Representatives and senators reached an agreement on Thursday on the nuclear stimulus bill to speed up the construction of new reactors, lawmakers said, paving the way for its final approval on May 16. After this agreement in the mixed commission, the bill will be submitted to a final vote by the Senate on May 9, then by the National Assembly on May 16. Its goal is to facilitate the construction of six new EPR reactors promised by Emmanuel Macron by 2035.
Recommendations on nuclear security reform expected in mid-July
Unsurprisingly, the MPs did not reintroduce the government’s controversial nuclear security reform. But the executive still considers it necessary to found the Institute for Radiological Protection and Nuclear Safety (IRSN), a technical expert, within the Nuclear Safety Authority (ASN), the gendarme of the plants. The IRSN inter-union was received, at its request, by the Minister for Energy Transition Agnès Pannier-Runacher last Friday. The Minister reiterated her conviction that the merger is the solution. She expects by mid-July the recommendations of the Parliamentary Office for the Evaluation of Scientific and Technological Options, in charge of the question by the Senate.
In a joint joint commission, deputies and senators suppressed an amendment that the Assembly had introduced to try to avoid any merger by promising a “dual” organization between IRSN and ASN. They also tweaked the bill to allow the Nuclear Safety Authority to hire private staff, according to a parliamentary source.
Another point discussed on Thursday, the parliamentarians clarified that the construction of new reactors is not part of the rules of “zero net artificialization” (ZAN) of soils at the local and regional level at this stage.
Source: BFM TV
