While the President of the Republic, Emmanuel Macron, has just announced the relaunch of the construction of the nuclear fleet and that energy prices are at their highest, the question of the atom has been invited for several months in all programs for the April 2022 presidential election.
For the sake of sovereignty, and now against the backdrop of an ecological argument, the right is the historical spokesperson for nuclear power. In the Les Républicains party, the candidates for the nomination, who will be decided on December 4 after the vote of the members, all castigate the “Decline” French and claim to go further than the executive in innovation and the construction of new power plants.
Xavier Bertrand, the president of the Hauts-de-France region, known for his opposition to wind power, announced during the first debate between the nomination contestants, Monday, November 8, that, if he is elected president of the Republic, its first decision would be “To order the chairman of EDF to launch the construction of ten new nuclear reactors”. Valérie Pécresse, the president of the Ile-de-France region, who considered, in 2018, that it was necessary to gradually get out of this energy, now defends, like the former European Commissioner Michel Barnier, the construction of six new reactors, i.e. the proposal defended by EDF, and a massive investment in research.
On the far right, Marine Le Pen wishes to launch “Immediately the construction of three new [réacteurs] EPR “ in addition to the overhaul and modernization of existing plants. The candidate of the National Rally also asked “ solemnly “ to Emmanuel Macron, Monday, November 15, a moratorium on the dismantling of the nuclear power plant of Fessenheim (Haut-Rhin), scheduled for 2025. For his part, the polemicist Eric Zemmour, who still plays on his vague status of declared non-candidate , defends the construction of ten new reactors and the burial of nuclear waste in Bure (Meuse).
“Responsible” exit
On the left, two candidates also assume a pronuclear line: the former socialist minister, champion of “made in France”, Arnaud Montebourg, and Fabien Roussel, invested by the French Communist Party, which proposes the construction of six to eight EPR. If both are favorable to the atom, it is because, according to them, the ecological transition by the decarbonization of energy production can only be done with this technology. They also put forward an economic argument, stressing that it is an energy ” cheaper “ for the French wallet.
The rest of the left is opposed to any new construction of EPRs and to the long-term maintenance of the current nuclear fleet. The other candidates rely more on renewable energies (wind, solar, etc.). Anne Hidalgo, the Socialist Party candidate, recognizes however that France will not be able to get out of nuclear power for fifteen to twenty years. It therefore gives it a place in the transition, for the sake of energy sovereignty and to counter an excessive rise in electricity prices.
The candidates of Europe Ecology-Les Verts and La France insoumise, Yannick Jadot and Jean-Luc Mélenchon, are more clearly opposed to the atom for questions of safety and ecological concern. In particular, they defend the shutdown of the EPR site at Flamanville (Manche). Nevertheless, the two had to adapt their speech. Yannick Jadot, heir to the anti-nuclear line of the environmental party, emphasizes wanting to get out “Responsibly”, with a transition phase of fifteen or twenty years. Jean-Luc Mélenchon defends a horizon “100% renewable energies”, no longer by 2030 but rather 2045.