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Situates critical issues raised by a 2003 French governmental debate over the future of energy policy in both a French national & European context. While tracing some key historical movements toward decentralization of energy provision, such as Margaret Thatcher's 1979 initiative to privatize the British energy sector, it is made clear that many of the same issues are globally important for each player in the eventual uniformity of the European energy market, such as the management of competition in a formerly monopolistic sector, the economic transition for the currently dominant energy actors into the new open market, the security of energy supply, the future of nuclear energy, & the proper observance of measures instated by the Kyoto protocol. The debate also reveals how each EU member state, in this case France, is left to manage these issues on a national scale. France's key priorities are here suggested to be couched in such developments as structural transformation of the gas & electric industries, improved control of energy management & clean energy use, & long-term stability in the financing of French energy initiatives. 10 References. Adapted from the source document.

Producing a nearly inexhaustible supply of clean power, nuclear fusion energy remains perhaps the ultimate, and yet most challenging solution to global energy needs. This article reviews some of the principles involved in fusion energy and describes the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor as an important step on the way towards mastering this elusive energy solution.

Summary. — The catalysis by platinum of the slow oxidation of a pure channel black (spheron 6) has been investigated between 350 et 500° C, at a total pressure of 1 atm, in argon-oxygen mixtures of varying composition. This was done by thermogravimetry under conditions that were removed from limitations due to temperature and composition gradients. Thus the true kinetics of the reaction could be studied.
The kinetic parameters have been determined from initial rate measurements as in our previous study of the «clean» oxidation [1]. The mechanism of oxidation is profoundly altered by the small amounts of platinum (from 0,1 to 5 % by weight) which have been deposited by a special impregnation technique. Thus the order with respect to oxygen is equal to zero at «low » temperatures (370° C) but increases slightly at higher temperatures (0,2 at 450° C) ; it increases also with amount of platinum. The apparent activation energy increases from 36 to 40 Kcal /mole when the oxygen partial pressure increases from 0,1 to 1 atm ; it increases also with amount of platinum. The CO/CO2 ratio is much smaller than for the «clean » oxidation.
These facts are interpreted as follows. Two parallel paths of reaction are operative with the platinized samples. At «low» temperatures, the rate of oxidation is limited by surface diffusion of adsorbed oxygen atoms to the prismatic faces of the carbon lattice. The atoms are supplied by the fast dissociation of oxygen molecules on the platinum crystals. At higher temperatures, a direct reaction between oxygen atoms and carbon takes over at the platinum-carbon interface. This interpretation of the results is consistent with recent electron microscopic studies.