When Emmanuel Macron proclaimed a new age of nuclear power this week, he was on a green stage, and his words were green too: Nuclear energy is electricity without carbon dioxide, nuclear energy is an opportunity - for France, for Europe, for the climate.

At first glance, it seems reasonable that the president is betting on “Nucléaire”, a dinosaur technology of the 20th century. There are many indications that Germany is setting the wrong order with its exit from nuclear power. When it was decided, the Fukushima power plant had just crashed in Japan. So out, was the motto. But today another crisis is acute. The air is getting warmer. Rivers overflow, people drown. The T-Rex of that time, the worst of all substances today, is not uranium or plutonium, but carbon dioxide. So maybe Germany is just slaughtering the wrong dinosaur first. Perhaps it would be good to keep the last German nuclear power plants running, at least for a transitional period.

And here a second look at Macron's vision is needed.

He relies on a new technology, the “small, modular reactor”.

This is the future pocket power plant off the peg, series goods such as a Citroën or a Renault.

It would fit on a flatbed truck.

Anywhere in the world it could be used to power electric cars or produce hydrogen for green steel.

A study by the Federal Office for the Safety of Nuclear Waste Management (BASE) shows that its production from 3000 pieces could be profitable.

Nuclear power and nuclear war

However, none of this looks like a temporary solution. What Macron is presenting is more: the design of a silver bullet out of the climate crisis. But is it feasible? - A couple of numbers first. Today's 400 nuclear power plants generate around a tenth of global electricity production. According to the German study, this would require up to ten thousand modern small reactors. In order to create the remaining nine tenths and replace coal worldwide, tens of thousands of new mini-kilns were needed.

That number is the problem. It's not just about accidents here. They remain possible, and nobody knows what to do with the nuclear waste. But what's worse is that someone could loot one of those innumerable reactors and use the fuel to build bombs. In any case, the authors of the BASE study believe that this danger is real. Small reactors would be more attractive to bomb makers than classic nuclear power plants. Because of their sheer number, they would be difficult to monitor, especially in wild lands. In addition, because they are so small, they need particularly highly enriched uranium. But that's good for the bomb.

But who would want the bomb?

- It is worth taking a look at the customers who would have to buy the new technology before anyone else if the climate is to be helped.

The ten largest CO2 emitters in the world include India and Indonesia, as well as Iran and Saudi Arabia.

The ten countries with the highest per capita emissions include Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.

The new mini-reactors would have to be everywhere if they are to help the climate.

Does anyone want that?