Lafayette, here we come!!!

The Network ‘SORTIR DU NUCLEAIRE’ is currently the main French anti-nuclear coalition, with a membership of over 700 organizations and more than 14,000 individual subscribers.

It is completely independent, entirely funded by donations and the subscriptions from its members.

Their mission is to unite everyone concerned with phasing out nuclear power, convince France to phase out nuclear power generation by rethinking its energy policy, improving the efficiency of electricity use, developing alternative and sustainable generation scenarios.

GNB spoke with press representative Stéphane Lhomme to learn that the unified media front presented by new French president Sarkozy, allied with French Greens, is deceptive.

The world press reported a French moratorium on new nuke construction, when it fact it's a moratorium on the siting of new construction. Since there are already over 100 sitings in France, this means nothing, allowing EDF to go forward with the construction of new nukes.

The 58 (most of them Westinghouse) reactors in France are rapidly aging and need to be decommissioned. Sherwood Martinelli discovered that no monies have been set aside by the French utility EDF for this decommissioning period, and therefor, without the profits generated from new construction, the French nuclear industry will quickly go bankrupt, facing billions in decommissioning costs. Sherwood is preparing a full report on the French situation.

GNB also learned from Stéphane Lhomme that during the very violent storm that blew through France a couple years ago, the nuclear power plant near Bordeaux, was completely flooded, much like the two Entergy nuclear power plants in New Orleans during Katrina, except in this case, the situation became so critical, it is believed that Bordeaux nearly escaped a major nuclear disaster.

GNB and Rock The Reactors will remain in close touch with "Sortir Du Nucleaire" to keep each other abreast of our activities. Stéphane Lhomme understands that to stop nuclear up the Hudson, also means stopping nuclear in his country, as the two are so closely inter-related.

EDF plays a big part in the funding of NuStart here in the USA, the organization beating the drum for a wave of new nuke construction to fuel the hydrogen economy.

There will be a large anti-nuclear demonstration in Marseille on November 10th.

For more information:
www.sortirdunucleaire.org