Nuclear: a judicial inquiry opened after the complaint against EDF for “concealments” of incidents at the Tricastin power plant – Le Monde

In the Tricastin nuclear power plant (Drôme), in June 2019. PHILIPPE DESMAZES / AFP Bad news is piling up for EDF, already faced with cascading shutdowns of its reactors. According to information from Le Monde, confirmed by a judicial source, the public prosecutor of Marseille opened a judicial investigation against X at the beginning of May. It follows the complaint filed in October 2021 by a former member of the management of the nuclear power plant of Tricastin (Drôme) denouncing a “policy of concealment” of incidents and deviations in terms of security. The complaint targeted EDF and the management of Tricastin on the counts of “endangering the lives of others”, “violations of the criminal code, the environmental code, the labor code and the regulations relating to nuclear installations”. and “harassment”. If the complaint was filed before the Paris court, it was that of Marseille which finally obtained the file, in particular because the Tricastin power plant, one of the oldest in France, is located in its area of ​​​​competence. geographical. The investigation was entrusted to the public health unit. The latter has already heard at length from the former EDF executive, who wishes to remain anonymous – he calls himself Hugo – and requests the status of whistleblower. Read also Article reserved for our subscribers Nuclear: an executive from the Tricastin power plant denounces a “policy of concealment” of security incidents The Marseille prosecutor has retained twelve counts, including the endangerment of others by a legal person “with immediate risk of death or infirmity by manifestly deliberate violation” of a regulatory obligation of safety or prudence. Also included are the counts of “non-declaration of an incident or accident” by the operator of a nuclear installation with risk of breach of safety or significant exposure to ionizing radiation and “non-declaration to the ‘significant event nuclear safety authority’. All the offenses referred to relate to events that occurred between January 1, 2017 and December 31, 2021 at the Tricastin power plant, located in the municipality of Saint-Paul-Trois-Châteaux. “Moral harassment” Hugo, who was appointed to the management of the Tricastin power plant at the end of 2016, describes in his complaint numerous incidents and safety deviations which would have been passed over in silence by EDF or declared late to the Authority nuclear safety (ASN). The most impressive is undoubtedly the leak that occurred in one of the plant’s electrical buildings in the summer of 2018: the agents had to deal with the most urgent matters by using simple squeegees and a vacuum cleaner borrowed from a cleaning service provider to try to absorb the flood. The complainant assures that this incident was minimized during his statement to the nuclear police. You have 39.09% of this article left to read. The following is for subscribers only.