“Old Is Gold?”

Abstract

AbstractClimate objectives, as well as the recent objectives of energy sobriety and security in response to crises, have underpinned a call for the urgent development of nuclear generation capacity. At the same time, recent events have highlighted fragilities in nuclear infrastructures, both in their operation and in their design and construction. This chapter focuses on the French case to examine the conditions under which the nuclear industry can provide an appropriate response to climate change, as well as the risks and vulnerabilities associated with a nuclear revival. In particular, we analyze the two regimes at the heart of this revival: the extension and the acceleration regimes. We show that the interplay between nuclear power and climate change calls into question the social and temporal scales at which risks need to be defined and governed.