You have to imagine yourself inside a huge reactor. Except that we are in a workshop, a kind of refurbished shed. Here, a welding machine for practice: facing his control screen, a technician remotely controls a robot. Later and elsewhere, the operation will be repeated in the middle of a nuclear power plant, in a radioactive environment.
For now, here we are in Rognac (Bouches-du-Rhône), on the banks of the Etang de Berre, in the premises of the Endel company, which specializes in metal maintenance. One of the main subcontractors of the nuclear industry and in particular of EDF, operator of French reactors. One of the main “partners”, prefers to say Madany Lias, CEO of the company, suit without tie. He has not yet had the opportunity for a bipartisan meeting with Luc Rémont, the new boss of EDF, who has been in office for five months.
As with many subcontractors (Bouygues, Vinci, Onet, Spie, Spie Batignolles, etc.), the atom is not Endel’s only activity: 595 million euros in overall turnover in 2021 , including subsidiaries. But this is the main one. In the radius of “joys to share” today with EDF, to use the expression of Mr. Lias: the prospect of six new reactors to be built, announced by the Head of State, Emmanuel Macron, a year ago.
Steam generator
Of nearly 4,800 employees of Endel entities, some 3,000 employees already work in energy, according to the company. Some have the status of the metallurgy, a single status for nuclear workers does not yet exist, despite a union demand.
A thousand more jobs are expected over the coming years, according to internal projections, with no specific deadline. Welders, pipefitters… “Before going to recruit, you also have to know how to keep your skills, considers Endel’s boss. The market is so tight that some suppliers do not hesitate to poach massively from their colleagues or competitors. » For new sites, but also for reactors already in service.
Tenders for future reactors have not yet been issued. But Endel is preparing for it, in association with two other companies specializing in piping, Fives Nordon and the Ponticelli group. “EDF remains attentive to our constraints, but we still have to put them on the table, the problem is that some subcontractors may tend to do not do it “, recognizes Madany Lias, the promise of delays or unsustainable costs that can be blamed on subcontractors.
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