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Delta Force
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The Eurodif gaseous diffusion plant required so much electricity that three of the four 955 megawatt nuclear reactors at Tricastin were allocated to meet to its power demands. In fact the Eurodif plant was such a large industrial consumer that the reactors were were built close by to minimize transmission losses, and as of 2012 it was consuming the equivalent of 4.5% of France's total electrical demand. After Eurodif switched to using gas centrifuge technology at least two of the reactors were freed up to provide power to other customers.
Nuclear power plants were less expensive in the 1970s and electricity demand was rapidly growing at that time, so building a massive nuclear power station to meet the needs of a single industrial consumer might not have seemed as radical at the time. For example, the Kingston coal fired power station was built to help meet the needs of Oak Ridge, and the Midland cogeneration plant in the United States was originally going to be a dual unit nuclear power station (it was completed as a natural gas plant) to provide heat and power to nearby chemical factories. Still, 3.6 gigawatts is a massive amount of power. Gas centrifuge technology was also undergoing rapid development for Pakistan's nuclear weapons program, and many of the components were imported from European suppliers.
Did the Eurodif project ever consider alternative enrichment technologies such as gas centrifuges or chemical enrichment (another French enrichment technology)? Furthermore, since the 1970s was a time of growth in nuclear power were there concerns that newer enrichment technologies might overtake Eurodif?
Nuclear power plants were less expensive in the 1970s and electricity demand was rapidly growing at that time, so building a massive nuclear power station to meet the needs of a single industrial consumer might not have seemed as radical at the time. For example, the Kingston coal fired power station was built to help meet the needs of Oak Ridge, and the Midland cogeneration plant in the United States was originally going to be a dual unit nuclear power station (it was completed as a natural gas plant) to provide heat and power to nearby chemical factories. Still, 3.6 gigawatts is a massive amount of power. Gas centrifuge technology was also undergoing rapid development for Pakistan's nuclear weapons program, and many of the components were imported from European suppliers.
Did the Eurodif project ever consider alternative enrichment technologies such as gas centrifuges or chemical enrichment (another French enrichment technology)? Furthermore, since the 1970s was a time of growth in nuclear power were there concerns that newer enrichment technologies might overtake Eurodif?