The Senate, with a majority in favor of a revival of nuclear energy, widened at first reading the scope of the bill aimed at simplifying administrative procedures to promote the construction of new reactors.
The examination of the text defended by the Minister of Ecological Transition Agnès Pannier-Runacher, scheduled to extend until Thursday, was completed in a few hours on Tuesday.
The Senate will vote on the entire text in a solemn vote next Tuesday. The bill will then go to the National Assembly.
In addition to the Republicans and the centrists, the groups RDPI with a majority Renaissance, RDSE with a radical majority and Independents have already announced that they will vote for the text. The majority communist group CRCE will abstain. As for the Socialists, they criticize the Committee on Economic Affairs for having “misguided”.
Second part of the energy triptych – after a text dedicated to renewable energies and before a programming law -, it must make it possible to concretize the relaunch of a nuclear policy “ambitious and sustainable” initiated by Emmanuel Macron.
A goal shared by almost all senators, with the exception of the environmental group. Even if, like the rapporteur LR Daniel Gremillet, they widely deplored that the “government legislates out of order”.
The President of the Republic announced his intention to build six new reactors and wanted studies to be launched for the construction of eight others.
The bill aims to simplify administrative procedures for the construction of new facilities near existing nuclear sites. This for a period limited to 15 years in the initial text, increased to 20 years by the senators in committee, then to 27 years in the hemicycle.
Concretely, the sites will be exempted from town planning authorization because the control of conformity will be ensured by the State. The right of expropriation will be relaxed.
Or even work on buildings not intended to receive radioactive substances could be started before closing the public inquiry.
“Basically, we don’t waste time”summarized the Minister for Energy Transition, specifying that this technical text “will make it possible not to add a delay of two to three years to the construction of a reactor”.
The next two EPRs should be located in Penly (Seine-Maritime), followed by two others in Gravelines (North), according to EDF’s plans.
Ms Pannier-Runacher put forward the 2027 target – “rather late 2027” – pour “the first pour of concrete” et “2035 – 2037” for commissioning.
“Political will”
The LR president of the Economic Affairs Committee Sophie Primas brought the trial of a “government that has completely abandoned nuclear power”.
“Our commission has transformed a technical text into an affirmation of political will to finally succeed in relaunching nuclear power”she said.
“This text is not an energy programming text”insisted the minister on the contrary, while the senators gave it a more strategic dimension.
Mr. Gremillet thus blew up “locks“by removing in particular the objective of reducing the nuclear share of electricity production to 50% by 2035, and by imposing the revision of the decree which provides for the closure of 12 reactors, in addition to Fessenheim.
Amendments deemed “scandalous” by the organization Greenpeace France, for which “the Senate sabotages the democratic debate and bypasses the legislative agenda”.
France, which derives around 70% of its electricity from nuclear power, decided in 2015 to close 14 of its 58 reactors, before a reversal announced by the President of the Republic.
The senators also adopted a series of amendments on “two major axes: simplify and secure”. In particular, this involves integrating the risks linked to climate change in the safety demonstration of reactors and cyber-resilience in their protection against malicious acts.
Ecologists have methodically railed against the various provisions of the text, going so far as to ask, in a nod to the right, for a “power of veto” mayors.
According to them, the bill puts parliamentarians before the “fait accompli”, while a public debate on the construction of new nuclear reactors is not over. Argument refuted by the minister.
“This text in no way preempts the decisions that would be taken on the future of the French energy mix or on the construction of the EPR2 program”we assure the ministry.