Three weeks ago I asked why France would "slash" their nuclear program. It could also be asked, how were they able build such a large and successful nuclear industry at all? Its scope is beyond any other nation's.
A PBS producer interviewed France's General Director for Energy and Raw Materials at the Ministry of Industry, M. Mandil, to find out. He had the answers.
Primarily, it seems the French think in a practical way about their energy needs and resources: "no oil, no gas, no coal, no choice." Not having significant natural energy resources themselves, they were dependent on outside circumstances and therefore vulnerable.
But they are well aware that there are risks that must be handled with great skill. A small-town baker reacted to the 1986 Chernobyl disaster with confident French thinking about their own expertise:
"the Russians, he says, were not "up to the task. But the French scientists and engineers are."
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