Hulot makes u-turn on nuclear power

GREEN presidential candidate Nicolas Hulot has made a u-turn on nuclear power saying France should gradually wind down the technology over decades.

The ecology campaigner and former TV presenter was formerly a rarity among his environmentalist peers in supporting France’s reliance on nuclear power.

Mr Hulot, who intends to stand on an ecological platform in next year’s presidential elections, has said he used to be convinced by the arguments of engineers who said that nuclear power stations were safe. However the Fukushima accident in Japan has now convinced him otherwise.

He made the announcement before taking part in a demonstration calling for the closure of France’s oldest nuclear power station, Fessenheim, in Alsace and marking 25 years since the Chernobyl explosion.

However he is not in favour of a sudden withdrawal from the technology. It should be possible “in a few decades” with suitable development of alternatives, he said.

Responding to accusations that his change of mind was opportunist, to appeal to green voters, he said: “I don’t tailor my convictions according to what I think green activists want to hear. The facts have demonstrated implacably that I was wrong.”

Photo: Olivier Tétard