The French are just the latest European power to ditch ludicrous wind and solar generation targets in favour of nuclear power. And Britain is lining up to do much the same. Both have adopted net zero carbon oxide gas emissions targets, and the only way of meeting them is safe, reliable and affordable nuclear power.
The shift against chaotically intermittent wind and solar towards ever-reliable nuclear has become a continental shift.
The Swedes have joined the Finns in a nuclear power renaissance driven by the understanding that attempting to run on sunshine and breezes can only end in economic disaster. Last year, the Swedes ditched their impossible-to-meet 100% renewable energy target. The plan is to build 10 large-scale nuclear plants, with plans to lift their ban on uranium mining giving it access its own fuel supply, independent of Russia.
Now, much to the horror of rent-seekers and the wind and sun cult, the French and the Brits have also signed up to Europe’s nuclear renaissance, as the team from Jo Nova reports below.
France dumps Renewables Target, goes back to Nuclear instead, risking Global Pariah Status
Jo Nova Blog
Jo Nova
10 January 2024
In a radical move, the French government has quietly dropped their renewables targets from their draft energy bill, risking being seen as unfashionable losers in billionaire ski clubs. The nation that, forty years ago, built 56 nuclear reactors in 15 years has decided they just need to build another 6 to 14 new nuclear plants to reach “Net Zero” by 2050. This puts them in danger of being one of the only nations on Earth that might reach their target.
This, of course, is terrible for the renewables industry as it risks exposing the wanton frivolity and utterly superfluous nature of the wind and solar subsidy farms. If France can do this without the bird chopping, the slave labor and the lithium bombs, so can nearly everywhere else.
It’s a big change from 2014 when France aimed to reduce nuclear power to just 50% by 2025.
As NetZeroWatch says in their email newsletter, this is a win::
France drops renewables targets, prioritises nuclear in new energy bill
The proposed text, which is slated to go before the cabinet early next month and then be submitted to lawmakers, reaffirms France’s commitment to nuclear power to ensure “energy sovereignty”.
So France wants “energy security” as opposed to energy slavery where nations hope their enemies will be nice to them when they get cold.
The proposed text affirms “the sustainable choice of using nuclear energy as a competitive and carbon-free” source of electricity, and targets the construction of at least six but as many as 14 new reactors to pull off the transition to clean energy and meet climate change goals.
Climate activists (also known as renewables salesmen) are tying themselves in knots as France solves the net zero non-problem without their pet socialist technologies.
“It’s a terrible step back,” said Arnaud Gosse, a lawyer specialising in environmental law.
“If you only quantify nuclear power, you do not know the share of non-renewable energies. As a result, nuclear gets prioritised and, depending on remaining coverage needs, non-renewables will be the subject of floating (future) decrees. It’s no longer a mix,” Gosse said.
Lord help us all, “it’s no longer a mix”, what a disaster, and a few environmental lawyers might be out of a job.
In the end renewable energy is free, clean and cheaper than anything else they tell us, but somehow the government still has to force people to use it and set targets or no one will build it. The unwashed masses must be too stupid.
As the World Nuclear Association points out:
“France is the world’s largest net exporter of electricity due to its very low cost of generation, and gains over €3 billion per year from this.“
France is saving Germany and others from their own exorbitant experiments. Who will save Australia?
UPDATE: The bottom line is that the French government is testing out the idea of dropping their renewables target. Presumably they are waiting to see how big the protest and pressure is to keep those targets. But this is an important sign that those at the highest levels of French government would prefer to ignore renewables.
Jo Nova Blog
UK unveils plans for nuclear power expansion to boost energy independence
France24
News Wires
11 January 2024
The Civil Nuclear Roadmap includes exploring the construction of a major new power station, £300 million ($382 million) of investment to produce an advanced uranium fuel and “smarter regulation”.
Taken together, the measures would quadruple UK nuclear power by 2050 to 24 gigawatts, enough to provide a quarter of the UK’s electricity needs.
“Nuclear is the perfect antidote to the energy challenges facing Britain — it’s green, cheaper in the long-term and will ensure the UK’s energy security,” said Prime Minister Rishi Sunak.
“This is the right long-term decision and is the next step in our commitment to nuclear power, which puts us on course to achieve net zero by 2050 in a measured and sustainable way,” he added.
The government says it is committed to the 2050 net zero target but has come under fire after announcing last summer it will issue “hundreds” of new oil and gas licences in the North Sea.
It is also grappling with a cost-of-living crisis partly caused by the spike in oil and gas prices following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Energy minister Claire Coutinho said the plans would mean the UK would “never again be held to ransom over energy by tyrants like Vladimir Putin”.
The government said the proposals represented “the biggest expansion of nuclear power for 70 years”, adding it would “reduce electricity bills, support thousands of jobs and improve UK energy security”.
Construction
The most eye-catching proposal is the possible construction of another power station as big as Sizewell in east England, construction on which is due to begin this year, and Hinkley in west England, which is currently under construction.
Both power stations will be capable of powering six million homes each.
The UK currently has nine operational nuclear reactors on five sites but many are nearing the end of their operating lives.
Six reactors on three sites have been shut down since 2021 and will be dismantled.
However, operator EDF announced in March that it was extending the life of two British power plants — Heysham 1 and Hartlepool.
The UK intends to build up to eight new reactors by 2050.
The government said on Sunday it will invest up to £300 million into producing the HALEU fuel required for new high-tech reactors, and which currently is only commercially produced in Russia.
“The UK will lead the way from its North West production hub to provide the world with this form of uranium fuel, with the first plant aiming to be operational early in the next decade,” said the government.
Regulators will also be allowed to assess projects while designs are finalised in a loosening of rules aimed at speeding along construction plans.
France 24
STOP THESE THINGS 
Good above the reach of tsunami potential.