John McCain Looks to French Model

Der Spiegel Online ^ | 06/30/2008 | John Carey

[21twelve]

I don’t mind a politician using the “fight global warming” mantra if it helps sell an idea like nuclear power or energy independence. However, when they start talking “cap and trade” and “big oil” taxes - forget it.

[GreenHornet]

It’s a winning issue. Who can oppose French models?

Barney Frank

[Entrepreneur]

Of course the French model looks good from the distance. It's when you get close that the situation starts getting hairy.

[seoul62]

The arm pit needs a waxing......../Just Asking - seoul62......

[sefarkas]

The French reactors are hardly all identical. The French plants are split between two designs licensed from Westinghouse, the 3-loop design and the 4-loop design. The new AREVA plants are a Gen-III+ over the 4-loop design -- one now under construction in France, another in Finland. The sameness in operating standards comes from having one quasi-government agency/company called EdF run plant operations. Having one organization run all plants is a nice concept if you are a good socialist. Or possibly you enjoy being on the wrong end of monopoly pricing? Because the French plants (the nuclear island) are by and large similar to Westinghouse plants in America, the safety of each is outstanding on both sides of the Atlantic.

Cheaper? Cheaper to build? Hardly. The logistics and industrial manufacturing constraints faced by all of the reactor vendors make construction expensive no matter the geography of the plant. Cheaper to operate? Cheaper for the customer? "Cheaper" is a relative term sir, that you ought to defend by comparing electric kwh prices in a largely nuclear utility in America (e.g., Philadelphia Electric, Commonwealth Edison) to the rates paid in France. If you know where to find rate information for the French, please enlighten.