For Bernard Laponche, a nuclear physicist and former director general of the Ademe, the problems observed on the EPR Flamanville are not old, and the awakening of the government, which decided to put pressure on EDF, is too much late.

INTERVIEW

"This is a failure for the entire French industry.We have a problem of industrial quality, our nuclear industry has deteriorated over the past fifteen years.This reflects a lack of rigor unacceptable at this level of expertise. " That's what laudatory words the Minister of the Economy, Bruno Le Maire, spoke about the bankruptcies of the EPR Flamanville, Monday. The minister has thrashed EDF while delays and additional costs accumulate for this nuclear reactor last generation.

"Problems of industrial competence, we have seen them all these years"

But for Bernard Laponche, nuclear physicist and former director of ADEME, "The awakening of Sir Le Maire is extremely late". "We know what has been going on for a long time, the EPR was supposed to start in 2012," said the specialist on Monday on Europe 1. "We accept 2013 or 2014, maybe, but we are in 2019." And the Flamanville EPR will not be in service until 2022 at the earliest.

Bernard Laponche emphasizes that "everything that has been said about the problems of industrial competence, we have seen throughout these years". Pell-mix: "defects in the concrete, which was quite unacceptable, defects on the welds from the construction of the EPR, and so on."

One month for an action plan, "it's not reasonable"

Bruno Le Maire has therefore asked EDF to put in place an "action plan" within a month to put the nuclear industry back to the "highest standards". But Bernard Laponche is skeptical about this delay. "One month is not reasonable." He also considers that it is illusory to give oneself until 2021 to decide whether or not to launch other EPR projects. "We can not normally decide on new EPRs as long as the one under construction did not work," he says. On this point, he is joined by the Minister of Ecological Transition, Élisabeth Borne, who recalled Monday that it was necessary to wait for the actual start of the reactor Flamanville (2022, so) to project further. "We can hope that we will be able to solve the problems of concrete and welding," nevertheless concedes Bernard Laponche. "Or, it's hopeless."