> France invested a lot into nuclear energy and no government since then would dare to throw such a huge industry (2500 companies, 222 000 jobs) into the trash. I don't think it was the case with other European countries.
Germany all but killed off an industry of 80000 jobs (at the time) in the blink of an eye: photovoltaics.
One other main difference is that having your own nuclear industry is also important for countries aiming for (or having) nuclear deterrence power, like France (and unlike Germany which merely hosts US nukes).
Could you elaborate on how Germany did kill of the photovoltaics industry? Since this seems different than I remember.
Solar panel production in Germany mostly died because it couldn't be price competitive with those from China.
Installations went down due to reduced subsidies, apparently as an reaction to more than expected solar being installed [0]. I have a hard time calling that "killing of an industry".
> Installations went down due to reduced subsidies, apparently as an reaction to more than expected solar being installed [0]. I have a hard time calling that "killing of an industry".
"So we kickstarted an industry that created 80000 jobs by subsidizing it, and now we noticed that subsidies actually cost money, so let's turn off the faucet" is what I call a killing.
One of the issues in German politics is that politicians are easily scared of their own courage, instead of doubling down on it (and, in this case, help drive costs down for Germany-made PV through more industrialized and scaled-up production, thereby solving the subsidy problem while propping up an industry instead of leaving it for dead).
It's especially annoying to me because one of the "arguments" in favor of keeping coal alive is that there are 20000 jobs to protect in that industry (and for much more money than it would cost to give those 20000 folks their wage + social security/insurance, no questions asked, until their retirement age, which makes me think that's all just a ruse).
Germany all but killed off an industry of 80000 jobs (at the time) in the blink of an eye: photovoltaics.
One other main difference is that having your own nuclear industry is also important for countries aiming for (or having) nuclear deterrence power, like France (and unlike Germany which merely hosts US nukes).