Can the French nuclear industry avoid meltdown?

Nuclear power seems tailor-made for this . It emits next to . It provides reliable baseload electricity, vital when sun isn’t drenching solar panels or wind isn’t wafting through turbine blades. And it does not leave its operators hostage to dictators like Vladimir Putin, who has throttled the supply of Russian natural gas to Europe in response to Western sanctions over his war in Ukraine. With memories of the Fukushima meltdown in Japan 11 years ago fading, from Britain to India view fission as a critical part of their future energy mix. Even in nuclear-sceptical Germany, which vowed to shut its nuclear reactors in that disaster’s wake, the government has extended the lifetime of the three remaining ones until April 2023.If there is one country that should already be enjoying the benefits of abundant carbon- and autocrat-free power, it is France. A fleet of 56 reactors make up around 70% of its electricity-generating capacity, the highest share in the world and more than three times the figure in America. The average French resident emits just 4.5 tonnes of CO a year, much less than gas-addled Germans (7.9 tonnes) or car-crazy Americans (14.7 tonnes). As for Mr Putin’s energy blackmail, on European minds again as a mild autumn gives way to a frigid winter, you might expect the French to react with a Gallic shrug.