Nucléaire : la fermeture de centrales ne fait plus recette à gauche

In the French political landscape, the closure of nuclear power plants is no longer a winning strategy for left-wing parties. Traditionally opposed to nuclear energy, La France Insoumise and the Ecologists have softened their stance ahead of next year's election. However, they acknowledge that existing reactors cannot be shut down immediately.

"Germany got out of nuclear power too soon, we won't repeat that mistake," said Insoumise deputy Alma Dufour at a roundtable at the party's headquarters over the weekend. The French nuclear park consists of 57 reactors, with the most recent, the EPR in Flamanville, commissioned at the end of 2024. The oldest reactors, at 40 years, are allowed to operate for an additional ten years, a policy that has altered the dynamics by delaying the feared "drop-off effect" caused by the simultaneous closure of several plants.

"If we need to extend the life of reactors, under strict conditions, we will be ready," Marine Tondelier assured in June, presenting her ideas to Terra Nova. This stance was also defended by LFI deputy Julie Laernoes in spring 2024. The Ecologists plan a "planned" exit from nuclear by the next twenty years to avoid a "brutal disruption of production and supply," whereas in 2022, their candidate Yannick Jadot had planned closures as early as 2035 and the end of the Flamanville EPR construction.

The Insoumis, on the other hand, wanted to stop reactors after 40 years of operation and envisioned an atom-free future by 2050 in their 2022 presidential program. Both parties advocate for a 100% renewable electricity mix. However, the sluggish development of renewable energies and the lack of a genuine energy sobriety policy are prompting them to reconsider their positions.

The Socialist Party (PS) is also revising its approach, having previously proposed the closure of nuclear power plants as quickly as possible (in 2022, Socialist presidential candidate Anne Hidalgo advocated for an immediate exit from nuclear). Even though they do not agree on the number, all left-wing parties are revising their plans, according to POLITICO.

Former President François Hollande noted in an interview with Le Point magazine on September 27th that "in the future, the share of nuclear power will remain at a higher level than I had previously envisioned, especially with the launch of new EPRs, but above all with the extension of our existing reactors." Therefore, the entire left is adjusting its strategy.

"The Macron era has cost us ten years," said Angélique Huguin, an Energetic Working Group coordinator for LFI at POLITICO. "We have no choice but to extend the life of existing reactors due to Macron's procrastination," added LFI's energy affairs referrer Maxime Laisney in June to POLITICO. However, he stresses that it is "urgent to plan the exit from nuclear power, otherwise we risk exiting too quickly."

"The real issue is not pushing the exit back, it's not pushing the preparation of that exit further," insists Yves Marignac of the NégaWatt NGO, historically opposed to nuclear power, who applauded the historical openness to prolonging existing reactors. A nuclear opposition lobbyist told POLITICO that "the anti-nuclear sentiment has become totally out of date." Arthur Nazaret and Alexandre Léchenet contributed to this article.