ASN-IRSN merger: “bitterness”, “huge waste”, “sadness”… last day of the nuclear expert’s employees, before their absorption

Arriving on Wednesday December 11 at the Christmas cocktail organized by the Institute of Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety (IRSN) where she has worked for many years, Mathilde (1) felt her heart sink. The evening had a special flavor this year. It was in fact the last time that staff were invited to meet as IRSN staff. As of the start of the school year, the independent organization will no longer exist. The traditional speech by the general director, Jean-Christophe Niel, was therefore transformed into a poignant tribute to the thousand employees of the organization responsible for producing expertise on nuclear power.

This evening of such special festivities, François Jeffroy, CFDT representative, also spoke on behalf of the inter-union. “ I thanked him, in turn, for his tenacity, his intellectual honesty and above all for letting the employees mobilize without hindering the fight.recalls the expert. Curtain, therefore, on the much appreciated general director in charge since 2016. And place for Pierre-Marie Abadie, who took the reins of ASN in mid-November after being proposed by the Élysée to lead the future ASNR.

Nine days later, this Friday, December 20, the day before the obligatory fifteen days of vacation, for the elected cedist “a very bitter taste” et “the appearance of a funeral”. The controversial merger of the institute with the Nuclear Safety Authority (ASN), the nuclear watchdog, will take effect on January 1, 2025, in accordance with the law of May 21, 2024 relating to the governance of nuclear safety, carried by the presidential camp, the right and, at the last moment, by the National Rally, facing a united left front, pro and anti-nuclear, and strongly criticized by numerous experts and associations.

The creation of the new Nuclear Safety and Radiation Protection Authority (ASNR) implies in particular that the IRSN, whose 1,800 employees have private law contracts, is absorbed by the ASN, whose 530 employee agents are civil servants and contract workers. of public law. A colossal operation, but above all unprecedented, the methodology of which is still far from being clearly established.

“It’s very trying”

“This period is extremely difficult for all of us, who have mobilized for two years to prevent this merger, in the general interest”confides Mathilde, her voice trembling. Very attached to the IRSN, to the missions and to the independence of the organization, after the holidays she will see her functional management be mixed with that corresponding to the nuclear policeman. “The ASN college will always have the last word since it absorbs us”worries Mathilde, who fears losing the meaning of her work and compares this process to that of mourning. “A true separation between expertise and decision-making is essential for the common good”she recalls before concluding, disgusted: “It’s just a waste”.

For his part, the research engineer in thermohydraulics, Pierre Ruyer warns of the risk of deterioration of missions for the research sector which currently represents 40% of the IRSN budget and brings together nearly 500 people. “It’s very trying to understand how things will evolve for us”he explains, also moved. “From January we will no longer depend on the Ministry of Higher Education and Research, but on an administrative authority. It's already a challenge in itself, it's a leap into the unknownadds Pierre Ruyer. We have no adversity towards our future colleagues, but we absolutely do not have the same realities, constraints or culture”.

The concerns, pre-existing the promulgation of the law, materialize as the merger date approaches. The way in which private and public law personnel will cooperate is far from obvious and on both sides, there is a fear of being crushed, of ultimately having to assess and decide. In 2025, the services that will be juxtaposed should remain intact, until the next step, in 2026. A leap into the unknown, even more imminent for the functional and support units, and will be mixed from January 2.