After the speech of the Head of State in Franche-Comté, NGOs and political leaders denounce his choice to relaunch nuclear power. The right and the extreme right point to a reversal. The energy companies applaud.
“I have the impression of hearing a mad scientist, we are swimming in delirium.” As for the climate spokesperson for Greenpeace France, Clément Sénéchal, environmentalists have little digested Emmanuel Macron’s announcements, this Thursday in Belfort, on the French “nuclear renaissance”. “These statements are not those of a president concerned about the climate emergency and the energy transition but those of a president campaigning for his re-election”, deplores the environmental NGO in a press release.
Traveling to Montpellier for a campaign stage with an outdoor meeting, the environmental candidate Yannick Jadot had not waited for the President to speak to denounce this energy strategy. On LCI, the MEP recalled that “France is the only European country that does not respect its renewable energy commitments” and promised if he was “elected” to not “to go out […] brutally nuclear” but D’“save”of “develop renewable energies” then to“shut down the most dangerous reactors gradually, without ever jeopardizing the supply of electricity for families and businesses”.
His former campaign spokesman, Maine-et-Loire deputy Matthieu Orphelin, described the speech as “absolute void”. For this former LREM, Macron is already in the presidential campaign in his costume as head of state and wants to split this debate to “to artificially make it a contest between pro and opponents of nuclear power”. Another former walker, now a supporter of Yannick Jadot, Emilie Cariou also wondered about the “price” of this nuclear revival: “The initial budget for the Flamanville EPR in 2006 was 3.5 billion euros. When EDF estimates it at 12.7 billion euros, the Court of Auditors assesses its total cost at 19 billion euros, with more than a decade of delay in its commissioning and without any return of ‘experience on the commissioning of the Chinese EPR, which is experiencing difficulties, some of which could prove to be structural’, she criticizes. MP for the Meuse with the Bure landfill site in her constituency, she also warns about the future “volume of waste to be treated“. Another supporter of a nuclear exit, Jean-Luc Mélenchon was indignant on Twitter at this “renouncing alternative energies”.
On the right, where we remain great defenders of the atom, we criticize on the contrary the so-called turn made by the Head of State during this five-year term. “When the energy choices are disastrous, reality comes back like a boomerang!” denounced Damien Abad, the boss of the LR deputies, towards the Minister of Ecological Transition, Barbara Pompili. The deputy of Ain attacked the former European Ecology-the Greens (EE-LV): “After obtaining the closure of 14 nuclear reactors, Barbara Pompili will finally have to launch the construction of six EPR 2, with eight others as an option.”
On the far right, Eric Zemmour published, as soon as Macron’s speech was completed, a press release to denounce “Emmanuel Macron’s electoral reversal”. The far-right candidate castigated the President of the Republic’s campaign entry strategy: “I note that Emmanuel Macron opportunely rallies to my position”, he cheated. The leader of Reconquête repeats at length of TV sets that it is not necessary “sacrificing the nuclear sector in favor of renewable energies”. In full bidding, he promises to extend the life of existing reactors “at least sixty years old”, when Macron himself proposed to“study the conditions for extension beyond fifty years”.
On the energy side, we welcome the announcements of the Head of State. For solar energy professionals “The speech of the President of the Republic marks an important step. It is the recognition by the highest authority of the State of the preponderant role of solar energy in the carbon-free energy transition and in the future mixed electricity”. says the Enerplan union in a press release. The French Electricity Union (UFE) is also delighted with the president’s desire to mix nuclear and renewable energy. According to this union, which brings together companies such as EDF, Total Energies and even Engie, this policy is the only way to “respond to the request [en électricité] which will be expressed in the coming decades”. Another argument: employment. The UFE estimates the electrical sector at “600,000 jobs on national soil”.