The CEO of EDF believes this Tuesday that it is “urgent” to launch “concrete actions” for the construction of new nuclear reactors in France. This position comes after the decision in principle announced by President Emmanuel Macron last year.
“We hope that the government will get a little more into the heart of the matter as regards the concretization of the political position of the Head of State at the beginning of November”, said Jean-Bernard Lévy during a meeting with the Association of Economic and Financial Journalists (AJEF). “The most urgent thing is to launch the dynamic around the construction of the Penly reactors, in particular,” the Seine-Maritime site where the first pair of new EPRs should be built, he added.
“I hope that the government will move from a phase of declaring principles to a phase of launching concrete actions. I think it’s a matter of urgency, ”insisted the boss of the French electrician.
The risk of losing competitiveness
France is preparing to launch the construction of new reactors on its soil, twenty years after the commissioning of the last, announced Emmanuel Macron on November 9. But he has since given no details on this project. The country is currently building only one new generation EPR reactor on its soil, that of Flamanville (Manche).
The nuclear issue is also stirring the pre-campaign for the 2022 presidential election, with candidates in favor of this energy (especially the right, the far right but also the PCF) and others hostile (LFI and EELV in particular).
“Our hope is that there is a good realization that further delaying the realization of the political impetus given by the President of the Republic can only be done at the expense of a nuclear industry which we can see clearly that ‘it can only remain competitive, competent and attractive to talent if it builds, ”insists Jean-Bernard Lévy.