Did EDF conceal incidents at the Tricastin nuclear power plant, one of the oldest in France?
This is what an executive from the Drôme site asserts in a complaint he filed in October 2021 and which targeted the French group as well as the management of the plant.
An investigation was opened in early May to try to shed light on these accusations.
We take stock.
What is the plaintiff saying?
Hugo, an assumed first name, accuses his hierarchy of having plastered him for having denounced "a policy of concealment" of security incidents that occurred between January 1, 2017 and December 31, 2021 at the Tricastin power plant, located in Saint -Paul-Trois-Châteaux.
He has been seeking whistleblower status.
Joining EDF in 2004, Hugo became head of service at Tricastin in September 2016. But quickly, according to his complaint, the climate turned out to be “particularly tense, in view of the ten-year inspection”.
The stage is decisive for obtaining authorization to continue operations beyond forty years.
"A number of incidents within the plant have taken place, contributing to the deterioration of relations" between Hugo and his superior, says the complaint.
The former framework describes in particular a leak that occurred in August 2018 in one of the power station's electrical buildings.
In an emergency, the agents had resorted to simple squeegees and a vacuum cleaner borrowed from a cleaning service provider to try to absorb the flood, indicates Le Monde.
Hugo mentions another anomaly that appeared in June 2017: an overpower of one of the four reactors of the plant.
According to his complaint, these incidents would not have been declared to the Nuclear Safety Authority (ASN) or would have been so as to “minimize” them.
The engineer also assures that an inspector would have been put under pressure during a visit in July 2018 of the nuclear inspection, responsible for evaluating the safety of the power plants.
According to Hugo, the instruction had been given to “push him to the limit and release him”, specifies Le Monde.
Today awaiting assignment, the 42-year-old engineer still says he is “passionate about nuclear power”.
"This fight has strengthened my desire to fight for the safety of the installations, which contributes directly to the protection of populations and the planet", he believes.
What are the targeted offences?
The judicial investigation against X which was opened in May concerns a dozen violations of the Penal Code and the Environmental Code.
Among them, "non-declaration of an incident or accident", "endangering others", "forgery and use of forgery", "dumping into water by manifestly deliberate violation of an obligation to caution of a substance causing harmful effects”, or even “obstructing the control of nuclear safety inspectors”.
The investigation also retains the offense of "moral harassment", of which Hugo claims to have been the victim for having refused to take part in the strategy of dissimulation which he denounces.
"The opening of a judicial investigation for such qualifications, against a leading economic operator, constitutes an exceptional decision", declared to AFP the plaintiff's lawyers, Vincent Brengarth and William Bourdon. .
Who is conducting the investigation?
Last October, Hugo filed a complaint with the Paris court.
But it is that of Marseilles which finally took hold of the file, because the Tricastin power plant is located in its geographical area of competence, details Le Monde.
The Marseille public health center is in charge of the investigation.
What does the Nuclear Safety Authority say?
In February 2021, ASN paved the way for the continued operation of the oldest reactors, including those at Tricastin, beyond forty years, ordering EDF to carry out work to improve their safety.
In November, a few days after Hugo's complaint, the ASN chief inspector had assured that the inspections carried out at the plant had "not led to the observation of events that would have been masked".
According to him, there could be "internal arbitration at the plant" on incident reports.
“If the operator does not tell ASN the events as they happened, it is difficult for the Nuclear Safety Authority to find out about them,” declared Hugo in the France Culture program “ Feet on the Ground” in January.
“It can sometimes discover some during inspections, but the declaration of events in France is based on a principle of transparency by the operator EDF vis-à-vis the ASN.
And the engineer grows annoyed: "I have always naively thought that the compass of each and every employee in a nuclear power plant was total and absolute safety, and that no issue, whatever whatever, could not justify that safety not be the priority.
I quickly realized that was not the case.
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And EDF?
EDF “takes note of the opening of a judicial investigation and is entirely at the disposal of the competent authorities”, indicates the company to Parisian.
In a right of reply published in November in Le Monde, which had interviewed Hugo, the French company had denied the accusations of its former executive, stating that he had been "in open conflict with his employer and his hierarchy for several years" and that he had "so far been dismissed from the four actions brought against the group before the judicial and administrative authorities".
This case comes as the energy giant is facing serious corrosion problems in its nuclear fleet.
To date, 12 reactors out of 56 are shut down for a proven or suspected “stress corrosion” phenomenon, according to a last update detailed by the group on May 19.
These difficulties, which are weighing on the company's financial situation, come at a bad time, at a time when the group is facing a whole series of crucial challenges for its future: ensuring France's environmental transition and energy sovereignty, which has returned to the plan with the war in Ukraine.
