other environmentalist concerns. The attention of these protests had begun to increase dramatically, especially with the 2 / 5

3 rise in more controversial, violent measures. Germans revived traditions of rebellion going back to the German Peasants War [14], consisting of focusing their anger towards regional governments that were responsible for nuclear power plant plans. Arson was also a topic of protest, as attacks against supplier of construction materials [15], which were claimed that kind of violence was unknown to the regionalist protesters. Even as the anti-nuclear protests begun gaining momentum in France and Germany, they had also picked up more religious protestors, fighting for the morals of the anti-nuclear movement. One example was the German Protestants, who at first tried to mediate between violent protesters and the police [20], they began to openly protest the nuclear companies because of the environmentalists that were appointed in the church. Despite taking inspirations from the American civil rights movement or the stance of the Polish union Solidarnosc [21], protestors not related to the church had taken advantage of their newly-found allies, using them to claim that it would be a moral duty to fight [22] against nuclear companies. Despite some of the advantages that non-church protestors took of the German protestants, any presence of religious protestors at all, left an impact on the anti-nuclear movement scattered throughout west Germany and France. Citations: [1] Geraldine Amiel, Europe News: France to Limit Nuclear Power, Wall Street Journal, Europe, June 19, 2014, PQ/16?accountid=14902 (accessed September 9, 2016) [2] Wall Street Journal, Europe, June 19, 2014 [3] Gabrielle Hecht, Political Designs: Nuclear Reactors and National Policy in Postwar France, Technology and Culture Vol. 35, Issue 4, (October, 1994), 658 [4] Hecht, Nuclear Reactors and National Policy in Postwar France, 660 [5] Hecht, Nuclear Reactors and National Policy in Postwar France, 664 [6] Walter Sullivan. France Leading to Shift to Nuclear Power, New York Times, 8 Jul /search.proquest.com/hnpnewyorktimes/docview/ /pageviewpdf/babdf85caa27407b PQ/7?accountid=14902 [7] New York Times, July 8, 1976 [8] New York Times, July 8, / 5

4 [9] New York Times, July 8, 1976 [10] Gabrielle Hect, Peasants, Engineers, and Atomic Cathedrals: Narrating Modernization in Postwar Provincial France, French Historical Studies, Vol. 20, Issue 3, (Summer, 1997), 395 [11] Andrew S. Tompkins, Better Active Than Radioactive!: Anti-Nuclear Protest in 1970s France and West Germany (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2016),31. [12] Tompkins, Better Active Than Radioactive!, 37 [13] Pearce Wright. "French mass protest carries a lesson for British nuclear energy plans." Times [London, England] 1 Aug. 1977, TTDA&userGroupName=pull21986&tabID=T003&docPage=article&searchType=AdvancedSearch Form&docId=CS &type=multipage&contentSet=LTO&version=1.0(accessed September 26, 2016) [14] London Times, August 1, 1977 [15] London Times, August 1, 1977 [16] London Times, August 1, 1977 [17] Tompkins, Better Active Than Radioactive!, 37 [18] Tompkins, Better Active Than Radioactive!, 39 [19] Tompkins, Better Active Than Radioactive!, 40 [20] Michael Schüring, West German Protestants and the Campaign against Nuclear Technology, (Cambridge University Press,2012) 758 [21] Schüring, West German Protestants and the Campaign against Nuclear Technology, 759 [22] Schüring, West German Protestants and the Campaign against Nuclear Technology, 761 Primary Source Database: The Times Digital Archive Primary Source Search Date Limiter: Before 1980, there seemed to be quite a lot of protest regarding France s use of nuclear energy and nuclear arms in the mid to late 1970s, which could prove to be an interesting issue. 4 / 5

5 Powered by TCPDF ( Fall Matthew Unangst Historical Research Questions: How did these protests in the mid-1970s affect both the French people and French government on their views of the importance of Nuclear Energy? Did the Creys- Malville reactor have any importance in France s decision in the 21 st century to decline their use of nuclear energy? How did the French government handle the conflicts between protestors and nuclear companies? Geographic Focus: France, Germany (May also include other first world countries with access to alternate energy sources such as Britian, Germany, Japan, and the United States) Search Terms: France OR French, Nuclear*, Power, Energ*, Protest* 5 / 5