Ten years ago to the day took place the nuclear accident at the Fukushima plant in Japan.

At the time, a shock wave had spread to all countries operating nuclear power plants.

Europe 1 takes stock of the developments that have taken place in France.

DECRYPTION

 Ten years ago to the day, a 15-meter-high wave hit the Fukushima power station in Japan.

This tsunami would cause the biggest nuclear disaster since that of the Ukrainian city of Chernobyl in 1986. In the aftermath of March 11, 2011, tens of thousands of people had been displaced and entire cities rendered uninhabitable.

The shock wave had spread around the world.

Since then, national authorities have sought to improve security around their nuclear power plants around the world.

In France too, this drama has influenced nuclear safety policy.

Europe 1 takes stock of the changes initiated as a result of this event.

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A quick realization but a slow response

Unlike other countries like the United States, France must be recognized for its desire to offer a strong and ambitious response after the tragedy.

This started from the main observation that in Fukushima, there was a lack of water and electricity to manage the immediate consequences of the accident.

If awareness was rapid, its response is much later, according to Yves Marignac, nuclear expert at the NegaWatt Institute.

"The reflections carried out very quickly after Fukushima rather quickly led to the idea of ​​what was called a hard core to supply the reactors with water and electricity," he explains.

"Unfortunately, the implementation of these reinforcements is slow."

For the specialist, it will thus "probably wait until half of the 2030s before all the planned reinforcements are implemented".

Improvements already visible

However, some improvements are already visible in French nuclear power plants.

We are thinking in particular of the safe storage of all external equipment or what is called the ultimate emergency diesels, intended to supply each reactor with electricity in the event of a critical situation.

Finally, a nuclear rapid action force (Farn) was set up.

Today it brings together more than 300 over-trained EDF agents, but fortunately never called upon.