20th century France took great pride in their fleet of nuclear power plants, which offered energy independence to a nation devoid of fossil fuels. Times change, and 2022 is the worst possible time to have reactor troubles.

Don't think everyone appreciates how huge French nuclear drop off is!!

Looked at this in 2020 when I was at @EmberClimate – drop in French nuclear output that year (-44TWh) was almost enough to cancel out EU-wide increase in wind and solar (+51TWh).

Now look at the blue line! pic.twitter.com/VKuLhWvR1B

— Euan Graham (@EuanGraham9) August 24, 2022

Apparently the issue stems from the “frenchification” of a proven Westinghouse design.