PAVILION | FRANCE
SMALL MODULAR REACTORS Despite its commitment to large PWRs, EDF has retained an interest in SMRs. In 2019 it signed an SMR research deal with state research body CEA, shipbuilder Naval Group, and TechnicAtome, the state group building nuclear power plants for France’s submarines and aircraft carriers. Back then, a provisional date for building work on the first so-called Nuward reactor was given for 2030. Work should kick up a gear after President Macron made his commitment to nuclear this year. He said that the “number one priority” for his industrial strategy was for France to develop innovative SMRs – also setting the target date at 2030 and promising a billion Euro investment. Nicolas Mazzucchi, an energy specialist at
France’s Foundation for Strategic Research, told France24 that SMRs are “a very flexible form of technology… “These reactors can be used for water desalination – a highly important task in places like the Middle East and even India – as well as to produce hydrogen to heat homes in colder parts of the world.” But he added that France was “playing catch-up” with the USA on the technology.
DECOMMISSIONING AND WASTE MANAGEMENT It was recently reported that France’s oldest nuclear power station will be shut down within the next few months. What will be France’s decommissioning commitment in the 2030s? That’s not clear at the moment. It already has over a dozen nuclear units at
various stages of shutdown and cleanup, including demonstration units such as the Superphenix and Phenix fast reactors. Previously it was expected that 14 nuclear reactors out of the 56 now in operation would be shut down by 2035, in accordance with an energy plan that called for a re-balancing of nuclear and renewable energy. Indeed two units at the Fessenheim site near the German border were closed in June 2020 – at the time, they were France’s oldest operating units. But the 2035 timescale already represented a decade’s reprieve for some plants that had been expected to close by 2025, in earlier versions of the plan.
€1.5M
Funding for a detailed nuclear skills mapping by sector
DELIVERING THE SKILLS A key requirement to deliver France’s current nuclear programme, maintain its existing plants and prepare for decommissioning - and to prepare for an expanded role for nuclear – is the need to ensure the industry has the right people. From skilled trades to knowledge managers and
18 | WNE Special Edition |
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from hardware to – increasingly – digital natives, the industry has to prepare for the future. France has not neglected the need to meet
that requirement, according to the sector’s industrial supporters. The Group des Industriels de ‘’Energie
Nucleaire said it had begun two years ago to carry out a detailed skills mapping by sector, with €1.5 million in funding and in agreement with labour unions. With the detailed mapping completed, gaps
could be identified – the group noted in an update presented during a press conference ahead of WNE that it had already determined that trades such as scaffolders, welders and electricians were struggling to recruit. The group said that a new narrative was needed to fill these and inform workers that the nuclear industry was an opportunity for long term employment. In a second phase of the initiative, to follow up the mapping exercise, suitable training courses will be put in place and, crucially, so will a recruitment process that highlights the need for such contractors in the green transition.
A SELECTION OF FRENCH INDUSTRY PARTICIPATION ABGX, based in Clermont-Ferrand, has moved from start-up to be a major operator in the radiation protection management industry. It is the result of six years of collaborative R&D with radiation protection specialists.
Besse handles industrial risks and insurance and its nuclear solutions unit is focused on tailor- made advice and daily support for industrialists in this sector, anywhere in the world. Its expertise is not only in setting up dedicated liabilty insurance covers but also for the quality of its support when a claim occurs.
CEFRI has been a reference certifier in radiation protection since 1990 for companies, training bodies, and competent organizations. The objectives of CEFRI certifications are help prevent risks related to ionizing radiation.
Groupe ECIA is an engineering company and a player in the nuclear industry in the field of risk management. As a specialist in utilities, in low and high current electricity, mechanical engineering & calculations, climate engineering, control-command and maintenance and dismantling engineering, it is present throughout facilities’ life cycle
Fastpoint, a digital startup from Normandy, specializes in the collection, transport and security
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