Henri Bour glances round the courtyard of the old farmhouse his parents restored when they fled Algeria after independence in 1962. "There was nothing here, not even a single vine. They did everything. That's why I don't want to let it go," he says.
For 10 years he has run the Grangeneuve vineyard in Coteaux de Tricastin, the arid, southern region of the Rhône Valley. Now, aged 65 and thinking about handing over to the next generation, the former Pernod Ricard executive fears for the future.
Hopes of new markets have been threatened by a series of low-level incidents at the nearby nuclear installation - Europe's largest. Though the vineyards lie kilometres upriver and there is no evidence of contamination, local vintners are seeking a change in the appellation. "We are all convinced that the image of Tricastin today is so linked to nuclear that it is not possible to continue," says Mr Bour.
Tricastin's winemakers are not the only ones to fear the consequences of this summer's incidents. The French government worries about the potential impact on public opinion at home, even as it seeks to sell its nuclear knowhow around the world through industrial flagships such as EDF, which this week agreed a €15.7bn ($23bn, £12.5bn) bid for British Energy of the UK.
The mishaps began in July, when 75kg of untreated uranium leaked into local rivers from a faulty holding tank at a waste treatment operation run by Areva, the state-owned nuclear group. It was the first of a series of incidents at Tricastin,the latest just this month. Not least was the discovery that the local water table contained abnormally high uranium levels that pre-dated the July leak and may have come from a nearby military arms dump.
Though French nuclear safety authorities classed the incidents as low-level, the events sparked a controversy unlike any since the Chernobyl disaster of 1986. For the first time in France, water restrictions were introduced, barring residents from using their own wells and farmers from irrigating fields. Newspapers questioned whether France's long-established nuclear industry was still safe and a debate raged over government plans to create new storage sites for nuclear waste.
The outcry shook the political consensus that for decades has favoured nuclear power. In Paris, lawmakers from across the political spectrum called an official inquiry; demands from the neighbouring town of Bollene for an independent expert to examine the incidents were upheld by a court.
To reassure the public, the government rushed to verify uranium levels in the water tables around France's 58 nuclear reactors. The report, due next month, is set to fuel the debate further. "A window opened that rarely opens for us," says Frédéric Marillier, spokesman for environmental lobbyists Greenpeace. Roland Deborde, founder of Criirad, an independent monitor of radioactivity around nuclear sites, agrees that "something happened" that could fundamentally change how the French regard their nuclear industry.
Though the incidents appear to have posed no serious health threats, their frequency did raise questions over the management of nuclear power. "People thought waste was well managed, not buried somewhere under a parking lot," he says. "All of a sudden there is a curiosity. It might not call into question the role of nuclear power but it has tarnished its image."
Even Areva - widely criticised for being slow to alert safety authorities to the first incident - admits that the debate will have consequences for an industry that until now has enjoyed extraordinary levels of public support. "People are going to be even more demanding," says Jacques-Emmanuel Saulnier, spokesman. "They will demand that we are as close to zero risk as possible."
Areva sacked the executive responsible for the waste treatment operation and pledged to shift the military dump. Anne Lauvergeon, chief executive, was ordered by political masters to appear personally to reassure the public. Pictures of the elegant "Atomic Anne" sipping pastis made with water from the local reservoir appeared nationwide.
The controversy could not have come at a worse time for President Nicolas Sarkozy, who has championed the export of French nuclear expertise. France is one of the world's most experienced nuclear power operators, the legacy of General Charles de Gaulle's determination to ensure energy independence. Nuclear now accounts for almost 80 per cent of all French electricity consumed, generating not only enviably low carbon emissions but also Europe's lowest energy prices. The industry has freed France of the troubled dependence of some of its neighbours on Russian energy gas exports and turned a country with few hydrocarbon resources into the world's biggest electricity exporter.
Associated industries have also benefited handsomely. Areva supplies reactors, fuel and waste treatment for clients from Finland to China; turbine-maker Alstomequips the power stations; construction group Bouygues builds them; and EDF sells its operational expertise. Executives from these companies are familiar travelling companions on Mr Sarkozy's frequent foreign trips, which almost inevitably include enthusiastic pledges to support civil nuclear programmes - and open new markets for French companies.
Officials take heart from surveys indicating that people do not seem ready to give up on nuclear. An Ifop poll for Le Monde just 10 days after the first incident in July showed that support has strengthened over the past six years as energy independence and high oil prices weigh on opinion. Two-thirds of respondents believe there should be no reduction in nuclear power.
"The feeling is that without nuclear we would have much higher electricity prices. That is an argument that counts with the French," says Jerome Fouquet from Ifop. Technological prowess recognised around the world is also a factor. "It is a question of national pride. The US has Nasa . . . but we build good reactors," says Mr Fouquet.
Nevertheless, attitudes are changing. In the same survey, 70 per cent of respondents said they did not trust the government to inform them about a nuclear crisis. Moreover, 49 per cent of those under the age of 35 believe the share of nuclear power should be reduced because of the dangers it presents. It is this younger, more critical generation that will have to be won over if France is to maintain its unique public support for nuclear power.
Bernard Dupraz, head of production at EDF, says the only answer is to increase transparency, even if it means a certain amount of controversy in the short term. EDF, which records roughly 500 mainly minor incidents a year, drew fire this summer after 100 of its Tricastin workers were contaminated with high doses of radiation. "An industry that does not declare the incidents will in the long run lose public confidence," Mr Dupraz says.
In recognition of the growing demand for information, the government two years ago made its Nuclear Safety Authority independent of ministerial control. Each of the 800 incidents a year that occur at nuclear sites is posted on the regulator's website. In the past such announcements were controlled by the government.
Some believe this more open approach may partly explain the recent anxiety. "We are in a learning period," says one senior official from the environment ministry. "There is a new independent authority and new rules of transparency. It has a psychological impact. People are beginning to realise that incidents are frequent."
Nonetheless, critics argue that this approach is highly selective and claim that the government brooks no real debate, taking decisions in advance and often falling back on excuses of national security and defence to avoid thorny questions.
Over in Lapalud, a small village in the shadow of Tricastin's cooling towers, there are few illusions about transparency or the frequency of incidents. Residents freely voice suspicions about what they are being told. But in a town where there is little prospect of employment outside the nuclear industry, they are resigned to the risks. "I have the impression there have always been leaks and we just didn't talk about it," says Laurence Deldon, who runs a newsagent on the village high street and whose father worked on the site.
She admits to a nagging concern over cancer levels, long a controversial subject in the area. But she, like so many in France, is prepared to set the risks against the economic benefits. "We live beside the volcano, but we know that and still we stay. Tricastin has allowed the whole region to prosper. We will have to trust the authorities. Either we trust them or we leave."
Atomic dividend
* Born out of a determination after the second world war to achieve energy security, France's nuclear industry is Europe's biggest and most advanced. The country's 58 reactors supply almost 80 per cent of its electricity. * Nuclear is a much-prized generator of exports, enabling France to achieve annual foreign electricity sales of some €3bn ($4.4bn, £2.4bn). * The industry claims it adds €20bn-€28bn a year to the economy through jobs, lower bills and exports. * Most French reactors were built in the years after the 1970s oil shock using home-grown design. Areva's new generation of reactor is being built in Finland and northern France.
