National or American? When the nuclear “war of the sectors” tore France apart

More than two centuries after the first battery invented by Volta, electricity is poised to establish itself as the energy of the 21st century.^ecentury. But each technology, each mode of production, each use has resulted from battles. Real duels whose outcome helped shape our energy future.

In the history books and in our memories, March 5, 1974 is “THE” great date for French nuclear power. This day when the Council of Ministers validates the Messmer plan: the construction, accelerated by the oil shock, of six to seven reactors per year which will make France the most nuclear country in the world.

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Another advice, restricted this one, will perhaps have been even more decisive. It was held on November 13, 1969 at the Élysée. “Exceptional fact”Georges Pompidou “wrote the record of the decisions himself”, says his adviser Bernard Ésambert (1). On that day, the President of the Republic authorized EDF to initiate the construction of enriched uranium power plants. Technical decision?…