New French split on nuclear power.
The ambitious project to relaunch the atomic industry requires pharaonic means.
Building six new generation EPR2 reactors, as Emmanuel Macron wishes, would cost at least 51.7 billion euros according to EDF estimates.
A tidy sum that the electricity group, whose financial results are in freefall, does not have.
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This is why the government is considering redirecting part of the billions of euros saved by the French via their savings account A. And even if the Ministry of Energy Transition affirms that "the options for financing
new nuclear power are 'no orientation has been arbitrated at this stage
", Éric Lombard, the general manager of the Caisse des dépôts et consignation (CDC), spoke before the National Assembly to "
finance the transformation of the production apparatus energy through Livret A savings
.
Concretely, part of the 375 billion euros thus collected by the CDC would be invested in the program of construction of nuclear power plants, in addition to the traditional financing of social housing and urban renewal.
But the hypothesis put forward is far from unanimous among the 55 million savers.
The results of the poll conducted by Yougov for MoneyVox show a fairly clear division on the issue.
“
While 45% of those polled are in favor of the idea of financing nuclear power (16% totally favorable and 29% rather favorable), 37% are opposed to this idea (17% rather unfavorable and 20% totally unfavorable)” details
the study.
These figures perfectly illustrate the fact that "the
financing of power stations by the preferred investment of the French is far from achieving consensus
" remarks Maxime Chipoy, the president of MoneyVox.
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However, the knowledge of the French on the use of their Livret A remains very limited.
“30% of those polled have no idea how the sums deposited in their passbook are used”
.
“
Even the financing of social housing - the first of its missions - is only known to 39% of them, and mainly by the oldest.
The other missions are almost unknown
,” says Maxime Chipoy.
Despite everything, the idea of financing the energy transition is appealing.
Nearly two-thirds of respondents are in favor of it.
And precisely, since last July, the nuclear sector has been classified among the green investments of the European Union.