atw 2018-02

atw Vol. 63 (2018) | Issue 2 ı February
134
NUCLEAR TODAY
Links to reference
sources:
President Macron
interview: http://
reut.rs/2EIkEgM
Trump on Iran: http://
nyti.ms/2mF1Ecp
UK statement on
Euratom: http://bit.ly/
2mGhrbf
Author
John Shepherd
nuclear 24
41a Beoley Road West
St George’s
Redditch B98 8LR,
United Kingdom
Playing Politics with Nuclear
is All Part of the Game
John Shepherd
If a week is a long time in politics – a statement attributed to former British prime minister Harold Wilson – then what
about a month, or several months? Just eight months ago, Emmanuel Macron was elected president of France. Among
his portfolio of political pledges was one to respect reductions in the country’s nuclear park set out by his predecessor,
Francois Hollande.
Hollande’s administration had established an energy
transition law which set a target of reducing the share of
nuclear in France’s electricity mix to 50 % by 2025 from
around 75 %.
Fast forward to November 2017 and Macron’s environment
minister, Nicolas Hulot, admitted that this could not
be done – at least in the timeframe envisaged – without
pushing up CO2 emissions, endangering security of power
supply and the not-so-insignificant matter of risking
thousands of jobs. Instead, Hulot said the government
would come up with a more “realistic” target.
Now move forward into early 2018 and France has
signed a deal for closer cooperation in the development of
civil nuclear with the China National Nuclear Corporation
(CNNC). The agreement, signed by Framatome and CNNC
during Macron’s visit to Beijing in January, also renewed a
contract under which Framatome will supply nuclear fuel
components to CNNC.
As Macron’s visit came to a close, he issued a joint statement
with his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, to express
“their high appreciation of the active cooperation between
the two countries in the field of civilian nuclear energy and
support a deepening of cooperation in the entire nuclear
cycle”.
Now this was indeed good news. France has had more
than its fair share of ups and downs in the state-backed
nuclear sector in recent years. But it begs the question, why
would Macron want to expand civil nuclear activities in
cooperation with an overseas partner if, back home, the
goal is to reduce the reliance on nuclear?
The answer is politics. As Macron was quoted telling
France 2 television in an interview last December: “I don’t
idolise nuclear energy at all. But I think you have to pick
your battle. My priority in France, Europe and internationally
is CO 2 emissions and (global) warming.”
A leader who certainly does not shy away from battles is
US president Donald Trump, who has also had nuclear
power in his sights – but he too gives mixed messages on
nuclear.
On the domestic front, President Trump has been
outspoken in his support for the use of civil nuclear energy
as indeed he has for rejuvenating his country’s coal
industry. However, proposals that paved the way for the US
to offer incentives to power plants such as coal and nuclear
in a bid to improve the resilience of the nation's power grid,
were recently rejected by federal energy regulators.
But Trump’s reason for backing nuclear does not appear
to be linked to a desire to help the climate – or maybe it
does – depending it seems on his temperament from one
day to the next. You will recall that he pulled the US out of
the Paris climate accord reached on his predecessor’s
watch.
But then a few weeks ago Trump said the US could
go “go back” into the Paris deal. “We could conceivably go
back in... I feel very strongly about the environment,” the
president said during a joint news conference with
Norwegian prime minister Erna Solberg.
In a related move, Trump has demanded that European
allies agree to rewriting a deal struck with Iran in 2015 –
which lifted economic sanctions in exchange for Tehran
limiting its nuclear ambitions beyond power generation –
otherwise he said the US would pull out of the deal in the
coming months, effectively “killing it”.
The UK is also attempting a balancing act on matters
nuclear. The government has confirmed Britain will exit
Euratom at the same time as it withdraws from membership
of the European Union on 29 March 2019.
Greg Clark, secretary of state for business, energy and
industrial strategy, told parliament the government’s
“No.1 priority is continuity for the nuclear sector”. Clark
said: “It is vitally important that our departure from the EU
does not jeopardise this success, and it is in the interests of
both the EU and the UK that our relationship should
continue to be as close as possible.”
Tom Greatrex, chief executive officer of the UK's Nuclear
Industry Association, warned that even with a suitable
transition being negotiated for Britain’s exit from the EU
there “remains much work for the government to do
to prevent the significant disruption that industry is
concerned about.”
Greatrex is of course correct. The UK has barely limped
through the first phase of talks relating to Brexit and time
is not on the side of either party. So for a minister to be
talking about leaving Euratom – while at the same time
continuing to enjoy the benefits that Euratom brings the
UK – is surprising to say the least.
Of course all these political machinations could be
applied to any sector or policy and in any country. But the
nuclear industry has long accepted that it can be used as a
political football, to be kicked into goal or off the pitch
completely depending on the situation at hand.
I am reminded of a quotation from Otto von Bismarck,
the ‘Iron Chancellor’, who said: “Politics is the art of the
possible, the attainable – the art of the next best.”
No political leader wants the lights going off and
hurting homes, hospitals and businesses while they are in
charge. They also don’t want to be seen as responsible for
driving up unemployment.
In terms of nuclear, whether cheerleaders for the
technology or not, as the French president said: “You have
to pick your battle.” The nuclear industry is all too familiar
with fighting battles – defending itself from attack while
quietly going about its task of safely supplying clean
electricity to power-hungry grids around the world.
Our industry therefore has power in the political sense
too, but with power comes responsibility – nuclear leaders
know that only too well and now is as good as time as ever
to lead by example.
Nuclear Today
Playing Politics with Nuclear is All Part of the Game ı John Shepherd