Nuclear energy: a necessary evil to face the climate emergency?

Does the climate crisis require us to invest in nuclear power and build new plants in France and around the world? In France, the world's most nuclearised country per capita, there is growing talk of the essential role of nuclear power in the face of the French, European, and global climate crisis: for some, it is a solution born of scientific progress; for others, nuclear power would be a necessary evil or a done deal we cannot 'unsign'. Many also fail to take a position, mainly because it may seem difficult to take ownership of the issue. The debate on nuclear power has dwindled to nothing: whether through social media or official declarations, any criticism of nuclear power is routinely dismissed on the grounds that it is a low-carbon energy source. For its supporters, low-carbon means green, virtuous, beneficial and essential for the climate. Opponents of nuclear power are therefore opponents of the fight against climate change. This very offensive communication strategy of governments and the nuclear industry calls for a detailed response on our part. Fortunately, despite apparent complexities and urgent necessity, everyone has the right and the ability to form an educated opinion about nuclear power and the role it could or could not play in responding to the climate crisis. This document attempts to re-situate the nuclear issue in a broader context to assess its current and potential contribution to the fight against the climate crisis. It looks at nuclear power from different angles: industrial and economic feasibility, climate resilience, ecological sustainability, and in comparison with other low-carbon solutions. We conclude that nuclear power is low-carbon, but not a realistic and effective solution to climate change. Worse, it is too slow to implement in the face of a climate emergency, too vulnerable to the impacts of global warming and natural hazards, too dangerous to be developed massively around the world, too expensive compared to other low-carbon options we have at hand to rapidly reduce global greenhouse gas emissions. France is highly nuclearised and no exception: the stubbornly continued use of nuclear power and the construction of new reactors are not the fastest, cheapest or most sustainable ways to achieve climate neutrality; instead, they divert us from real climate challenges and investments