France Rushes to Aid Japan While Quelling Internal Nuclear Concerns

As the world's second biggest nuclear power after the United States, France on Thursday announced a series of measures to help Japan deal with its nuclear crisis.

Meanwhile, it reaffirmed confidence in the safety of home nuclear facilities in an effort to quell internal nuclear fears.

Areva, French giant nuclear group, said on its website that a cargo plane heading for Japan would carry 100 tons of boric acid provided by Electricite de France (EDF), in addition to 3,000 activated charcoal protective masks, 10,000 overalls and 20,000 gloves.

The over 90 percent government-owned group also decided to donate one million euros (1.4 million U.S. dollars) to the Japanese Red Cross.

The first French aid plane with radiation-absorbent chemicals took off Thursday morning, carrying such emergency aid resources as radiation monitoring equipment, robots and an expert team, said Henri Progli, chairman of EDF, the country's leading electricity producer and nuclear plants operator.

As the 116-member French rescue team was forced to move away from the dangerous nuclear plant in Japan, France offered to treat Japanese people affected by radiation in specialized French hospitals, Interior Minister Claude Gueant said on local radio Europe 1.

Later in the afternoon, French President Nicolas Sarkozy said if consented by the Japanese government, he wanted to visit Japan by the end of this month to show the solidarity of France, as well as Group of Eight and Group of Twenty, of which France is the rotating president.

So far, France has 58 reactors operated by EDF across the country, less than the United States, but more than Japan, producing around 80 percent of all available electricity. The current nuclear crisis in Japan has sparked increasing concerns over the French nuclear facilities.

On Wednesday, local media quoted a report of the French Nuclear Safety Authority (ASN) to be submitted to the National Assembly in April as saying that the number of incidents and anomalies of nuclear plants in France had doubled in the past ten years, with a record of more than 1,000 cases in 2010.

Among all the cases recorded in 2010, only three involving significant failures in safety systems were reported and unveiled to the public.

This disclosure came one day after the government said it would conduct a full-scale review of security measures in nuclear plants in the country.

Daniel Cohn-Bendit, a member of the Greens in the European Union parliament, called for a French referendum on moving away from nuclear power, backed by French anti-atomic groups like Sortir du Nucleaire.

On Thursday, the Left Party issued a statement also calling for "nuclear phase-out and the necessary energy transition," adding support to the referendum.

French Industry Minister Eric Besson, however, rejected the calls, saying the nuclear question would be taken into account during the 2012 presidential election, but there was no need for an independent poll.

To calm the rippling fears, nuclear operators like EDF and French political leaders like Sarkozy all reaffirmed confidence in French nuclear safety.

According to a report updated by the World Nuclear Association on March 7, all French units are now pressurized water reactors with a higher degree of standardization than anywhere else in the world.

The open attitude of the French authorities is against shifting away from nuclear power, but backs necessary precautions.

Pierre Gadonneix, former chief executive officer of EDF and now chairman of the World Energy Council, appealed for a "global governance" in civil nuclear management which involves not only regulators, organizations but also governments.

Sarkozy also proposed on Wednesday that nuclear safety standards be coordinated and improved on the level of the European Union or even of the whole world.

G20 ministers will discuss the Japanese situation, in particular its nuclear crisis, at meetings in the coming weeks, according to Sarkozy.