EDF or French shipwreck story

Waking up is brutal. French families lived under the sweet illusion that cheap electricity produced by EDF’s nuclear power plants would protect them from the turbulence of energy supplies caused by the war in Ukraine. It was even an opportunity to demonstrate the superiority of the French model based on national sovereignty in contrast to our German neighbors who bet everything on Russian gas. But nothing went as planned.

The shutdown of 26 of EDF’s 56 nuclear reactors in its fleet leaves France vulnerable to power shortages and has put the operator at the center of criticism. One of the first missions of the incoming chief of staff, Luke Reman, who was chosen by Elysee on Thursday, September 29, will be to restart production. In 2005, the year of its IPO, EDF generated approximately 430 terawatt hours (TWh) of nuclear-derived electricity; In 2022, it expects 280 to 300 TWh. This industrial handicap is compounded by the failure of the French nuclear industry to build new third-generation power plants (EPR).

Who’s to blame? The leaders of EDF or Areva – the brother of the failed enemy -, the executive, the environmentalists, or Brussels and its confused liberalism? Communists and Republicans are calling for a parliamentary commission of inquiry into atomic energy to shed light on the disaster. It is enough to read Agatha Christie: “EDF is The Crime of the Orient Express. everyone is guilty”Contact the former Bears, who wished to remain anonymous, as most of the great witnesses have requested.

Coins of environmentalists

For Olivier Marlex, president of the Les Républicains group in the National Assembly, the main culprit is Francois Hollande, who promised to be elected president of the republic in 2012. By 2025, the share of nuclear energy in electricity production should decrease from 75% to 50%. “We have a golden technology that provided us with clean and cheap energy, we sacrificed it in the name of the electoral agreement Socialist Party. [PS]– The Greens in 2011: swapping fifteen legislative constituencies for the closure of twenty-four nuclear reactors.attacked Mr. Marlex in a daily interview Le FigaroIt was published on September 5.

Everywhere in Europe, since the end of the 20th century^e In the century, environmentalists have monetized their participation in coalitions in return for the withdrawal from nuclear energy: this was the case in Germany in 1998, or in Belgium in 2003. In 1997, the Prime Minister (PS), Lionel Jospin, made a sacrifice. The SuperPhoenix Fast Breeder Reactor at the Altar of the PS-Les Verts Covenant. In France, the Greens have slowed down development “new nuclear” It is all the more effective, because energy policy has been under the responsibility of the Ministry of Environment for a long time.