In english : Relaunching the nuclear industry in France: what does the bill of 15 March, which is now to be voted at the Assembly, provide for?

 Reviving the nuclear industry: what does the bill of 15 March, which is now to be voted at the Assembly, provide for?

The government wants to speed up the construction of new reactors and extend the life of existing plants. Among the measures proposed, the abolition of the Institute of Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety (IRSN) raises a flurry of critics.

Franceinfo with AFP

                                            Golfech nuclear site in South-West France

A text at the beginning technical, which ends up igniting the disputes. On Monday 13 March, the National Assembly took up the nuclear acceleration bill. Among the measures planned, a reform of nuclear safety has been strongly criticised for several weeks.

The MPs have four days to study the 650 amendments to this text intended to facilitate, temporarily, the construction of new reactors in France: six EPR promised by Emmanuel Macron by 2035. Another bill, more political, of multiannual programming, is also expected at best for this summer.

This week, the government is counting on the traditional support of the right wing for the atom to be adopted without too many difficulties at first reading, after the very large vote of the Senate at the end of January. The executive had chosen to go through the Senate before the National Assembly to gain time. Franceinfo summarises what the text contains. 

Triggering the construction of new reactors

The first objective of the government is to expand existing nuclear power plants. The bill aims to facilitate the construction of new reactors on existing sites, or nearby. To do this, the executive wants to simplify administrative procedures so as "not to add a delay of two to three years to the construction of a reactor", according to the Minister for Energy Transition, Agnès Pannier-Runacher.

The bill thus provides for "exempting from building permits the installations and works for the creation of new nuclear reactors", according to the official website Vie publique. Compliance with town planning rules will be checked at the time of the environmental authorisation and the authorisation of creation, according to the same source. 

The government wants the Coastal Act to be set aside for the construction of new nuclear reactors by the sea, "if they are built close to or within the perimeter of the existing nuclear power plant", Vie publique also explains.

The text also reduces "the deadlines for the instruction of the works for the non-nuclear parts (earthworks, fences or car parks necessary for the building site...). This work can start without waiting for the decree authorising the creation of the reactor," the official website states. 

Since Belfort, Emmanuel Macron had set, in February 2022, to build six EPR2 reactors. The next two EPRs should be built in Penly (Seine-Maritime), followed by two others in Gravelines (Nord), according to EDF's plans, with the horizon of 2027 for "the first concrete pour" and "2035-2037" for the commissioning, according to the government. 

Extending current nuclear facilities

During his speech in Belfort, Emmanuel Macron also wanted EDF and the Nuclear Safety Authority to "define the conditions for extending reactors beyond 50 years". The text presented on Monday to the Assembly therefore intends to extend the life of current nuclear facilities. To do this, the government wants to simplify "the periodic review procedure for reactors over 35 years old," notes the Vie publique website.

This measure comes at a time when several cracks have been discovered in the reactors of the Penly and Cattenom (Moselle) nuclear power plants, according to the Nuclear Safety Authority. Yves Marignac, head of the nuclear expertise unit at the Négawatt Institute, is concerned about the risk of cracks, defects or incidents. "Extending the life of the fleet (...) means exposing oneself to the risk that this type of phenomenon will be repeated, will increase and will lead to increasingly complicated choices, against nuclear safety and electrical security," he believes. 

Merging the nuclear safety authorities

By a simple amendment added to the text, the government intends to reorganise the nuclear safety authorities. The bill provides for the abolition of the Institute for Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety (IRSN) and the transfer of its experts to the Nuclear Safety Authority (ASN), which oversees power plants.

The aim is to "accelerate the examination and decision-making processes of the ASN in order to respond to the growing volume of activities linked to the revival of the sector", explained the Ministry of Energy Transition on 8 February.

This reform of nuclear safety has aroused the anger of both IRSN and ASN unions. The Institute's interunion is organising a new day of strike action on Monday. IRSN employees are particularly concerned about the end of the separation between experts and decision-makers.

For their part, the Nupes deputies denounced an "incomprehensible" "merger" project. They consider it "essential to maintain independence between the regulatory function (ASN) and the expert function (IRSN)".

Cancelling the objective of reducing nuclear power to 50% of the electricity mix

During the examination of the bill in the Senate, MPs removed the objective, set during the Hollande quinquennium, of reducing the share of nuclear power to 50% of French electricity production by 2035. In the National Assembly, during the examination of the text in committee, the MPs validated this addition of the Senate.

In 2021, nuclear power accounted for just over 75% of primary energy production in France, according to the Ministry of Energy Transition. However, in the winter of 2022, nuclear electricity production declined, notably due to maintenance work or problems with cracks in the facilities. "During 2022, the availability of the nuclear fleet was systematically lower than the availability recorded during the last few years (54% over the last twelve months compared with 73% on average over the pre-crisis period 2014-2019)," notes a report (PDF document) from the Electricity Transmission Network (RTE).