The EDF project is still at the crossroads of anti-nuclear unions. Several of them announced on Tuesday that they were taking legal action to protest the “rushed start-up” of the next-generation EPR nuclear reactor in Flamanville. was launched in May 12 years late.
On July 8, the associations filed an “appeal to the Council of State” against the May 7 decision of the Nuclear Safety Authority (NSA) to allow the commissioning of the EPR, the Exit Nuclear Network announced in a joint press release with Criirad. , Crilan, Global Chance and Robin des Bois associations. They also filed complaints against X in Cherbourg and Paris on Tuesday “to shed light on violations noted by the Nuclear Safety Authority with respect to EPR parts.”
Greenpeace joined the two legal actions and the French Environment took part alone in the Normandie criminal case. Through these two procedures, the unions intend to raise awareness of “this hasty commissioning while questions remain unanswered.”
“Problems of forgery, fraud and suspected fraud”
On May 7, at the end of a complex project plagued by technical problems, the ASN authorized the commissioning of the EDF-operated EPR. connecting the unit to the mains in the summer.
However, for these associations, this green light came “under the constraint of very tight deadlines” and aimed “above all” at “preventing the legal consequences of another postponement”. Commissioning in 2017 and 2020 has “already been postponed by order” and “a new deadline has been set for this to occur before April 10,” they said.
The nuclear police noted in mid-March that the expiration of this period “does not prevent the ASN from allowing the reactor to start up.” For the associations, this decision is “all the more surprising in light of the ASN revelations” in early 2024 about “new problems of counterfeiting, fraud and suspected fraud” in the nuclear sector. ASN announced in January that it had reported three cases of “proven fraud” to the courts in 2023, without giving further details.
In order to join the criminal proceedings initiated by the ASN, the associations complained to the prosecutor’s offices of Cherbourg and Paris, especially for the use of forgery and “supervision deficiencies”. environmental code and “at least one of the three incidents reported involved a supplier to the Flamanville EPR construction site.”
In particular, the complainants attached to their complaint a letter from ASN to EDF CEO Luc Remont dated March 26, 2024, which called for an investigation into the group’s “risks of disruption in supply chain materials intended for nuclear reactors.”
“Irregularities have recently been highlighted at two companies that are part of the EDF supply chain and produce materials intended for the operation of nuclear reactors as well as the Flamanville EPR reactor,” the letter states.