Nuclear France Relance

We all agree that our economy has taken a massive hit from the pandemic. All industries – with perhaps the laudable exception of e-retail – suffered drastic sales losses, with many factories forced to close for at least a few months. France, for example, saw an 8.3% drop in GDP between January and December 2020. The UK saw a 9.9% decline, to name just two countries. One way to boost the economy is for governments to invest heavily in the economy. As Europeans, we all learned in school that Marshall Plan is also known as the post-war period II European Recovery Programme . Today we are going to talk about post COVID nuclear investment in France – “France Relance“.

Starting up the French nuclear industry

France is making 100 billion euros available under its “France Relance” support programme, focusing on the following areas of the French economy:

• Environmental aspect;
• competitiveness;
• Cohesion.

In terms of sectors, the programme focuses on specific industries:

• Aeronautics;
• Automotive;
• Agro;
• Health;
• Electronics;
• Essential raw materials (chemicals, materials, metals);
• 5G.

Of the 100 billion euros, 470 million euros are earmarked for the nuclear industry, which is a positive sign as it shows that the government considers our industry as clean energy. A large part of “France Relance” is actually dedicated to green hydrogen, which could be linked to nuclear energy.

We must keep our capabilities to build the future of the nuclear industry

Bruno Lemaire, french economy minister

Investing in the nuclear industry

With “France Relance”, the government aims to consolidate existing locations, but also to support domestic players in their R&D activities and export ambitions.

Through BPI – State Bank for Entrepreneurship, which manages the programme – the government aims to support the following initiative:

• Consolidation / relocation of existing nuclear industry; this can be innovation in new products, processes, investment in industrialization or relocation;
• Modernization of existing nuclear sites; through factory 4.0, digitalization, new equipment;
• Improving the environmental footprint of a site; especially through circular economy.

All in all, this support programme aims to improve:

• Workers’ skills through increased training;
• Supporting industry investment and contractors;
• R&D and SMR development – NUWARD project.

Our nuclear sector must be strong to ensure safety of our nuclear sites

barbara pompili, french environment minister

If you are interested in having some R&D projects part of France Relance, Damona can help you partner with a French partner. Do not hesitate to get in touch with our team.