We take our title from Jack's recent evocation.

Here's a little French radiation Jack didn't mention:

FRANCE HID INFO ON EFFECTS OF CHERNOBYL CLOUD

PARIS December 15, 2005 (AFP) - French authorities deliberately suppressed information about the spread of radioactive fallout from the May 1986 Chernobyl disaster over France, according to details of an experts' report leaked Thursday.

Two independent physicists say in the report that the state-run Central Service for Protection against Radioactive Rays (SCPRI [Service central de protection contre les rayonnements ionisants, replaced by l'Office de protection contre les rayonnements ionisants, "OPRI", in 1994]) knew of high levels of contamination in Corsica and southeastern France but kept the details under wraps. The study was commissioned by magistrate Marie-Odile Bertella-Geffroy, who since 2001 has been examining allegations that the atomic cloud from Chernobyl caused a surge in cases of thyroid cancer in parts of France.

It also states that with full information health authorities could have taken targeted steps to reduce the exposure of vulnerable people such as children and pregnant mothers.

"There was a veritable campaign of lies instigated by the state in order to protect the image of the French nuclear industry," said the campaigning organisation Sortir du Nucleaire (Get Out of Nuclear Power), welcoming details of the report.

France promotes herself as a nuclear nation. Nuclear power supplies the greater part of her domestic electricity needs with plenty left over for export. The government doesn't worry much about excessive radiation. It's free energy, a sort of unofficial energy assistance program. Everything's great in France.

FRANCE'S NUCLEAR THREAT

November 2003 (Expatica) - The French authorities deliberately failed to notify the public that the [Chernobyl] radiation-filled cloud had fallen over France. No warnings were given that the highly dangerous radioactive pollution was, literally, raining over east and south eastern France. The staggering excuse given for the information black-out was the fear of mass panic. ... [After the 1999 shutdown of the four reactors at the Blayais plant a] subsequent report by the government body responsible for nuclear plant security noted poor compliance with emergency safety procedures. More worrying still, it concluded that similar accidents were possible at 15 out of France’s total of 19 nuclear plants.

France has also applied her nuclear competence to building nuclear boats for her toy navy:

The FS Charles De Gaulle (R91) is the largest and only nuclear powered aircraft carrier in Europe. The Charles De Gaulle is perhaps the ugliest nuclear powered ship ever built... Originally named the Richelieu, the ship was renamed Charles De Gaulle during construction. The Charles De Gaulle took more than 12 years to complete and enter service, largely due to engineering difficulties and budgetary constraints. The ship suffered difficulties during its sea trials including a propulsion failure [scil., a propellor fell off] and abnormal vibration in the main engines. In 1998, engineering spaces were retrofitting to reduce excessive radiation doses during normal operation.

PFFT (What is this?): Every citizen his own reading lamp 3 | Rayonnement français 5

Bonjour,

Après nos frommages, la jalousie yankee s'exerce contre notre nucléaire ,oeuvre de nos brillants X-Mines.
Quand on a une industrie nucléaire qui a connu THREE MILLES ISLAND , on la ferme (=shut up !) sur le nucléaire français QUI N'A JAMAIS CONNU d'incidents majeurs.
Vous allez bientôt écrire une contribution sur nos Airbus ?
Ou plutôt sur Renault-Nissan ? Il est vrai qu'avec GM ...

Good luck for your GM and your country in Irak !