Heard by the parliamentary commission of inquiry into France’s energy sovereignty, the former president criticized his successor for having destroyed the nuclear industry.
Nicolas Sarkozy umes. Nuclear power has always been in favor of it. The sector, he has always supported it. Investment, he has always defended it. “ Nuclear is neither right nor left, it is the best interest of France », Supports the former president. Heard by the parliamentary inquiry committee on France’s energy sovereignty, the former head of state answers questions from all elected officials, except those of rebellious France who “boycott “The meeting, indicates Raphaël Schellenberger, LR deputy for Haut-Rhin, at the head of the commission.
To all, and for almost three hours, Nicolas Sarkozy recalls having taken decisions in favor of nuclear power, whatever the (political) price to be paid“. “Today, it’s easy to be for nuclear, I see some who do double and triple backflips (…). Nuclear power has been the subject of a campaign of denigration worthy of the witch hunts of the Middle Ages. There was a hysteria that was based on nothing“, he laments from the outset. If Nicolas Sarkozy “do not question“Emmanuel Macron in the current situation in France with the risk of cuts that has weighed all winter -“I do not have the elements which allow me to say that it was possible to stop the closing (of Fessenheim)“, defends it Nicolas Sarkozy -, the former president attacks his successor and denounces the political choices of François Hollande. Chance of the calendar, the former socialist president is heard by the same commission a few hours after Nicolas Sarkozy.
“The Penly project was stopped by François Hollande. For what ? No one knows”
” The Penly project (Reactor of 3th generation in Seine-Maritime, Ed) was arrested by François Hollande. For what ? No one knows. We lost twelve years. It’s not a problem of engines, of engineers. I had made the decision, the site was chosen, everything was possible. Why do we have to go back to it? asks Nicolas Sarkozy. And to judge that the decision has been made “ for no good reason “. “To want to destroy the French nuclear sector is to betray the French interest », continues Nicolas Sarkozy.
If he takes care to specify François Mitterrand had never reconsidered the choice of nuclear power in France, he denounces the choice of François Hollande. “There are those who wanted to destroy the sector and those who promoted it (…) It’s not the same thing”, he slips. “ The reversal of the ideological corpus of the socialists is the moment when they said to themselves that to win they needed an alliance with the ecologists. But this is really opportunism! », Details Nicolas Sarkozy, returning to the agreement signed between the PS and EELV just before the presidential election of 2012. This text provided – in particular for the closure of 24 out of 58 reactors to reduce the nuclear share from 74 to 50%. “ We wanted to kill the industry! » « But if nuclear power is dangerous, close everything! “, he explains as if he were talking to François Hollande who took the decision ten years ago to close Fessenheim. “ For what ? Should only the Alsatians be saved?“. And Nicolas Sarkozy to insist on the “terrible historical misinterpretation” of its “ opponents of the time“.
In front of elected officials, Nicolas Sarkozy takes up the words of François Hollande in 2011: “ By defending nuclear, Nicolas Sarkozy shows that he is a man of the past because he defends an outdated economic model “. Nicolas Sarkozy continues: “ In this case, the facts have spoken, I am not sure that nuclear power is not more outdated than other “. For Nicolas Sarkozy, “oppose renewable energy and nuclear makes no sense. Those who say that renewables are a substitution are lying! It is not possible. It’s a supplement.” other energies. Hence the importance of nuclear power, all the more so as world consumption continues to grow.
“We lied to public opinion by saying that Fukushima was a nuclear accident”
“ Nuclear power is a subject of the President of the Republic, a subject of major independence “says Nicolas Sarkozy, to indicate that the politician cannot discard his choices. After the Fukushima disaster and the turmoil caused in world public opinion, Nicolas Sarkozy had decided not to close any power plant in France. “ The head of state must keep his cool“, he judges, “ we lied to public opinion by saying that Fukushima was a nuclear accident. It’s wrong, it’s a disaster. Chernobyl was a nuclear accident “.
If Angela Merkel in Germany had decided to close its reactors, Nicolas Sarkozy, who had already regretted his choice at the time, denounces a decision of a “ strong cynicism “. Germany having at the same time reopened its coal-fired power stations, which are very polluting. “ The greatness of a politician is precisely to be against public opinion at a time », Supports Nicolas Sarkozy. “ All my life, I thought that the nuclear industry was an opportunity for the country “, adds Nicolas Sarkozy. And to conclude:you can’t say that I didn’t warn“.