The French Nuclear Program

Abstract

Publisher Summary This chapter presents the French nuclear power program. Although it is obvious that a country's energy consumption and economic growth are very tightly linked, studies show that the growth rates of energy demand and gross national product (GNP) are not identical. Their ratio changes considerably depending on the country and the period of time considered. Between 1960 and 1973, in the industrial countries as a whole, the growth in demand for energy and the growth in GNP were practically the same. At that time, energy was cheap and abundant. However, the first oil crisis in 1973 brought about a considerable change. The French case was exemplary of the reaction of the industrialized countries to what was called the oil shock. The efficiency of energy use is difficult to measure, considering the industrial and economic structures specific to each country. If one takes as an indicative parameter the quantity of energy necessary to produce one unit of GNP, it can be noted that, as early as 1960, France was in a good position with less than 0.6 toe per $1000 (1976 value) of G N P, whereas the United States needed roughly 1.1 toe and the United Kingdom 1.3 toe. The French oil and gas program, undertaken at the end of 1979, aimed at intensifying exploration on the national territory.