the Tricastin power plant at the heart of a nuclear incident case

This is a new blow for EDF. Judicial information was recently opened against X for “failure to report an incident or accident” or “endangering others” at the nuclear power plant in Tricastin in the Drôme. It is one of the oldest in France. The investigation, triggered by a whistleblower, covers a dozen violations. A former executive of the plant thus claims to have alerted his hierarchy for years before denouncing “an EDF concealment strategy”.

For his lawyer, it is the principle of transparency that has been flouted. “If there are incidents, they must be reported. (…) What is most unfortunate is that the nuclear safety authority was in some way complicit in this that’s logical“, assures Master William Bourdon. In November 2021, the nuclear safety authority mentioned simple differences of assessment. The events in question? An overpower of a reactor with heating of tanks and leaks of radioactive water in particular. These events should never be ignored according to the NGO Crii-RAD.