Fukushima spurs nuclear opposition (EU - K)

[kristopher]

...The lack of popularity is clearly apparent in Denmark, as a new Megafon opinion poll suggests that 40 percent of the population “opposes nuclear power and cannot be convinced otherwise”.

Prior to the COP15 climate summit in Copenhagen in 2009 that figure was only 31 percent. Back then there was a strong focus on how nuclear power could reduce CO2 emissions, and many of those who opposed nuclear power said they could be convinced to favour it.

Likewise, the number of Danes who wholeheartedly support nuclear power has gone down from 12 percent in 2009 to seven percent today.

...“The government’s climate commission concluded last autumn that nuclear power is not worthwhile, neither from an environmental nor an economical perspective,” Friis told Politiken newspaper. “Internationally there is no doubt that the renaissance that nuclear power has seen recently is over.”

http://www.cphpost.dk/news/technology/51520-fukushima-spurs-nuclear-opposition.html

...the number of Danes who wholeheartedly support nuclear power has gone down from 12 percent in 2009 to seven percent today"
I'd bet that is the same in France, they too were at 12% solid support for fission before Fukushima.

[PamW]

1. Big Deal, Denmark wasn't a nuclear power mainstay even before Fukushima

..The lack of popularity is clearly apparent in Denmark,
================================

Denmark doesn't have any nuclear power plants.

Although Denmark is known for its wind farms, Denmark still gets
the bulk of its electric energy from COAL:

http://www.world-nuclear.org/info/inf99.html

Denmark gets most of its electricity from coal, and a substantial amount from wind.

In 2007, Denmark generated 39.2 billion kWh of electricity gross, 51% (19.9 billion kWh) of this from coal, 18% (6.9 billion kWh) from gas and 18% (7.2 billion kWh) from wind.


Only 18% of Denmark's electric energy comes from wind. The bulk of Denmark's electric
energy about 70% comes from fossil fuels. Of the countries in Western Europe, Denmark
along with the Netherlands, Belgium, and Germany is one of the highest in CO2 emissions per capita:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_carbon_dioxide_emissions_per_capita

PamW

[kristopher]

4. Great! You've elevated your posts to include valid information for a change...

Now can you tell me what lesson can we draw from the fact that we get nearly 20% of our electricity from nuclear while producing 2X the percapita CO2 emissions than Denmark?

[flamingdem]

2. As Europe turns against nuclear there will be more pressure to do so here

and more investment and innovation to apply here, good news.

[madokie]

3. I've always felt the French were sold a pig in a poke

and being proud they won't admit it.

rec

[FBaggins]

5. Yes... anti-nukes always have a trouble understanding France.

They get close to all of their electricity from nuclear, operate it in a clean and safe fashion, build them comparatively quickly/cheaply, and pay less for their power than most parts of Europe (while boosting their balance of trade). They're also a comparatively progressive country.

Pretty effectively refuting most of the anti-nuke debating points.

I guess I would have trouble accepting their existence if I were in your shoes too. :)

[kristopher]

6. France didn't build their fission capacity quickly or cheaply.

Since you are making the claim, perhaps you could supply a trend line for reactor costs over time in France. Did their experience from early reactor construction result in a steadily declining price trend, did it remain constant, or did the cost line rise?

What has been the average time to plan and construct reactors there?

[FBaggins]

7. Sure they did

They build 56 reactors in 15 years and entirely transformed their electricity generation from imported oil to nuclear power. How long has it taken any nation to build a comparable amount or wind/solar? Oh... right... nobody has gotten there yet.

As for cost... did you miss that it said they pay less for power than the rest of Europe?

[kristopher]

8. That does not support your claims of quickly and cheaply.

Another case of you making things up? In fact costs escalated substantially over the course of construction and the average time to plan and build a reactor in France is 14 years. Pointing vaguely to the public rates for French electricity ignores the back end taxpayer costs for a heavily subsidized and nationalized industry that less than 12% of the French want more of.

You are not able to provide any sort of definitive number on cost because of the fact that the actual costs for the fission boilers are a tightly held state secret. Do you think such secrecy in the energy sector is a good thing that all nations should also emulate?

[FBaggins]

9. I guess I should have said "comparatively" quickly/cheaply

Oh wait... I did.

the average time to plan and build a reactor in France is 14 years.

That's nonsense. They built most of their fleet in that time and started the first three the same year that the Messmer Plan was announced.

Pointing vaguely to the public rates for French electricity ignores the back end taxpayer costs

Which you can only hint at without actually supporting, right? Because it's all a conspiracy (oh wait... that's "tightly held state secret")

that less than 12% of the French want more of.

Disingenuous spin. They already idle plants at periods of low demand. Not "wanting more" when you already have all you need isn't the same thing as wanting to get rid of it.

Do you think such secrecy in the energy sector is a good thing that all nations should also emulate?

If they're exporting power to other countries that could benefit from knowing how much it costs them to produce? Sure. That makes more sense in a state-owned scenario... but still.

[kristopher]

11. I don''t think they mind admitting it.

Nuclear power is not as popular in France as it is here (especially since the country turned hard right). Only 12% of French want to pursue new fission, the vast majority prefer to move to renewables.

[CJvR]

10. Denmark's main...

...experience with nuclear power is whining over the Swedish Barsebäck nuclear power station until it was eventually shut down in one of the worst cases of political prostitution I have ever seen. This aversion did not prevent them from buying parts from the decomissioning powerstation to install in their own coal firing plant with it's for many years non-functioning filter devices.