“Desperately looking for welders. » Like many other sectors of activity, but with even more significant consequences in the midst of the energy crisis, the nuclear industry today has many jobs in tension, for which it is struggling to recruit. A doubly problematic situation, as EDF must meet the needs of its existing power plant fleet – plagued by corrosion problems – while carrying out, in parallel, its project to build six new EPRs, known as “EPR2” , with an option for eight more, according to the roadmap presented by President Macron in February 2022.
In this context, explains the national company, the sector wishes to recruit, over the period 2023-2030, at least 10,000 to 15,000 people per year, instead of the 5,000 per year between 2019 and 2022. “One in two employees who will work in the sector in 2030 does not work there today, so there is a major challenge to attract, train, recruit, and accelerate the experience and skills of newcomers »declared Alain Tranzer, general delegate for industrial quality and nuclear skills at EDF, during a press conference.
“I believe that there is no other major industrial sector that has a load plan with so much increased load in the years to come”, he added. For its part, the Group of French nuclear energy manufacturers (Gifen) mentions 10,000 annual recruitments. The latter has set up a program, “Match”, a tool which aims to match the needs and resources of the sector in more than 80 professions, and whose conclusions are scheduled for March 2023.
With regard to the EPR2 projects, the site of Penly (Seine-Maritime), envisaged to build the first pair of new reactors, might represent, if it goes through the stages of public debate and if it obtains the parliamentary green light , 7,500 employees at its peak of activity, in 2029. “If the decision [politique] taken quickly, we are counting on the possibility of starting the preparatory work on this site in mid-2024, for commissioning by 2035-2037”detailed Gabriel Oblin, the project manager for the EPR2 nuclear reactors.