2023-11-27 20:01:48
HAS “78 and a half years”, Alain Tournyol du Clos already has a long career behind him, in the civil and military sectors. A weapons engineer, he worked in the construction of nuclear submarines at the Atomic Energy Commission (CEA), but also as a nuclear advisor at the French embassy in Beijing.
Experience sharing
Retired since 2012, he is today… self-employed and continues to carry out consulting missions on future reactor projects in France, for the Atomic Energy Commission (CEA) and the International Nuclear Agency. atomic energy (IAEA), but also in the United States. “I don’t like gardening and I’m not handy, he notes. I want to continue to be useful and above all share my knowledge. »
Knowledge that is being lost: France has not commissioned a new nuclear reactor for more than twenty years, in 2002. And the construction of the third generation EPR reactor in Flamanville (Manche), which is thirteen years late and a forecast cost multiplied by almost four to more than 13 billion euros, comes up against the lack of experience of the teams responsible for the project.
« Recycler l’intelligence »
Alain Tournyol du Clos is far from being an isolated case. «We have nearly 3,000 nuclear retirees who continue to bring their experience to companies in the sector,” says Caroline Young, president of Experconnect, a firm founded in 2005 and unique in its kind, specializing in “post-retirement collaboration”. The firm will occupy a stand at the World Nuclear Exhibition, in Villepinte (Seine-Saint-Denis), from November 28 to 30, which has a record number of exhibitors.
“Our job is to recycle intelligence”, she says. At EDF alone, for example, around 500 missions are organized each year. Many seniors also work occasionally on behalf of Framatome and subcontracting companies.
Field experience
Young companies working on new small reactors also call on retirees. This is the case of Naarea, one of the winners last June of the call for projects launched by the government, which should benefit from a subsidy of 32 million euros for the development of a molten salt and fast neutrons of 10 to 20 MW. The objective is ambitious. Naarea is counting on a first copy within five years.
“In addition to our 60 employees, there are around twenty retirees who come as consultants to help us move forward, underlines Antoine Guyot, co-founder of Jimmy, one of the winners designated Monday November 27. They have field experience and a history in their head, particularly on construction and how to present the file to the Safety Authority. »
“In nuclear power, as in aeronautics, we are in the long term, with products that have a longer lifespan than the period of activity of those who designed and built them,” notes Caroline Young, who also has Airbus and defense companies as clients. Construction of the nuclear fleet began in the mid-1970s and the first work on the Airbus A320 a few years later.
Between 100,000 to 150,000 recruitments in ten years
Today, with the relaunch of a nuclear program which provides for the construction of 6 to 14 EPR reactors, the development of small reactors as well as the extension of the existing fleet by at least ten years, the needs are enormous. We will have to recruit a lot of engineers but also specialized technicians, such as welders or even boilermakers.
In a report submitted to the government in April, the Group of French Nuclear Energy Industrialists (Gifen), which brings together 500 companies, expects an increase of a quarter in its volume of work by 2033, with the hires 10,000 to 15,000 people per year.
«Among the elders, there is a pride and satisfaction to pass on, affirms its general delegate Olivier Bard. Everyone has been waiting for a revival of the sector for a long time and also wants to participate in it. » Several actions have also been launched for employees at the end of their careers so that they can tutor younger employees.
The age barrier disappears
«Faced with the challenge of maintaining skills, the age barrier is disappearing in companies for a certain number of professions, and retirees are delighted to work, continues the boss of Expertconnect. Especially since they manage their time as they see fit and no longer have the constraints of management. »
According to her, missions take up on average 25% of their time. The majority of the experts it uses continue to work for three or four years after they stop working. “Money is not their primary motivation,” assures Caroline Young. But the missions often allow you to return to the level of remuneration achieved at the end of your career.
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Subsidies for six small reactor (SMR) projects
The government announced, Monday, November 27, that six new small nuclear reactor projects would benefit from a financial envelope of 77.2 million euros to continue their development, to which is added technical support from the CEA, estimated at 18 .9 million euros. These are Jimmy, Renaissance fusion, Calogena, Hexana, Otrera and Blue Capsule. In June, two projects, Naarea and Newcleo, were selected. All benefit from the call for projects endowed with 500 million euros to encourage the emergence of innovative reactors by the end of the decade. All technologies will be tested, in particular those of fast neutron reactors, which consume waste and produce almost none.
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