The role of nuclear in the French energy strategy is a central topic of the campaign. Overview of the various proposals put forward by candidates since the 1960s.
What is the place of nuclear power in the programme of candidates for the presidential election? Presentation of the proposals in infographic form: Marine LE PEN, François FILLON, Nicolas DUPONT-AIGNAN, Jacques CHEMINADE, Jean-Luc MELENCHON, Benoît HAMON, Emmanuel MACRON, and Nathalie ARTHAUD.
One year after the Fukushima disaster in Japan, French citizens opposed to nuclear power formed several human chains between Lyon and Avignon. Among the demonstrators: Dominique Voynet, José Bové, Eva Joly and Philippe Poutou (presidential candidates).
Several demonstrations by opponents of nuclear, mobilized against the construction of new reactors, including the EPR in Flamanville, took place in Rennes, Lyon, Toulouse, and Lille. The tens of thousands of demonstrators intend to challenge and put pressure on the candidates in the presidential election on this subject. Interviews with two protesters.
Lighting on the programs of Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen, in between-towers, concerning nuclear. Emmanuel MACRON: "We must not destroy everything and turn the page on nuclear power completely, but we need to reduce our dependence on nuclear power and develop more renewable energy". Marine the PEN, candidate of the National Front: "The investment plan of 50 billion necessary for the upgrade of our nuclear park is a major opportunity for the industrial revitalization of the territories."
In 2007, during the debate of the second round of the presidential election, Ségolène ROYAL and Nicolas SARKOZY clashed on the nuclear issue. A look back at the few mistakes made regarding the share of nuclear power in France, and the EPR reactor.
Interview with Stéphane Lhomme, spokesperson for the "Sortir du nucléaire" network about the positions of several of the candidates in the 2007 presidential election on nuclear power. Marie George Buffet, candidate for the PCF, Ségolène Royal for the PS, and the position of the right in general on this issue. He deplores the construction of the Flamanville reactor.
In 1995, Robert HUE, general secretary of the PCF and candidate in the presidential election, in campaign, goes to visit the nuclear power plant of Tricastin (Drôme) and reaffirms that his party is in favour of civil nuclear power.
Summary of the programs of various candidates on the nuclear issue: Nicolas SARKOZY, Jacques CHEMINADE, Marine LE PEN, François BAYROU, François HOLLANDE, Eva JOLY, Jean-Luc MÉLENCHON, and Nicolas DUPONT-AIGNAN. More particularly on the oldest power plant in France, that of Fessenheim, in Alsace, with 5 candidates out of 10 who demand its closure (F. Hollande - E. Joly - JL. Mélenchon - P. Poutou - N. Dupont Aignan), 4 do not wish it in the immediate future (N. Sarkozy - J. Cheminade - M. Le Pen - F. Bayrou), and 1 does not position (N. Arthaud).
In Fessenheim, in the Upper Rhine, the inhabitants and the mayor defend the presence of the nuclear power plant as a source of employment. Their vote in the first round of the 2007 presidential election did not focus on the environmentalist candidate Dominique Voynet. In the second round, their choice could depend on the position of the candidates Ségolène Royal and Nicolas Sarkozy regarding the maintenance of this plant in operation for thirty years. Environmentalists are defending another path to keep jobs. Reactions from two residents of Fessenheim, interviews with Alain Foechterlé, mayor of Fessenheim, and Nicole Roelens, president of the association "Stop Fessenheim".
On the nuclear issue, the candidate of the Left Front, Jean-Luc MÉLENCHON, assures not to settle any conflict with the other candidates. He wants a referendum on the nuclear issue and proclaims "Glory to the people! Make way for the people!".
During his electoral campaign for the 1995 presidential election, Dominique VOYNET, ecologist candidate for Les Verts, goes to La Hague (Manche). On the outskirts of the COGEMA nuclear waste reprocessing plant, she recalls her desire to get out of nuclear power and prepare France’s energy future by developing renewable energy sources that also create jobs.
During a meeting he held in Rennes as part of the electoral campaign for the presidential elections, the candidate François MITTERRAND stated that he intended to complete the nuclear power plants already under construction but that the project of the Plogoff power plant, in Brittany, would not see the day.
In 1965, General Charles DE GAULLE, in his campaign speech for the presidential election, listed the advantages he found in nuclear energy for France: it provides the country with an inexpensive and modern weapon of dissuation and is necessary for the progress of research.
During a meeting in Dax for the presidential election campaign, President Valéry GISCARD D'ESTAING justified the construction project in France of forty-five nuclear power plants by the needs of energy independence.
In 1965, François Mitterrand, presidential candidate questioned about his programme, evokes his opposition to the nuclear policy of Charles De Gaulle, his main opponent. He opposes the race to atomic armament: "We on the left, republicans of progress we refuse it". If he is elected, he will submit to the United Nations a plan not to disseminate nuclear forces and to stop nuclear experiments that pollute and are bad for the health of humanity.