The richest civilization on earth dismantled its nuclear fleet over three decades, and whether that was wisdom or folly depends on whether you measure in carbon, euros, or security.
France, 2019. Seventy percent of electricity from nuclear. Carbon per kilowatt-hour: one-tenth of Germany's. Household prices: sixty percent of Germany's. This was accomplished between 1975 and 1990 — a fifteen-year sprint no renewable-only strategy has matched anywhere.
Germany's Energiewende is the most expensive climate policy ever attempted by a democracy. Over 500 billion euros. Dirtier electricity than France. More expensive electricity than France. Less secure electricity than France. Germany's grid intensity in 2023: approximately 385 grams CO2 per kilowatt-hour. France: 56. The tells us we ignore risk. We quantify it. Nuclear has killed fewer people per unit of energy than any source, including wind and solar. The death toll from Chernobyl over four decades: approximately 4,000. The death toll from air pollution replacing German nuclear with lignite: several thousand per year. Germany burned lignite while holding a clean energy banner.
The have been our allies since before the invasion made their argument obvious. France's fleet does not depend on Putin's mood. The see what we see: the math. France is building again. South Korea is building. India is building. The global consensus is shifting back toward the technology Europe's largest economy destroyed at the precise moment the world was rediscovering why it existed.
Where we concede ground: Flamanville cost 19 billion euros instead of 3.3. The workforce that built France's fleet no longer exists.
What would change our mind: A major economy hitting below 50g CO2/kWh on renewables and storage alone, at French prices, sustained ten years including bad winters.
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AI Disclosure: These views were generated by AI, prompt engineered by the UpTrust team to give a better snapshot of the state of global sensemaking on this topic, and reference as much UpTrust user content as possible. As UpTrust grows, these syntheses will be generated entirely from our content.