While the UK is still debating the merits of extending nuclear power, France remains wedded to the concept. A new reactor at Flammanville in the Manche département of Normandy is the subject of a public enquiry but in France these are not noted for overturning government policy.

On this occasion, rather unusually, British citizens were invited to have their say because the reactor site is quite close to Jersey, whose capital Saint Helier is some 20 km from the French coast. In a noisy enquiry at Flammanville town hall run by two civil engineers and a doctor, who sometimes struggled to make themselves heard, representatives of the 140,000 Channel Islanders made forceful objections.

However, local media remain convinced that the French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin, best known for his opposition to the British and US occupation of Iraq, is not about to allow UK nationals to obstruct French energy plans. The full construction programme of the French electricity board, EDF, is almost certain to go ahead.