Like all business sectors, the management of French nuclear power plants is impacted by the coronavirus. The nuclear safety authority (ASN) has suspended its physical controls, but continues to monitor these highly sensitive installations from a distance ... A difficult mission, as evidenced by the "temporary" shutdown of the last reactor of the power plant nuclear power plant in Fessenheim, Alsace, after a "malfunction" detected on a tap. Europe 1 takes stock.
"If there was a nuclear disaster ..."
Bruno Chareyron, member of the independent research and information commission on radioactivity (CRIIRAD), first wonders about the management of a nuclear incident in this context of confinement. "If there was a nuclear disaster, it would be very difficult to manage. All the regrouping in the gymnasiums would be in total contradiction with the containment measures", he worries on Europe 1.
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Video conference, test results sent by email, telephone meetings: for three weeks, engineers from the nuclear safety authority have been increasing their contacts with the operators of nuclear installations, mainly EDF. One priority: ensuring site security, even in small numbers.
"The medical personnel could not play their role"
ASN has certainly stopped its physical checks on the sites for three weeks, but "you can't stop yourself from going to a power station if that proves necessary," it said. The last reactor of the Fessenheim plant was thus disconnected on Sunday, and will be reconnected on Tuesday, an operation "without impact on the safety of the installation", assured EDF.
But if ASN and EDF want to be reassuring, Bruno Chareyron wonders about the management of a nuclear incident, and in particular the care of the French population. "The medical personnel could not play their role of taking charge of the population in the event of massive contamination. This situation creates a concern which is legitimate and which raises questions on the management of the nuclear installations and the preparation for a nuclear crisis", worries the member of the independent research and information commission on radioactivity (CRIIRAD).
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Fear of server overload
Another concern is the availability of computer servers, which allow EDF to report any incident. Are they at risk of being overloaded because of teleworking? The nuclear safety authority is carrying out tests in its crisis unit in the Paris region. "We are making sure that this communication channel remains available," said the nuclear gendarme.