In a huge hangar of the Union des Forgerons - a century-old company that manufactures custom parts - blocks of metal, copper or steel are heated to 1,000 degrees.
Giant pliers catch them and forge them under a press with the dexterity and precision of human fingers.
In this factory in Méréville, an hour's drive from Paris, parts are custom-designed for companies working in aerospace, defense, aeronautics or... nuclear.
An industrial sector that the government wants to relaunch: "We need to recruit and train massively", or "create 10,000 new jobs per year" to reach "100,000 new jobs in 2030", said the Minister of Energy Transition Agnès Pannier-Runacher, traveling on the site.
Minister of Energy Transition Agnès Pannier-Runacher (r) during a visit to the Union des Forgerons, on April 11, 2023 in Méréville, Essonne © Christophe ARCHAMBAULT / AFP
Blacksmiths, boilermakers, technicians... are essential jobs to manufacture nuclear reactors but "too often unknown" added the minister.
"We know the difficulties of work but in terms of remuneration, salaries are higher than in other sectors," continued Agnès Pannier-Runacher who stressed the "nobility of the (blacksmith) trade".
According to the government, it is necessary to "make known that nuclear is a tool like any other to allow the decarbonization of energy". The goal he has set himself: to completely decarbonize energy by 2050 "thanks to renewable and nuclear".
To achieve this, a report by a committee of inquiry calls for a revival of nuclear power which, according to the report, must go through competence, among other things: "We have forgotten to be proud of blacksmiths, welders, ... It is up to us to shed light on the strength of these professions to attract young men and women," said majority rapporteur Antoine Armand.
Minister of Energy Transition Agnès Pannier-Runacher (r) during a visit to the Union des Forgerons, on April 11, 2023 in Méréville, Essonne © Christophe ARCHAMBAULT / AFP
He submitted this report, with his pro-nuclear bias assumed, to the minister at the end of the visit to the plant.
© 2023 AFP