In the Dunkirk training plant, learning the “good gestures” of nuclear power

Equipped with regulatory white coats, helmets, protective glasses and construction shoes, Ludovic Friscour and his colleague Ryan mark out their site before entering the regulated orange zone, with a high risk of nuclear exposure (more than 2,5 millisievert/hour ).

Their mission: to intervene to tighten a bolt on a machine at the power plant. A simple task, but in this area where they risk irradiation or contamination, every action counts. Or rather would count, if they were not in a fake power plant, reproduced identically in the Socotec premises.

The central school, located a few kilometers from the Gravelines central station, welcomes 2.500 students of all ages and profiles each year. Socotec shares with eleven other organizations the enormous task of training 70.000 people each year in a rapidly expanding nuclear sector.

Because it is mandatory to be certified to set foot in the "controlled zone" of a nuclear installation - EDF power plants, Orano sites, CEA installation -, via an initial training of 11 days, but also to carry out an upgrade (“recycling”) every three to four years.

“Give the right gestures”

The training begins with theoretical sessions in the morning. In a classroom, five young people who have never worked in a power plant listen to Sylvie Brevalle. “We talk a lot about rules, about safety culture so that they know the risks,” she explains to AFP, “Our objective is to protect the people who work in the plant and those living around it” .

“I feel reassured for the future,” says Sandro Coghe, a 21-year-old scaffolder, sent by his temp company before a mission. In Dunkirk, "it's a bit of a basis" for working in nuclear power, "but I didn't even know how a power plant worked."

In the next room, Florence Pirard delivers level 2 radiation protection training. Dose rate, Alara green zone, millisieverts, dosimeter: here the vocabulary is more technical, and the students, who already work in a power plant and aim for management functions , have a thousand questions.

In the afternoon, it's practical work: the small group puts on protective clothing and enters the set which simulates a nuclear island, from the changing rooms to the intervention zones. “We recreate the conditions of the plant to take the right actions,” explains Ms. Pirard.

Before tightening the bolt, the two designated students locate a screw on the ground. We must evacuate this “foreign body”, it could be irradiating! Their mission accomplished, they leave the orange zone... without taking all the precautions.

“Haven’t you forgotten something, Ryan?” says Florence Pirard. “Yes,” he says sheepishly: “I forgot to check if I was contaminated.” He then passes a probe over his body and the trainer, a player, activates the machine via her tablet. “Beep! Beep! “Your foot is contaminated!”

“Attractive domain”

“It’s reassuring, this training”, “it’s good to have an outside perspective” to “correct bad habits”, slips Ludovic Friscour. After six years at the plant, the 33-year-old engineer admits "going a little fast" during certain checks.

“Overall it was not bad, since they saw the traps and met the access conditions,” judges Florence Pirard at the end of the exercise. Continuous assessment is important on the practical side, but students will also have to pass a theoretical test at the end of the course.

“More and more people are entering the nuclear industry, it’s an attractive field,” Pierre Kwiatkowski, director of the training center, explains to AFP, “the goal is to be able to offer enough training.”

Even more so with the relaunch of nuclear power, the government planning six new EPR reactors - the first should arrive at best in 2035 - and having to announce eight others by the summer. It will therefore be necessary to continue current training, but also to meet the needs of future EPRs, estimated at 100.000 hires over ten years.

“We will have to anticipate the number of trainers,” explains Mr. Kwiatkowski, who already recruits three per year. “It’s a boost given to the sector in general”, and to training in particular.