Sandrine Prioul / Photo credits: Ludovic MARIN / AFP 6:41 a.m., January 19, 2024

Emmanuel Macron chose the French Navy and the School of Military Applications of Atomic Energy (ESCA) to present his wishes to the armies.

This year, ESCA opened a BTS to students from civil society to become atomic scientists.

Europe 1 was able to visit this prestigious school on the Cherbourg military base.

The school of military applications of atomic energy (ESCA) will be in the spotlight this Friday.

It is in this establishment, located on the Cherbourg military base, that the President of the Republic, Emmanuel Macron, decided to send his best wishes to the armies.

A school which is the only military structure to train atomic specialists, that is to say technicians, operators and engineers to control nuclear reactors, and which this year even opened a BTS to students from civil society.

15 students recruited for a period of 10 years

“Here is the crisis management forum”.

A nuclear leak on a submarine's reactor.

An accident that can occur on one of the various nuclear ships of the French Navy.

Fortunately, this is only an exercise which has all the makings of a major crisis to manage for the students of the Atomic School, led by Commander Amaury.

“Tomorrow, we, operators, we, shift leaders, they are 25-30 years old and we are entrusting them with a nuclear reactor to control. So, we have a duty to be demanding.” 

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Cutting-edge training, unique in France, which has been training and hiring high school graduates for ten years since the start of the school year.

This is the case of Valentine, from civil society and who has a bit of the impression of being privileged: "This BTS which opened its doors in Lille is perfectly what I wanted: to work in nuclear power and integrate Marine".

This young woman hopes to one day realize one of her dreams: to board an aircraft carrier or a submarine. 

15 students this year, double that number recruited next year.

A way for the French Navy to meet increasingly growing needs, in particular for the future aircraft carrier which should join the French fleet and replace the Charles-de-Gaulle in 2038.