Since the beginning of the campaign, each presidential candidate has advanced his pawn on the fragile chessboard of the energy mix.
Today, the share of nuclear in the French energy mix is 40%, compared to 27.5% oil, 16.9% natural gas, 13.1% renewable energies and 2.5% coal.
If the candidates on the left want, in the majority, to stop the production of nuclear energy in the long term, the candidates on the right and the extreme right are for the construction of new EPRs and the extension of the life of the current nuclear fleet.
Should we stop nuclear power… or invest in new reactors?
Since the beginning of the campaign, each presidential candidate has advanced his pawn on the fragile chessboard of the energy mix.
Because if, today, the share of nuclear in the French energy mix is 40%, against 27.5% of oil, 16.9% of natural gas, 13.1% of renewable energies and 2.5% of coal, several contenders for the Elysée would like to review this quota.
“I chose to favor the scenario which proposes to do with 100% renewable energies.
The goal is to get there by 2050, but I think it may be a little later” detailed Anne Hidalgo at
20 Minutes
at the end of February.
With, in the background, a desire to get out of nuclear completely
in fine
.
A goal shared by Jean-Luc Mélenchon for LFI and by the environmental candidate EELV, Yannick Jadot.
While the PCF candidate Fabien Roussel, chose to opt for a scenario comprising 50% nuclear and 50% renewable energies.
Among right-wing and far-right candidates, a consensus seems to be emerging around one and the same certainty: invest in nuclear energy at all costs.
Valérie Pécresse proposes "a Gaullian recovery plan for energy with a massive remobilization of nuclear power", which already involves "a reflection" on the construction of new EPRs, beyond the six planned for 2035, as Emmanuel Macron announced in Belfort last February.
In her interview with 20 Minutes, Marine Le Pen defends this energy in order – in particular – to promote the autonomy of France, against the backdrop of the war in Ukraine.
“With nuclear power, we remain sovereign because we have a diversification of uranium resources.
It would be bad luck if all the countries with uranium were in a position to no longer be able to deliver to us, ”declares the candidate of the National Rally.
Lifespan and risks of nuclear accident
If the candidates are so divided on the question, it is mainly because of the problems linked to the waste generated by the sector and the risk of nuclear accident, as was the case in Chernobyl and Fukushima.
Stored deep in clay tunnels, so-called "long-lived" waste, which represents 10% of the total stock of radioactive waste, loses its radioactivity beyond 31 years, but remains active for almost a hundred thousand years to the most radioactive.
The lifespan of nuclear power plants is also singled out by its detractors.
Because the older a nuclear power plant gets, the greater the risk of malfunction.
To be able to overcome any problems, the “Grand carénage” industrial program was set up in 2014. The goal: to renovate the power stations and ensure the durability of the materials after forty years.
Emmanuel Macron, if he is re-elected, has already announced that he wants to extend the life of “all the reactors that can be extended” beyond fifty years.
For the time being, of the 58 reactors distributed in the 19 French power plants, 39 will reach forty years of activity by 2025 at the latest.
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Nuclear: Emmanuel Macron in Belfort to announce new EPRs and save the atom?
Nuclear
Nuclear plant
Presidential election 2022
20 minute video
Elections
Planet
Emmanuel Macron
Marine Le Pen
Jean-Luc Melenchon
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