Maud Descamps and Gauthier Delomez 2:56 p.m., November 10, 2021

President Emmanuel Macron announced the construction of new nuclear reactors in his televised address Tuesday evening.

This is "very good news" for EDF, which says it is ready to relaunch the sector.

On Europe 1, physicist Greg Temmerman approves this decision, but asks the government for more details.

INTERVIEW

In his speech Tuesday evening, the Head of State, almost in the presidential campaign, confirmed the construction of new nuclear reactors by emphasizing their benefits from a climate point of view.

This is "very good news" for EDF, whose CEO Jean-Bernard Lévy has declared that the sector is ready to launch the construction of new EPRs.

The number of these reactors to be built is still unknown, but we know that to relaunch the sector, at least six would have to be ordered.

On Europe 1, physicist Greg Temmerman expects more details from the government.

>> Listen again to Europe Midi in podcast or in replay here

A new EPR planned for 2035

These new generation reactors, capable of providing 20% ​​more electricity than our current plants, will be built in pairs. The first could emerge from the ground in 2035 according to RTE's latest report, the second 18 months later, then the second pair of reactors four years later, around 2040. The advanced date of 2035 results from a "very scenario. curator "according to Greg Temmerman, also associate researcher at Mines-Paris Tech and director general of the Zenon Research think-tank. "The big question is how quickly we really decide. We don't have more details, the question of financing ...", he says.

Several sites have already been identified to install these reactors: the Gravelines plant in Hauts-de-France, Penly in Seine-Maritime, Tricastin in Drôme and Bugey in Ain.

Regarding financing, the example of Flamanville shows a bill three times higher than expected, with 12 billion euros.

"If we take the oldest reactors, which make 900 MW, an EPR, it is about twice (more powerful) since it is 1,650 MW. So that represents a little less than twice" the price of an old generation plant, explains the physicist.

Nuclear power, a "safer" source of energy

With this announcement, Emmanuel Macron has decided: nuclear power has its place in the French energy mix. An energy that is nevertheless a source of concern for many French people who remember the catastrophes of Chernobyl or Fukushima. Nevertheless, physicist Greg Temmerman tempers: "The death toll per terawatt-hour time generated by nuclear power is much lower than for all energy sources." For him, it should also be remembered that the Chernobyl accident in 1986 "was an experience that went wrong".

"For Fukushima, the number of deaths by radiation is extremely low and it is mainly the evacuation of people that has caused the deaths", continues the nuclear specialist, aware however of the risks.

"Like all sources of energy, nuclear power presents dangers. The question is to manage them. The levels of safety that are achieved on EPR type reactors, and even on current reactors, are extremely high. In principle, we do everything so that nothing can happen, "reassures the physicist.