It will be a first.
On Friday February 3, the President of the Republic, Emmanuel Macron, will hold a Nuclear Policy Council, bringing together the Prime Minister, the ministers concerned (Energy, Economy, Research) and specialists such as the CEA or the Nuclear Safety Authority ( ASN).
This council must be a tool to
"steer the nuclear policy of the nation"
, explains one at the Elysée.
And it will meet at least once a year.
No question of repeating the mistakes of the past, therefore.
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Emmanuel Macron set the course for nuclear renewal during the Belfort speech in February 2022, announcing the construction of six EPR reactors by 2035 (and eight additional optional).
It is now a question of determining more precisely the calendar and the means to keep it.
It is Elisabeth Borne who will be responsible for verifying the smooth running of operations.
The construction site is gigantic.
"It will require 60 billion euros of investment, over a period of more than fifteen years and mobilize tens of thousands of workers, technicians and engineers",
underlines the Elysée.
Power plant extension
But France's nuclear policy goes beyond the construction of these EPRs.
The difficulties of winter 2022-2023 must not recur.
EDF will therefore be asked for a plan for maintenance in general, and the management of the problem of stress corrosion which has shut down many power stations since this autumn.
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Moreover, in the longer term, the future of nuclear power also depends on the existing fleet.
The study of the extension of current nuclear power plants beyond 50 years will thus be officially launched.
It is a question of looking reactor by reactor at what it is possible to do on this subject.
Knowing that, on this point,
“it is the ASN which will have a decisive opinion”,
it is argued at the Elysée.
