Pierre-Marie Abadie was officially appointed by Emmanuel Macron to the presidency of the nuclear safety authority (ASN), at the heart of a controversial reorganization project, according to a decree published this Wednesday, November 6, 2024 in the Official Journal.
A contested reorganization
The current director general of the National Agency for Radioactive Waste Management (ANDRA), whose candidacy had already been validated by Parliament, will take office from November 13. From January 1, 2025, Pierre-Marie Abadie will chair the future Nuclear Safety and Radiation Protection Authority (ASNR), a single authority which will replace the ASN, the nuclear safety watchdog, and the IRSN, the sector's expert institute. .
Given the tight deadlines between this promulgation and the effective creation of the ASNR, the current president of the ASN Bernard Doroszczuk had mentioned a timetable ” tense “ and uncertainties to be resolved such as a shortfall of 37 million euros in the authority's budget.
A “scent of conflict of interest” for opponents of the Cigéo project
In the spring, the Élysée's choice of the personality of Pierre-Marie Abadie, a senior civil servant expert in energy, was welcomed by the IRSN. On the other hand, opponents of the Cigéo project for deep burial of the most radioactive waste from the French nuclear fleet, led by ANDRA, saw it as “a scent of conflict of interest”.
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But Pierre-Marie Abadie promised that once appointed, he would step aside from the file and would no longer deal with Cigéo “over the entire six-year mandate”. He also clarified that he would not participate “to none of the discussions and decisions relating to installations and decisions which directly concern ANDRA”.
