the Elysée relaunches the disputed merger of two institutions

The Elysee Palace relaunched, on Wednesday July 19, the disputed process of merging the two institutions responsible for nuclear safety in France. This operation, announced by the Presidency of the Republic three months after the rejection by Parliament of a first draft merger, would bring together in a new “great independent authority” the Institute for Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety (IRSN), safety expert, and the Nuclear Safety Authority (ASN), responsible for decisions on power plants, according to a press release.

This authority, “whose financial and human resources would be reinforced (…) will make it possible to adapt nuclear safety to the three challenges of recovery” civil nuclear power wanted by President Emmanuel Macron, argues the Elysée. These “challenges” are “the extension of the existing park”there “construction of new EPRs”next-generation reactors, and “the development of innovative small modular reactors”listed the executive.

The Nuclear Policy Council (CPN), meeting Wednesday at the Elysée, “confirmed the government’s desire to move forward in this direction by ensuring that all the missions of ASN and IRSN are preserved”, according to the same source. The CPN therefore has “assigned mission to the Minister of Energy Transition [Agnès Pannier-Runacher] to initiate consultations with stakeholders and parliamentarians with a view to preparing a draft law by the fall”.