VIDEO. Closed in 1985, the Brennilis nuclear power plant is still there

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• While the second Fessenheim reactor has just shutdown, EDF promises to be dismantled in twenty years.
• In Brennilis, in Finistère, some people do not believe it. Here, the plant closed in 1985 and will not be completely dismantled until 2039.
• EDF is awaiting the green light from the government to dismantle the reactor enclosure of this nuclear site like no other.

“The pearl mules, we only find them in Ellez. They only live in very pure water ”. When crossing the small stream that crosses the nuclear site, the director of the Brennilis power station (Finistère) cannot help but mention the presence of these freshwater mussels, which appreciate the clear waters and not polluted. Under the bridge, trout go up the current of the small river which has its source in the Monts d'Arrée. Proof of the "cleanliness" of the site managed by EDF according to its director Jean Cucciniello. Encircled by luxuriant vegetation, the power plant nevertheless works in the sumptuous wild landscapes of the Monts d'Arrée. Will the gray of its reactor enclosure disappear one day? This is what EDF likes to promise. And what some opponents fear.

Closed since 1985, the Brennilis nuclear power plant is not the best known in the French fleet. And for good reason. This prototype and its heavy water reactor cooled with carbon dioxide have never really given satisfaction during the 18 years they have been in operation. Abandoned, the site with a power of 70 megawatts is no match for the 900 MW of reactors currently in operation. Stopped for thirty-five years, the plant was the first to start its dismantling site in the 1990s. In Fessenheim, where the second reactor stopped a few days ago, EDF hopes to complete dismantling in twenty years. A promise that makes opponents of nuclear power smile. In Finistère, the most optimistic scenario foresees a complete dismantling site of 17 years, starting from the launching of the works, planned at best for 2022, that is to say a completion in 2039. “Do not tell me that energy nuclear costs less. This project shows how irrational it is. "

"The dismantling of Brennilis, I will not see it during my lifetime"

Bernadette Lallouet will soon be 70 years old. The president of the association Living in the mountains of Arrée, anti-nuclear activist, is however categorical. “The dismantling of Brennilis, I will not see it during my lifetime. They say they have removed 90% of the radioactive products. But the remaining 10% are the most dangerous, ”said the woman who lives in a modest stone house, a few kilometers from the nuclear site. Director of the phantom power plant, Jean Cucciniello is more optimistic. “We had planned 10 years of work. But I'm not afraid to announce that we will be 17 years old. This project has never been carried out elsewhere in the world. We know we're being watched, but we're not going to be blamed for being cautious. ”

Bernadette Lallouet is the president of the association Vivre dans les Monts d'Arrée. She is an anti nuclear activist. - C. Allain / 20 Minutes

Since his appointment five years ago, the engineer turned director has seen deconstruction progressing well. The old effluent treatment station has disappeared and the heat exchangers have been removed from the reactor enclosure. For several months and pending the government decree and the green light from the Nuclear Safety Authority, around fifteen EDF employees and sixty service providers work daily around the closed site. "We are preparing for the dismantling of the reactor block," explains the site director, with the supporting diagram. Inside the concrete dome, robots will be responsible for intervening in the "red zone" to cut out the radioactive metal tank and condition it in thick containers. The material will then be transported to the storage sites of the National Agency for Radioactive Waste Management (ANDRA), in Aube.

"There is no risk for the inhabitants and the environment"

It is precisely this phase that worries the opponents. “This plant is a wart in a magnificent landscape. But now that it's here, let's leave it. It's less dangerous that you don't stir it. There, we will get out of highly radioactive waste and we will make them cross France? It is insane, ”annoys Bernadette Lallouet. Again, Jean Cucciniello is reassuring. “There is no risk for the inhabitants and the environment. Everything is controlled. Risk management is for our employees, ”says the director.

At the beginning of the 1960s, the mystical and legendary lands of the Monts d'Arrée (# Finistère) were chosen to host the experimental reactor "EL 4" (for Eau Lourde n ° 4). Before him, there was EL 1 or "Zoé" (Fontenay-aux-Roses, 1948) and EL 2 and 3 (Saclay, 1952 & 1957). pic.twitter.com/YtIonhndyj

The risks for employees, Michel Marzin knows them. At the age of 83, this former plant technician spent 28 years in Brennilis. He is one of the few to testify today. "Half of the guys on my team died before age 65," said the Finistérien. Today, this activist "no longer believes EDF". “We were told that it would be finished in 2000, then in 2010. But the faster we go, the more we take the risk of making a mistake, of polluting. Back to the grass, I don't believe it. The grass will no longer be green, it will be gray ”. 19 meters wide, the reactor enclosure which must be dismantled is located above a water table. The former site worker fears that leaks may have soiled the basement. "We had leaks to plug, it was making bubbles," recalls Michel Marzin. On the EDF side, we want to be reassuring, showing the “4,000 measurements per year” carried out in air and in water for years.

The village is dying, the power station remains

But in the area, they are not so many worried about this potential radioactivity. For a good number of inhabitants, the plant was above all perceived as a source of wealth in this sparsely populated region where employment is scarce. "I cried when they dismantled parts of the plant," says Sylvie. This subcontractor who has worked at Brennilis for decades is one of those who knew her in business.

“The plant brought us work, residents. At one point, there were 1,200 of us living here ”. Today, the town is dying and is only home to 400 souls. Over the course of the deaths and departures, the houses in the village empty but are not sold. The plant is still there.

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