The Republican (LR) presidential candidate made a firm plea for nuclear energy on Saturday, January 29, on the site of the Bugey (Ain) power plant. Valérie Pécresse called for the “massive remobilization of the sector” as part of a “Gaullian recovery plan” in terms of energy. She also denounced “irresponsible and inconsistent decisions”, such as the closure of the Fessenheim plant (Haut-Rhin) and the scheduled shutdown of twelve other reactors by 2035, diagnosing “a real energy disaster” from France.
Energy policy « and zigzag » of Emmanuel Macron we “drive straight into the wall” and “we no longer have the assurance of being supplied”, she launched following a round table organized by local elected officials (LR), in which industrialists and energy players participated.
Without this “nuclear recovery plan”, “we will not reach zero carbon in 2050”, said the president of the Ile-de-France region, following a visit to the Bugey power plant, which has become the oldest in France since the closure of Fessenheim in 2020. This program already involves ” a thought “ on the construction of new EPRs, beyond the six planned for 2035.
Financing the atom as green energy
“The first thing I will ask my Prime Minister is to establish a major rescue plan for EDF, this very large company” that “the government has brought to its knees by collecting the revenue it needs for its investments and the renewal of the nuclear fleet”, said M.me Pécresse. On Wednesday, more than 40% of EDF staff went on strike once morest the government’s decision to force the company to sell off its electricity to preserve household wallets and for the benefit of its competitors.
While the French presidency of the Council of the European Union will continue six weeks following her eventual election, the candidate has pledged to “bring the inclusion of nuclear energy in the low-carbon energies to be financed by the EU”. On 21st January Brussels postponed its plan to integrate the atom into green energies eligible for certain financing, for lack of consensus among the Twenty-Seven, but also in the European Parliament.
Among the presidential candidates, few are directly opposed to nuclear power. Marine Le Pen wants six new EPRs and an inspection and modernization site for the power plants in operation. Eric Zemmour defends ten new reactors and the burial of nuclear waste in Bure (Meuse). Socialist Anne Hidalgo does not want new reactors but sees nuclear power as a “transitional energy” while waiting for 100% renewables, without giving a date, while the communist Fabien Roussel wants ” at least “ six new EPRs and develop research on the fusion technique. Only Jean-Luc Mélenchon and the ecologist Yannick Jadot demonstrate frank resistance.
During his speech on November 9, 2021, Emmanuel Macron said he wanted “relaunch the construction of nuclear reactors, for the first time in decades”, to replace part of the existing fleet, which is reaching the end of its life. But he has not specified his project since.
