Nuclear Energy in France and Japan
Uploaded by noeinz on Jul 20, 2015
Nuclear Energy in France and Japan
Since Albert Einstein found his most famous work: mass-energy equivalence (E=MC^2), nuclear energy is a highly controversial topic all the time. A nuclear plant is more environmentally friendly than a fossil fuel power plant. Moreover, the main resource, the uranium, supply will last for three-thousand years. Despite these advantages of nuclear plants, many people believe nuclear power plants are too risky because of nuclear radiation. I would like to analyze the nuclear plant through two countries: France and Japan.
France is the most generous country concerning nuclear power. According to the World Nuclear Association (WNA), seventy-seven percent of total electricity produced by nuclear plants in 2014, which is the number one in the world. It seems like there was no barrier about the nuclear power in France. There are certain reasons that French trust the nuclear plant more than other power plants.
Historically, France never experienced a serious nuclear accident like over level five on the International Nuclear and Radiological Event Scale (INES). This is the reason why France public confidence in nuclear power is higher than other countries. In addition, the first oil crisis in 1973 influenced the economy in France enormously because France did not have an indigenous energy sources. Hence, they increased a ratio of nuclear energy, and it has been successful so far.
Economically, France is the world’s largest net exporter of electricity. In other words, France is providing their remaining electricity to nearby European countries such as Switzerland, Italy, and Belgium. According to the electricity report for 2014 from Réseau de transport d’électricité (RTE), a trade balance of electricity in 2014 is sixty-five terawatt-hours (TWh). Which means the electricity is a huge revenue for France.
Unlike France, nuclear power in Japan is very controversial. Before Fukushima Daiichi accident, around thirty percent of total electricity produced by nuclear. According to the 2014 annual report from Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA), Japan has forty-eight operational reactors, which is the third in the world. However, Japan generates only 1.7 percent of the electricity by nuclear plants in 2014. In addition, the anti-nuclear movement has become more widespread.
Historically, Japan has a ‘nuclear allergy’. Japan is the only country in the world to have suffered from atomic bombings, and there are many small and big accidents related by the nuclear energy – especially, radiation. Despite of the risk of radiation, Japan continued to focus on nuclear power because...