On the occasion of the first big public outing of Luc Rémont, boss of the first electricity group, the Minister of the Economy held a speech in favor of nuclear in line with that of Emmanuel Macron in Belfort , in February.
by marjorie cessac
Visible from a belvedere, wedged between the Crayers and the Sea, the Penly (Seine-Maritime) plant appears in the distance like a strong industrial castle. Bruno Le Maire, black turtleneck jacket and sweater, displays a serene smile. On this Friday, December 9, the Minister of the Economy accompanies Luc Rémont, all new boss of EDF – for less than fifteen days -, during his first major appearance in public on the Normand site, near Dieppe. Around them crowd several local elected officials, including Communist deputy Sébastien Jumel, and a cloud of journalists, no less than forty accredited for the occasion.
The sky is clear, the air frozen. The perfect photo. After a week marked by the panic on the risks of electricity cuts, the cropping of Emmanuel Macron against the “scenarios of fear”, the “timing” falls, this time, at the peak for EDF. During the night of Thursday to Friday, three reactors – those of Dampierre 3, Bugey 3 and Cattenom 4 – restarted, bringing to 40 – a round figure – the number of slices again on the rails, out of the 56 that counts the French nuclear park.
“EDF holds its calendar and we are on the right track. Let us stop saying that it is the disaster, it is not true,” insists Bruno Le Maire, confident that the sobriety, coupled to The increase in production should allow us to spend the coming months without cuts. “We are confidently approaching the coming weeks, with the passage of winter”, abounds on his side Luc Rémont, dressed in the blue and orange vest with EDF. At this hour, no Ecowatt Orange sign certainly came to disturb the atmosphere. But next week, temperatures are coming down 5 to 6 ° C compared to “reference temperatures”, which should force France to continue to import, especially from Germany.
“Remotivate troops”
has a hundred meters below, after a road covered with fences and barbed wire, in a game of “inter -dispatched walls”, the building of the number two reactor is revealed. On the other side, a long surrounding wall under construction is already visible. His goal ? Delimit the current site of a future new generation of EPR reactors (EPR2). Because the government already has its idea: Penly promises to be adequate in his eyes, since the location exists, even if it will be necessary to cut again in the cliff to build the first two of these six new reactors desired by Emmanuel Macron during his Belfort speech in February.
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