At the Cruas-Meysse nuclear power plant, the future of the atom is feminine

Because the employees in the sector are overwhelmingly male: "You really have to dare and trust yourself!" urges Sandra Larue, head of the automation and testing department at this plant, in service since 1985, which supplies nearly 40% of the electricity in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region.

Facing her, women of all ages or almost, long-term job seekers or not, from commerce, health, or other sectors of industry, but interested in this promising sector.

Sandra Larue describes her beginnings a few years earlier, at the Fessenheim power station in Alsace, now closed, hoping to dispel the complexes of her potential future colleagues: "I was a young woman of 25 and I managed boilermakers, some of whom were twice my age and what's more, I had a southern accent! My credibility wasn't very strong when I arrived."

"The proportion of women employed in the nuclear sector is 24%," explains to AFP Hélène Badia, president of the Université des métiers du nucléaire, an association created in 2021 by 12 players in nuclear, training and employment. "The industry as a whole (...) has approximately 29,3% women, so we have work to do!"

EDF employs 26% women (38,5% among its executives) and aims for 33% in 2026 and 40% in 2030, in all levels of the company.

"There is clearly a recruitment issue," explains Claire Diols, from the France Travail agency in Privas, which supports candidates at the plant, as part of the 3rd Nuclear Careers Week.

"Today, the nuclear sector at the national level represents 10.000 hires per year over the next ten years, therefore 100.000 hires over ten years", with jobs in tension, she recalls.

Even more so in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, "the leading nuclear region in France, with four power plants across the entire Rhône valley".

With a safety helmet on her head, Mélina Tazamoucht could well be tempted by the sirens of the atom: "I've just finished four years of accounting studies and I realized that I didn't like being behind a desk," she explains on the bus that travels in the shadow of the plant's immense cooling towers.

Lack of CV

A recruitment simulation method (MRS) assessed his ability to perform the actions of a valve fitter, a position responsible for the maintenance and management of valves, flaps and valves.

"I am an administrative assistant, but I would like to retrain in electricity," explains Clémence, 37, who says she is "very curious by nature."

She listens attentively to Marjolaine Astier, 37, an operations manager who, at the head of a team of 20 people, exclusively male, manages the operation of a nuclear reactor.

“We’re not all engineers,” one job applicant says with a smile.

"It's not a barrier to working here, regardless of your qualifications or your gender!" Marjolaine replies, in a well-rehearsed speech, praising a "captivating" work environment that is compatible with her family life.

"If I want to recruit women, I need CVs and today - I think due to a lack of knowledge of the professions - we have very, very few applications" from women, deplores Stephany Bechdolff, human resources director of the plant, which only has 18% women, mainly in support functions and chemistry.

"I would really like them to realize that any job is possible," she adds, specifying that she recruits 40 people per year, from vocational baccalaureate to engineering diploma.

"We feel very small compared to the size of the machines," reacts Mélina, impressed by the turbine which, driven by the pressure of the water vapour, in turn sets in motion an alternator, which produces electricity.

But "the ladies who tell us about their jobs make us want to think that we all have our place here as women," she concludes.