France: a nuclear paradise?

I was recently researching countries which used nuclear energy as part of their electricity generation and was quite surprised to find that France, our neighbour, generated 75% of it's electricity from nuclear energy - higher than any other country in the world.

Share of nuclear energy as a percentage of electricity generation

This development of nuclear energy in France essentially started right after World War Two for military purposes, however due to the oil shock of 1973 which saw rising oil prices, France decided to use nuclear energy in order to boost it's energy independence (Wiliarty 2013). Many years later, France now has 58 nuclear plants in total - overshadowing many of it's European countries including the UK. Some may ask: has there been any benefit? Well, the evidence certainly suggests so. France has one of the cheapest energy prices in Europe; on average, each kilowatt hour (kWh) that is used costs 8.02p, whereas the figure is 14.78p in the UK. Not only that, but a study by Accenture and the World Economic Forum rated the French energy system 3rd best in the world, awarding it high marks for sustainability in terms of it's nuclear sector. All the signs suggest that France is a successful example of how nuclear energy can be harnessed for positive electricity generation. Perhaps countries such as the UK should learn from this French example and try to replicate the success.