The Idaho Falls area would find some interesting reading in a new Alternet article about the French nuclear power industry and the company Areva, the largest nuclear power business – albeit mostly owned by the French government – in the world, which is starting to undertake major investments in the Idaho Falls area.

From the article: “France’s monopolistic dependency on splitting the atom to turn on the lights has come with a huge price – not only financially but in environmental and health costs. In reality, France is a radioactive mess, additionally burdened with an overwhelming amount of radioactive waste, much of which is simply dispersed into the surrounding environment. The situation is complicated by the fact that Areva, the French nuclear corporation and biggest atomic operator in the world, is almost wholly owned by the French government. Consequently, France’s President Nicolas Sarkozy has gone into high marketing gear — the Washington Post anointed him ‘the world’s most aggressive nuclear salesman’ – pushing nuclear power to any country willing to pay, most notably in the Middle East.”

Reading of some significance, even in a time of economic trouble.

CONTEXT FOR THE CRITIQUE A reader points out that the writer of the AlterNet piece is an anti-nuclear activist, which should be noted in context.

The reader, from Idaho Falls, adds, “I find the article a mishmash of facts, some logical inferences, and far more disingenuous propaganda. I find overall that it lacks integrity and credibility, though that’s obviously just my opinion. I suspect our area of the state – very familiar and technically savvy in ways nuclear – wouldn’t be particularly surprised, much less swayed, though they might be agitated.”