Purple Diary
[June 15 2011]
French public opposition rising in wake of the no-nukes renaissance!
First Germany, now Italy and maybe soon Switzerland. Exiting the nuclear, the no-nukes movement is spreading across Europe, with Switzerland to examine a proposal to phase out the country’s nuclear plants by 2034. Yet, despite this, French president Nicolas Sarkozy declared on Monday at his party meeting that it is “obviously out of the question to come out of the nuclear”, emphasising France’s energy independence and French “savoir-faire” in atomic energy.
As one of the world’s most nuclear dependent countries, producing over 80% of its total power from 58 reactors, public concern seems to be growing. In the most recent survey conducted by the IFOP, a majority 62% of French expressed a preference for a phasing out of nuclear energy over 25-30 years, with only 22% supporting the building of new nuclear power stations. With the European commission’s environmental measures wanting 20% of Europe’s energy mix to come from renewables by 2020 – countries’ reforms will hopefully continue. With the force of public opposition rising in Europe, it is the birth of a new outlook – on energy and ourselves – that is needed. The choice is ours!
Photo and text Sophie Pinchetti
