Closing shop
france may soon shut down the country's controversial fast-breeder Superphoenix reactor. At present, France is the world's largest generator of nuclear power. The closure would be a victory for the green movement in the country. The move to close the plant has come 20 years ahead of schedule. At the same time, the government has announced to reopen an older and probably low-secure reactor. It shows that France's nuclear lobby is still strong.
Superphoenix is France's first full-scale working model of a new generation of nuclear technology designed to follow the more common pressurised water reactors. Countries like the us , Britain and Germany abandoned their plans for such reactors almost 20 years ago, because these countries faced stiff opposition from environmentalists. At present, Russia, Kazakstan, India and Japan operate breeder reactors, but all are considerably smaller than the 1,240-megawatt Superphoenix version. Three nonfatal accidents at Superphoenix since it went into operation helped tarnish the plant's public image.
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