This book raises awareness of the « damage caused by the dogmatism of elected environmentalists who want to replace nuclear energy with renewable energy (RE) at all costs, at the expense of colossal financial expenditures » whereas France, decades ago, had the cheapest energy cost thanks to its nuclear fleet.
It first highlights the fact that most environmentalists are committed to mobilizing for the « anything but nuclear power » regardless of a rational ecological approach. To do so, they have « used fear », at the expense of a scientific rational proportion of low-carbon energy via the nuclear technology. It results in Germany relaunching polluting coal-fired power plants in 2022 (war in Ukraine), for compensating the effects of Angela Merkel’s 2011 decision to close nuclear power plants arguing for REs « allegedly creating jobs ». Illustrated by relevant figures, the author mentions that the subsidized REs destroy on average 2.2 “grey” jobs when creating one “green” job in the sector. The author emphasizes the « fearful demagogy of environmentalists », who have, for decades, pushed Europe towards an utopian energy future dominated by renewable energies.
The consequences of this situation are the decline in competitiveness of European companies as well as companies relocating to the United States resulting ultimately in job losses.
In the second part of the book, the author analyses the question of the optimum energy mix for the the ecological, economic and societal transitions. As expected, he recognises that with (1) a relative lower cost of a nuclear power plant compared to a wind power equivalent, (2) the extension of existing ones thanks to safety know-how, (3) a necessity to comply with the objectives of the 2050 plan, nuclear power remains unavoidable. For the author, the future of our economic future will depend above all on a rational (energy at controlled cost) rather than an emotional (fear) attitude. The ultimate goal of this book is to encourage politicians to take it up and make the right decisions.
Pascal Wets (civil engineer) is a business consultant and former Professor at SUPELEC and at the post-graduate institute of the Technological University of Compiègne.
Note written by Claude GEORGELET
