Paris (AFP)
Should we build new EPRs? In a context of delays and extra costs on the emblematic site of Flamanville, France wants to have the cards in hand within two years to decide the possible construction of new nuclear reactors, a decision which promises to be complex and controversial because it will engage the country for decades.
The multiannual energy planning (EPP) project for the next ten years opens the door to the construction of new reactors: the government wants to have "by mid-2021" elements to make a decision.
President Emmanuel Macron asked EDF in November last, "firm commitments on price, so they are more competitive.All must be ready in 2021 so that the choice that will be offered to the French can be a transparent choice and enlightened".
The cost will therefore be essential, alongside other parameters: the advantages and disadvantages compared to other means of production emitting little carbon, possible financing models, consultation with the public, the issue of waste ... Knowing that EDF is also looking to export EPRs to new countries.
To prepare for the 2021 deadline, EDF is working on an EPR reactor model called "optimized", simpler and cheaper than the current version, with a cost of electricity production comparable to gas plants.
But another criterion proves decisive: the progress of the Flamanville EPR project, whose major delays and additional costs could be aggravated by its welding problems, whereas the Nuclear Safety Authority (ASN) decided on Thursday that eight hard-to-reach welds should be repaired.
"It is the wisdom to wait until Flamanville has demonstrated its functioning before making decisions," said the Minister of Economy, Bruno Mayor, earlier this year.
- "uncertainties" -
"There are many uncertainties to handle, and uncertainties each time to several billion, even tens of billions of euros," reports to AFP Patrick Criqui, economist specializing in energy-climate policies.
But for manufacturers, the decision must not delay. Barely renewed in office for a new term, the CEO of EDF Jean-Bernard Lévy asked in May to avoid "procrastination".
The French Nuclear Energy Company (SFEN) estimates that a firm commitment "no later than 2021" is needed for at least three pairs of EPRs, intended to live 60 years. This is essential, according to her, so that manufacturers can implement these projects without having lost the necessary skills.
It is also a question of "security of supply" for France: the current reactors having been built in a limited period of time, they will reach their age limit and begin to close en masse at the turn of the 2040s. We must therefore anticipate their replacement, argues the SFEN, if we want to continue to benefit from nuclear futures.
"The big question is whether we are going towards a complete nuclear output or whether we will maintain a nuclear share in the French electricity supply by 2050," says Patrick Criqui.
- "no fatalities" -
"There is no fatality, and fortunately indeed, the pursuit of nuclear power in France", for its part Yves Marignac, director of the Wise-Paris cabinet, close to the anti-nuclear movement. "There is the option of projecting into a 100% renewable system and using innovative solutions," he explains for AFP.
For now, France only wants to reduce its dependence on nuclear, which must account for 50% of its electricity by 2035, against 71.7% last year.
It is "a rebalancing in which the nuclear has its place", summarizes the Minister of ecological transition and solidarity, François de Rugy, yet a former supporter of the exit of the atom.
For the future, and possible new EPR, he wants "that a political choice can be made in the most transparent and democratic way, in the elections of 2022".
If this question becomes a theme of the election campaign, "it will be hot", predicts Patrick Criqui. With already a question, political: "What are going to be in the coming months the balance of power and the conditions of a discussion or negotiation between the party of the president (Macron) and the ecologists?"
? 2019 AFP