It is in the boots shot din that, on Saturday, January 22, one of the most peaceful men of the earth. Thich Nhat Hanh was the most famous and the most influential Zen monk of the world. Poet of impermanence and mindfulness, it has conquered millions of followers from its plum tree village in Périgord. But it has become increasingly difficult to stay Zen, these days, in Europe. A major crisis covers in Ukraine and the spectrum of the energy shortage on the Old Continent.
A conflict would have devastating consequences for its gas supply and put in full light what many do not want to see: nuclear power is essential to the European energy balance. Placed in the heart of Europe, the French nuclear water tower is essential to the regulation of a system that is primarily concerned with its seven immediate neighbors: Spain, Italy, Switzerland, Belgium, Luxembourg, Germany and Great Britain. EDF is the first European electricity exporter and one of the most important on the planet.
Lack of luck, in 2021, this fragile scheduling was upset. As a perfect storm, climatic, geopolitical and technical events have risen to provoke an energy crisis we will not leave soon. At the global scarcity, which diverted part of the gas production to Asia, tensions with Russia around Ukraine and finally the EDF setbacks. Here too, the Emm … fly in squadron, as Jacques Chirac said.
The cacophony settles
This time is the technology that is involved. The endless skid of the Flamanville Site (Manche) is demonstrating that EPR technology was probably not the right choice to revive nuclear technology in the world. Too big, too complex, these concrete and steel cathedrals cumulate the hazards, including China, the first country to have put them in production.
There are also serious maintenance problems that led to the five of the most powerful French reactors, with, again, the concern that the defects detected are found on other copies of the park. As a result, at the very moment when we need the French electricity, its production has never been so low for thirty years. No wonder prices fly away.
To relieve citizens and companies of an invoice explosion, the government calls for EDF contribution, asking him to support a share of consumer subsidies. The electrician, who finally recovers to gain a lot of money with rising courses, is insured and his employees even consider a strike for Wednesday, January 26. Finally, some European countries want to ban the nuclear of the European list of investments necessary for the energy transition. The cacophony settles and the miracle of mind advocated by the little Vietnamese monk is not for tomorrow. The awakening will wait.