Not sure where to ask this question. The U.S. has more than twice the number of nuclear reactors than France. Yet France supplies 75% of its electrical needs with nuclear energy, while the U.S. supplies only 21%. How can this be explained? Any ideas or help is appreciated.

Question

theeric · Answer

That sounds tough! Maybe the US uses much more energy of France! I know the US is larger than France by a bit. And maybe France doesn't have as many large cities?

Also, maybe other energy is preferred? Maybe the US structure is more flexible. I know different power plant designs have different workloads.

I'm not sure! 

Good luck, though!

anonymous · Answer

US electricity consumption is *significantly* higher than that of France. According to this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_electricity_consumption US consumes 3,886,400,000 MW hours per year, while France consumes only 460,900,000. This means that the US consumes 8.4 times as much as France. Assuming that all nuclear power plants produce approximately the same energy, if France supplies 75% of its needs, and the US has twice as many plants, they would cover: $$(0.75 * 2) / 8.4 =0.18$$Which is close to 21%, but not exactly because the numbers are outdated and the assumption isn't exactly correct.

theeric · Answer

Very nice analysis, @Turn_on_a_Dime !

anonymous · Answer

ty both for your help

theeric · Answer

:) You're welcome!