VIDEO. Inside the reactor of a nuclear power plant

Alexandra is head of the maintenance department at the heart of a nuclear power plant. For Brut, she shows us what her daily life looks like. To work in complete safety, she wears specific clothing. “We can be subjected to nuclear irradiation because there are radioactive elements circulating in the pipes“, she explains. Every day, she manages a team of 140 people, including 135 men. “In our industry, we have few women, we have less than 20% women, and most work in services such as chemistry, environment“, develops Alexandra. She also ensures that the building is clean and tidy.

Before working in this plant, Alexandra followed several days of training if only for the rules to be respected. “You should know that the maximum authorization for a nuclear worker per year is to receive 20 millisieverts. There, I spent an hour in the zone, 0.001 millisievert is very low“, she explains.

For Alexandra, the waste generated by the plant is not breathed. Opponents of nuclear energy, however, point out the danger that this waste represents in the long term, some of which the radioactivity of which remains for several thousand years.