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What chance
China
(or HK?)
4.
Not surprisingly the latest incident has caused a strong reaction in the press and political opinion of all shades here. The main trends are bitter criticism of French complacency and incompetence, and a corresponding increase in credibility for critics of nuclear energy. Jup Weber for example, the "Alternative Green" MP has hitherto been very much a fringe figure, but he has now gained credit for publicly pointing to the cooling system at Cattenom as a danger point before the latest incident. The Luxembourgers are aware that Luxembourg counts for very little in French eyes and are therefore clutching at every hint of concern in neighbouring countries, particularly Germany where the Saar government appear to be almost as concerned as the Luxembourgers, though the federal government give little away.
5. As a marker for the future I should mention that there is also some public concern here about the large nuclear power station whose construction has apparently just begun at Chooz. Chooz is ideally situated from the French point of view, at the tip of a finger of French territory projecting into Belgium down the Meuse Valley. It will pour its cooling water into the Meuse just before it leaves French territory, as Cattenom does with the Mosel. It is surrounded on three sides by Belgian territory and is only 70 kms from here.
Yours ever,
Oliver
Cc:
Chanceries:
Paris Bonn
Brussels
R O Miles
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