The Messmer Plan
How the Plan Came to Be:
The international 1973 oil crisis spurred France’s race to find a domestic source of energy. The crisis involved oil prices skyrocketing from $3 to $12 a barrel, sending nations dependent on foreign oil scrambling to cut costs or deal with the impossibly high cost of gasoline.
France’s Prime Minister, Pierre Messmer then decided to launch the Messmer Plan. The Messmer Plan called for dozens of nuclear reactors to be opened by 1985 and for 170 to be opened by 2000. As a result of the Plan, France constructed a total of 56 new reactors between the years of 1974 and 1989.
However, the Messmer Plan was enacted without any previous discussion or knowledge from the public. This resulted in criticism from the French public and opposing political parties accusing the ruling party as high-handed and authoritarian. Because of the Messmer Plan’s origins, debate did not necessarily form over the use of nuclear power as an energy source, but rather focused on the lack of public and parliamentary discussion before its enactment.
Opposition to the Plan:
Antinuclear groups responded to the Messmer Plan as strongly as political parties. These organizations, such as the Amis de la Terre (Friends of the Earth) were joined by other groups with economic, technological and scientific backgrounds. As a result of the rising antinuclear movement, the Minister of Industry Michel Ornano declared his intent to publicize details of the French nuclear power plans, and that residents of various regions were be able to debate specific locations for reactors.
The lack of transparency on the government’s part was a major factor in public criticism of the Messmer Plan. However, economists also criticized the plan believing that it was “too much, too fast”. Scientific and economic criticism fueled the public debate regarding the Messmer Plan. France’s antinuclear movement grew in strength and numbers, and began adopting a policy of aggressive and violent tactics to make their cause known.
However, these aggressive tactics reached their peak during an occupation of the Creys-Malville nuclear plant construction site. Tens of thousands of demonstrators occupied the site on July 30th, 1977 where the French police cleared the site using tear gas and concussion grenades. One person was killed and five were seriously wounded, with more than one hundred demonstrators suffering gashes or minor injuries.
The international 1973 oil crisis spurred France’s race to find a domestic source of energy. The crisis involved oil prices skyrocketing from $3 to $12 a barrel, sending nations dependent on foreign oil scrambling to cut costs or deal with the impossibly high cost of gasoline.
France’s Prime Minister, Pierre Messmer then decided to launch the Messmer Plan. The Messmer Plan called for dozens of nuclear reactors to be opened by 1985 and for 170 to be opened by 2000. As a result of the Plan, France constructed a total of 56 new reactors between the years of 1974 and 1989.
However, the Messmer Plan was enacted without any previous discussion or knowledge from the public. This resulted in criticism from the French public and opposing political parties accusing the ruling party as high-handed and authoritarian. Because of the Messmer Plan’s origins, debate did not necessarily form over the use of nuclear power as an energy source, but rather focused on the lack of public and parliamentary discussion before its enactment.
Opposition to the Plan:
Antinuclear groups responded to the Messmer Plan as strongly as political parties. These organizations, such as the Amis de la Terre (Friends of the Earth) were joined by other groups with economic, technological and scientific backgrounds. As a result of the rising antinuclear movement, the Minister of Industry Michel Ornano declared his intent to publicize details of the French nuclear power plans, and that residents of various regions were be able to debate specific locations for reactors.
The lack of transparency on the government’s part was a major factor in public criticism of the Messmer Plan. However, economists also criticized the plan believing that it was “too much, too fast”. Scientific and economic criticism fueled the public debate regarding the Messmer Plan. France’s antinuclear movement grew in strength and numbers, and began adopting a policy of aggressive and violent tactics to make their cause known.
However, these aggressive tactics reached their peak during an occupation of the Creys-Malville nuclear plant construction site. Tens of thousands of demonstrators occupied the site on July 30th, 1977 where the French police cleared the site using tear gas and concussion grenades. One person was killed and five were seriously wounded, with more than one hundred demonstrators suffering gashes or minor injuries.
People of the Messmer Plan
Pierre Messmer
Messmer was a French politician that served as the Minister of Arms from 1960-1969, and as France's Prime Minister from 1972-1974. He enacted the Messmer Plan without debate and initiated the construction of 13 nuclear power plants in 1974 as a reaction to the oil crisis.
Messmer was a French politician that served as the Minister of Arms from 1960-1969, and as France's Prime Minister from 1972-1974. He enacted the Messmer Plan without debate and initiated the construction of 13 nuclear power plants in 1974 as a reaction to the oil crisis.
"ALICE Electricity Sector Country Study: France." ALICE Electricity Sector Country Study. Carl Von Ossietzky University, 10 Apr. 2008. Web. 27 Nov. 2014. <http://www.alice.uni-oldenburg.de/download/france_080410.pdf>.
Jasper, James M. Nuclear Politics: Energy and the State in the United States, Sweden, and France. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton UP, 1990. Print.
Jasper, James M. Nuclear Politics: Energy and the State in the United States, Sweden, and France. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton UP, 1990. Print.