“It’s a satisfaction, a relief”indicates this Thursday on franceinfo William Bourdon, lawyer for Hugo (assumed name), former executive of EDF, having filed a complaint in October 2021 against his employer whom he accuses of leading “a policy of concealment” incidents at the Tricastin nuclear power plant, in Drôme. His lawyer reacted to the opening of a judicial investigation against X, following the accusations of his client, a “whistleblower”. The investigations were entrusted to an investigating judge from the Marseille public prosecutor’s office.
franceinfo: What is your reaction to the opening of this judicial investigation?
William Bourdon: It is a satisfaction, a relief. It should be remembered that this man entered EDF in the 2000s, he climbed all the levels. He became director of security within this plant and he launched the alert internally, in good faith, in a determined manner, with the conviction that he would be heard. But not only was he not heard but he was humiliated, intimidated, hence the offense of moral harassment that he denounces. We did the opposite of what we should have done. If we had listened to him, we would have found remedies for the dysfunctions observed.
What is your client denouncing, concretely?
What he denounces is a culture of secrecy that thickens as the incidents multiply. Instead of responding to the obligation of transparency with the Nuclear Safety Authority (ASN), we are in the culture of denial, of dissimulation. And in addition, we yell at him, we insult him, we ask him to be quiet. This is what is absolutely unbearable. What is at stake, implicitly, is that the nuclear policeman has failed in his obligations. All of this is heartbreaking at a time when the question of the importance of the nuclear fleet is at the heart of public debate, in a period of energy transition.
Has your client been heard by the Marseille prosecutor’s office?
Hugo was heard at length by the prosecutor of the Marseilles court. An investigating judge has been appointed with a very wide field of investigation since the prosecution has added the offenses which had not been initially planned as “the obstacle to the missions of the inspectors”. We can therefore expect a tight, important, complex investigation, there will be actions that will be taken by the investigating magistrate, hearings, confrontations and individual criminal responsibilities which will, at one time or another, be characterized . The aim is to ensure that the serious incidents noted by Hugo do not happen again and that ASN carry out its missions with the rigor and determination that citizens are entitled to expect of it.
Does your client apply for whistleblower status?
He is a de facto whistleblower. He acted for the benefit of the general interest. He took personal risks. The alarm, the tocsin, launched by Hugo is essential so that the public authorities draw the consequences from the fact that it is one of the most dilapidated power stations, the oldest, of the French nuclear fleet. He is chemically pure in his intentions. His approach is one of good faith and sincerity. He is a lover, a nuclear enthusiast, who now finds himself boarded up by EDF. He would have liked to be made offers commensurate with his qualifications, hands were held out, they were not taken by EDF in a logic of contempt and incredible blindness. Are we going to take a more formal approach alongside this legal procedure? It’s on the table.