2024-03-19 17:27:16
Roland Lescure, Minister of Industry, defended the merger project. THOMAS SAMSON / AFP
A solemn vote of deputies approved on Tuesday the birth of the new Nuclear Safety and Radiation Protection Authority, resulting from the merger of two current organizations, the ASN and the IRSN.
After heated debates in the Sustainable Development Committee at the National Assembly, the government finally obtained approval from deputies on Tuesday afternoon to create the ASNR (Nuclear Safety and Radiation Protection Authority). This involves merging the Nuclear Safety Authority (ASN), the sector watchdog, and the Institute for Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety (IRSN), the technical expert, by January 1, 2025. The vote was won with the narrowest possible margin, with 260 MPs voting in favor and 259 opposing it. Roland Lescure, Minister of Industry, defended the government’s position for « fluidify » decisions and « create a more independent, more attractive and stronger authority ».
These efficiency objectives are linked to the fact that the Head of State intends to relaunch the construction of new reactors, with a first order for 6 EPR2s, the cost of which has just been reassessed. Faced with this project which could involve a total of more than ten reactors, it will be necessary « triple or even quintuple » by 2030 the number of 2000 inspections and 2000 decisions made last year, indicated Pierre Henriet, Horizon MP, in favor of the merger. Monday evening, the representatives of IRSN employees sent a final letter to the deputies to denounce « a regression to the current system » which would reduce the « transparency » et « public acceptance » nuclear. One of the fears is in particular to see that technical opinions could be published well after a decision has been made, which would be a regression compared to current practices.
Change of mind of RN deputies
Employee representatives also fear the fragmentation of the technical expert, part of whose activities will be taken over by the CEA (Atomic Energy and Alternative Energies Commission) and another part will be transferred to the Ministry of Defense. Furthermore, the choice of the legal status of the new entity, which will be an independent administrative authority, as is currently the case with ASN, risks transforming the future policeman of the sector into a « program agency » who will not be able to participate in national or European research cooperation, IRSN employees fear. This union between ASN and IRSN is “ a technocratic, useless and dangerous madness » lamented the mathematician Cédric Villani, ecologist and former vice-president of Opecst (Parliamentary Office for the Evaluation of Scientific and Technological Choices) who came out of his reserve to comment on this government project.
The vote for the creation of the future nuclear policeman was obtained thanks to the change of position of the RN which had first opposed the marriage of the two organizations, at the beginning of March, during the debates of the Sustainable Development Commission.
The birth of the ASNR still remains to be finalized, during a joint joint commission, which should be held on April 3. The amendments that were adopted during the vote on the bill at first reading in February by the senators were for the most part deleted during the debates in the National Assembly. The contours of the future authority must be quickly drawn by January 1, 2025. At the end of 2023, the ASN had 530 employees (including around 500 civil servants) and the IRSN had a staff of 1,731 people.
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