Even France to prioritize renewable over nuclear energy

French ecology minister, Nathalie Kosciusko-Morizet, has announced plans for France to step up its investments in renewable energy, throwing into doubt future nuclear power expansion in the country. France gets 80% of its electricity from its 58 reactors. "Our objective is to rebalance the energy mix in favour of renewables,” Kosciusko-Morizet told the Financial Times.  Regarding the future of nuclear, she told the FT: "We are investing in [nuclear] safety, not in growth objectives as we are doing in renewables." France is launching a bid for five new offshore wind farms.

Sign the petition for a referendum on nuclear in France

They did it in Italy; now it has to happen in France. A staggering 95% of Italians voting in their June referendum supported a permanent ban on nuclear power in Italy. Please sign the French petition to demand a similar referendum in France.

Areva of France takes full advantage of Fukushima nuclear catastrophe

In an article entitled "French nuclear power lobbyists used Fukushima smear campaign to promote own business," the Mainichi Daily News reports that the French nuclear establishment was playing a double game in the wake of the Fukushima nuclear catastrophe. While French President Nicolas Sarkozy and even CEO of Areva Anne Lauvergeon were in Tokyo offering their full support to the Japanese prime minister and Japanese federal government, Areva lobbyists were busily handing out booklets to U.S. Congress Members portraying the catastrophe as peculiar to Japan, and impossible with Areva reactors. The Areva sales team was so forceful in its sales pitch that it even convinced Tokyo Electric Power Company to choose it to provide the water decontamination system at Fukushima Daiichi -- which has failed repeatedly in the past few weeks. The article also reports that Jeffrey Immelt, General Electric's Chairman and CEO as well as President Obama's job creation czar, dodged meetings with Japanese federal government officials and questions from reporters for fear of being held liable for the catastrophe involving four GE Boiling Water Reactors of the Mark 1 design.

Adieu at last to Areva's "Atomic Anne"

Anne Lauvergeon has been ousted as the CEO of Areva, the mostly government-owned French energy corporation. Lauvergeon was bounced before the conclusion of her term and replaced by Luc Oursel, Areva’s head of marketing and projects. Under Lauvergeon Areva was plagued by construction delays and cost overruns on a nuclear plant in Finland, as well as spats with Electricite de France, the French state utility. Beyond Nuclear protested the hypocrisy of the selection of Lauvergeon as keynote speaker at a non-proliferation conference in Washington, DC in 2009. Areva is responsible for the proliferation of nuclear technology across the globe, which can lead - and has - to the development of nuclear weapons programs.

Areva backs off African mines and US reactors

Areva may proceed more slowly with spending on African mines and plant construction in the U.S. The decision was designed to mitigate the negative effects on the company's cash flow and debt. Areva fell 93 cents, or 3.4 percent, to 26.27 euros at 1:21 p.m. in Paris. The stock has dropped 28 percent this year.