I have no idea where Fountain 17 was. no photo. no notes, apart from: "31 July. 17" scribbled in my notebook.
I was heading north to the Auvergne and Le Puy-en-Valey.
I vaguely have a recollection of something somewhere between
the massive
hands and grapes on the roundabout and the tomb of St Andeol.
There was a particular patch of about 30 miles that was so ugly that I forgot that I was in my beloved France. Tangles of motorways and flatland along the Rhone, a stench of chemicals, giant electric pylons marching off into the distance, a nuclear power plant, barking dogs and sadness. A veritable desolate wasteland of dust and despicableness where for a short while I felt that I had lost my soul.
Not surprisingly, I just found this on the Guardian website:
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2008/jul/25/nuclear.industry.france
'It feels like a sci-fi film' - accidents tarnish nuclear dream
"I feel as if everything's constantly dirty," Eymard said, her hands deep in soapy lather scrubbing plates.
The view from the house over the fields is dominated by the nearby cooling towers of the Tricastin site, a nuclear power plant run by EDF, the company which is poised to buy British Energy and take control of most UK nuclear stations.
Next to the plant is a nuclear treatment centre run by a subsidiary of Areva, the nuclear group which hopes to design many of the new British reactors. Last month an accident at the treatment centre during a draining operation saw liquid containing untreated uranium overflow out of a faulty tank. About 75kg of uranium seeped into the ground and into the Gaffiere and Lauzon rivers which flow into the Rhône. ....French nuclear companies are hoping to play a central role in the government's plan to build a new generation of reactors. At home, however, the industry has been buffeted by a series of mishaps...."
The view from the house over the fields is dominated by the nearby cooling towers of the Tricastin site, a nuclear power plant run by EDF, the company which is poised to buy British Energy and take control of most UK nuclear stations.
Next to the plant is a nuclear treatment centre run by a subsidiary of Areva, the nuclear group which hopes to design many of the new British reactors. Last month an accident at the treatment centre during a draining operation saw liquid containing untreated uranium overflow out of a faulty tank. About 75kg of uranium seeped into the ground and into the Gaffiere and Lauzon rivers which flow into the Rhône. ....French nuclear companies are hoping to play a central role in the government's plan to build a new generation of reactors. At home, however, the industry has been buffeted by a series of mishaps...."
Quite worryingly I live not that far from Hinkley Point where the British Government is quite happy to allow EDF and a group of Chinese investors to build another reactor. In this age of mistrust and distrust it is quite interesting to encourage "foreigners" to build something so lethal in this green and pleasant land. They expect it to take 10 years to complete. So, if I haven't died of radiation related diseases by then, I can go.... hmmm... where I can go that hasn't been poisoned by humans... let me think... umm....well....maybe I might as well just die of a radiation related disease and be done with it. Surely there won't be nuclear power in the next world.
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