Part 3 of 3 Parts (Please read Parts 1 and 2 first)
France finds itself in the difficult position this winter of leaning more heavily on its coal fired power plants, importing electricity from Germany and relying on natural gas reserves stored in a warren of underground caves to make it through the winter.
Part 2 of 2 Parts (Please read Part 1 first)
EDF is over forty-five billion dollars in debt. It has fallen further into financial difficulty and announced that its 2022 profit would drop by thirty billion dollars because of the problems with its reactors. In addition, there is a government effort to force EDF to provide artificially cheap electricity for business and households.
Part 1 of 3 Parts
Engineers have spread out through nuclear power plants across France in recent months. They are inspecting reactors for signs of wear and tear including cracks and corrosion. Hundreds of expert welders have been recruited to repair any problems they find in cooling circuits. Stress tests of metals in reactors are being conducted to check for any safety problems.
Some believe that nuclear energy is a key component of decarbonizing our economy. However, big conventional nuclear power reactors are complex and expensive. In order to make nuclear energy more available and attractive, developers have designed a variety of small modular reactors (SMRs) that have more flexibility and offer lower initial costs.