Anonymous Report This Comment
Date: October 02, 2005 11:19AM

Gravelines nuclear power plant (France), steam generator replacement.
Framatome ANP has replaced 79 steam generators in Europe and in the United States, i.e. more than any other industrialist in the world.

Anonymous Report This Comment
Date: October 02, 2005 11:20AM

Framatome ANP supplies the most comprehensive array of nuclear services in the world.
We currently perform the full range of inspection and maintenance services on all types of PWR and BWR reactors, based on the most advanced techniques available today.

Anonymous Report This Comment
Date: October 02, 2005 11:23AM

Frametome is an Areva subsidiary. World leader in the design and construction of nuclear power plants, and the supply of fuel, maintenance and modernization services.

Anonymous Report This Comment
Date: October 02, 2005 11:29AM

French technology is nothing to laugh about. When you want to post a photo of a 40 year old French car in a wrecking yard, every one else LAUGHS in your pathetic face. If you worked in high technology as I do, you would realize that the US is not the only country. Europe and Japan are both kicking are asses in many fields -- not all, but many.

Anonymous Report This Comment
Date: October 02, 2005 12:46PM

yeah the japs do kick the ass in most technological aspects, and i agree, if you look at tech 40 years old then its obviously gonna suck, where did america have 40 years ago? slave labour and donkeys... wow high tech.... we are gonna look back on this photo 40 years from now and laugh about how primitive it was

pro_junior Report This Comment
Date: October 02, 2005 04:49PM

only a little bit shiny

John_Stone Report This Comment
Date: October 02, 2005 04:52PM

Not to sneeze at French reactors or anything, just speaking generally: The sooner we consider nuclear power primitive, the better, IMHO. At least until we can make the waste non-radioactive somehow.

John_Stone Report This Comment
Date: October 02, 2005 04:52PM

What are the french doing with the waste? I ask out of sheer curiosity.

Anonymous Report This Comment
Date: October 02, 2005 05:15PM

Actually, the French really are the world leaders in the development of nuclear technology. We haven't built a new nuclear power plant in the U.S. in over 30 years because of the aftermath of Three Mile Island.

pro_junior Report This Comment
Date: October 02, 2005 06:09PM

seems a bit phallic...

Anonymous Report This Comment
Date: October 02, 2005 08:06PM

"where did america have 40 years ago? slave labour and donkeys"
You ignorant idiot, 50 years ago the United States was the the pioneering nation in the development of nuclear technology. Ever here of the Manhattan Project?
And yes, the major problem with nuclear power is the incredibly toxic waste that NOBODY knows what to do with.

Anonymous Report This Comment
Date: October 02, 2005 09:09PM

Exactly right in NJ!!

Anonymous Report This Comment
Date: October 02, 2005 09:35PM

>>What are the french doing with the waste? I ask out of sheer curiosity.

France is 20 years ahead of anyone in this field and processes nuclear waste for many foreign countries as well as their own. France generates 80% of its electricity with nuclear generated power with 60 power plants.

"The COGEMA (part of AREVA, www.cogema.com) La Hague site, located on the western tip of the Cotentin Peninsula in Normandy France, reprocesses spent power reactor fuel to recycle reusable energy materials-uranium and plutonium-and to condition the waste into suitable final form."

Here is a reprocessing example of COGEMA's contract with the power companies of Japan :

Executive summary

The first transport of MOX fuel from Europe to Japan initiated in 1999 the process of recycled nuclear fuel return from Europe to Japan; it complements the transport of spent nuclear fuel from Japan to Europe (over 160 shipments) and the vitrified residues return from France to Japan (approximately 1 shipment a year for about a decade). Similar MOX fuel transports will be performed in the years to come on a regular basis.

In February 1997, the Japanese government stated that, in accordance with the country's long-term nuclear energy commitment, it was necessary for Japan to start utilising MOX fuel in its commercial nuclear reactors as soon as possible. Later that month, the Japanese electric power companies unveiled their plans to utilise MOX fuel in 16 to 18 reactors by 2010.
MOX fuel is manufactured in Europe with plutonium recovered at British and French reprocessing facilities under long-standing commercial contracts between BNFL (UK), COGEMA (France) and Japanese electric power companies. BNFL and COGEMA have an extensive track record in safely manufacturing, and transporting MOX fuel to various utilities in Europe.

How is radioactive waste disposed of?

In the nuclear industry, storage and disposal mean very different things: a nuclear waste can be either stored temporarily or disposed of definitively. Low-level, short-lived waste packages are monitored, bar code labeled and routed to ANDRA's near-surface disposal facility near Soulaines in the Aube Department. They are stacked in concrete vaults and separated from each other by grout or gravel. The vault is sealed with an impermeable concrete slab. The vaults are monitored continuously and the location of each waste package in the vault is entered into the database.

Long-lived high- and medium-level waste is stored first, primarily at La Hague. In 2006, the French Parliament will make a decision on the final disposal method to be used for this long-lived nuclear waste.

There is much more to this information page.
This is taken from COGEMA's site at
[www.cogema.com]

John_Stone Report This Comment
Date: October 03, 2005 12:10AM

Thanks.

John_Stone Report This Comment
Date: October 03, 2005 12:12AM

George_in_New_Jersey@195176: Unfortunately, capitalists are anti-environment. More people need the environment than need money, so perhaps that is to say that hard-core capitalists are anti-human too.

Anonymous Report This Comment
Date: October 03, 2005 01:35AM

well actually the waste can be disposed of efficiently, the australians have nearly finished developing a tech called "synroc" it works by turning the uranium back in to its original harmless rock form, as it is non radioactive in this form it can be safely buried back in the mines where it came from.

and when i said slave labour and donkeys i was being *slighly* sarcastic, i dont think low of americans, just th 1% of them that are duds and no nothing about anything outside of america, one of our australia tv shows went over to times square with a map and asked about 40 americans to put a pin where they thought australia was, over 50% put it in america, some in artica, france, and one was in the pacific ocean, only 3 got it right (if you count putting it in bali as getting it right then there was 4)

Anonymous Report This Comment
Date: October 03, 2005 05:09AM

Would you all please sign on to "whogivesafuck.com" and discuss this matter further..

John_Stone Report This Comment
Date: October 03, 2005 06:14AM

If you don't give a fuck, then why do you bother posting a response? Or do you just need to talk so that someone will hear you?

148102: thanks for the info on synroc, sounds pretty amazing. I'll keep my eyes open for more news.

Anonymous Report This Comment
Date: October 04, 2005 05:21PM

"with a map and asked about 40 Americans to put a pin where they thought Australia was, over 50% put it in America"
The US is a different place. It is definitely more socially stratified or polarized than most nations. There are either very educated intelligent people or incredibly ignorant people. Unfortunately, the ignorant people tend to attract more attention and create a major image problem for the U.S. There is no way the TV show 'survey' is a statistically valid way to draw conclusions about American society. First of all New York is probably one of the most myopic insular self-centered regions of the U.S. Also, the more intelligent educated people were probably busy working instead of wandering around Times Square.
Still, it is ubelievable how ignorant a lot of Americans are, especially in this global communication era made possible by the internet.

Anonymous Report This Comment
Date: October 04, 2005 10:26PM

I'd have to agree with you 208121. I count my self lucky that I work for a company that has put me in 4 different countries in the last 10 years. It has been a real eye opener, and given me a real humbleness about being American. There are a lot of great people/countries out there!