This crisis must lead us to rethink our energy policy

For Chattanooga, the small town of Tennessee, the three decades have not been pink. In 1979, the accident of Three Mile Island, Pennsylvania nuclear power, stopped the development of the atom in the United States. And the local plant of the Combustion Engineering Company, which employees 5,000 produced tanks of the US reactors in the 1960s, was extinguished in small firearms.

Thirty years later, Chattanooga hopes to know the fate of Le Creusot, in France, which was resurrected by the revival of nuclear power. Alstom, the French group of electrical and railway equipment, has chosen it to install its new plant turbines. Located on the Tennessee, to achieve by River Route 80 of U.S. nuclear sites, it is especially designed to serve this sector.

"We are very excited to see the nuclear industry to return to Chattanooga", was poured last Thursday during the inauguration of the Governor of Tennessee Phil Bredesen. The democratic elected belongs to those who believe in the revival of the atom, despite his poussifs debut across the Atlantic, and sees the black tide caused by BP in the Gulf of the Mexico a reason to revive the sector. "This crisis must lead us to rethink our energy policy."

The argument: this catastrophe shows that the country cannot depend solely fossil fuels, such as oil, gas or coal, and that it must turn to renewable energy and nuclear power, which emits no CO2.

Fragile acceptability

The French nuclear industry, in any case, stands ready. Alstom has spent $ 300 million in this brand new facility. For its part, Areva will invest $ 360 million in a components factory in Newport News, Virginia, and $ 2 billion in a site of enrichment, in Idaho. It is also in this spirit that EDF was 4.5 billion in a joint venture with the Constellation electrician.

But the renaissance expected takes time. The acceptability of nuclear power remains fragile in the United States. "And the funding remains a major problem," said Mike Howard, of the Institute for research on electrical energy (Epri). Barack Obama promised to 18 to 54 billion credits guaranteed envelope to build nuclear power plants, but nothing formal has been signed...

According to Hervé Machenaud, in charge of the engineering and production at EDF, "the renaissance is irreversible, but it will be with a US industry today is in a State of Refoundation". "". "People want jobs, this is what they want to hear," confirms George Vanderheyden, President of Unistar Nuclear Energy, the joint-venture between Constellation and EDF. The French connection account create 1140 jobs overseas, including 300 in Chattanooga.

Renovate the existing

ALSTOM is serene. "There will be demand in the United States, said its CEO Patrick Kron.". Expressed in the nuclear, coal, or gas, we will be there. "In fact, the site of Chattanooga may assemble its turbines giant Arabelle for nuclear power plants but for gas-fired power plants also. "The plant was designed for nuclear, but it can do everything," said Aurélien Maurice, Director of the project.

The group put on the renovation of existing, thermal reactors or other. A refurbishment which could be a hundred of us nuclear plants. It allows to lengthen forty to sixty years of their life expectancy, while increasing their capacity. According to Guy Chardon, number two of Alstom Power, some plants may even go up to 90 years. The operation, a few hundreds of millions of dollars against 5 to 10 billion for a new reactor, this may well be the priority of electricians...