Nuclear Affair: Nicolas Sarkozy’s Energetic Show in Defense of His Policies Before a Commission of Inquiry

Nicolas Sarkozy did the show. Heard this Thursday in the National Assembly by a commission of inquiry into “the causes of the loss of sovereignty and energy independence of France”, the former president spent a field day. First, he divided political leaders into two camps: “Those who destroyed the nuclear industry and those who promoted it. »

He belongs to this second clan and takes great pride in remembering it. “All my political life I have made decisions in favor of the sector. And what’s worse, I always assumed them publicly, no matter what political price I had to pay. Today it’s easy to be nuclear, I see some doing back flips. »

“Why just close Fessenheim? Are we supposed to save only the Alsatians? »

From the very beginning of the three-hour hearing, he denounced François Hollande, Martine Aubry, the PS’s first secretary at the time, and the mandate agreement made with the Greens in 2011 as “an absurd ideological choice…”. to close 24 out of 58 French reactors and set a 50% ceiling for nuclear power generation. “Economic cataclysm and madness,” he said, echoing his words before the 2012 presidential election.

To point out the absurdity of the agreement, he even referred to François Mitterrand, “the president under whom the most power plants were opened.” Laughingly, he criticized the political opportunism of the text. “The revolution of the ideological corps of the socialists is the moment when they say to themselves: in order to win, we need an alliance with environmentalists. »

The agreement that provided for the closure of Fessenheim still arouses the wrath of Nicolas Sarkozy today. “If nuclear energy is dangerous, close everything, why only Fessenheim? Are we supposed to save only the Alsatians? “. And again attack François Hollande and the Minister of the Environment Ségolène Royal, “who decided to close Fessenheim” and “went into the wall, honking their horns.”

For him, “nuclear energy is the business of the president of the republic, a matter of great independence.” A topic that deserves to go against public opinion. Especially in 2011, after the Fukushima accident. “I have often been accused of participating in the nuclear lobby. The only lobby that exists is the anti-nuclear lobby, it is much more powerful,” he said. Engage in passing “media goodwill” against nuclear during his mandate. “Slander worthy of a witch hunt.”

Fukushima? “We lied to public opinion”

Nicolas Sarkozy continues about the accident at Fukushima, still electrified. “We lied to public opinion by saying it was a nuclear accident. It is not right. 12,000 victims of the tidal wave. By radiation? Only one. And the former head of state reports on the conversion with the then German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who decided to close the Bavarian power plants after Fukushima. “Angela, what’s going on?” I do not feel good ? “But Nicholas, haven’t you seen Fukushima? “But where did the tsunami in Bavaria come from?” “Sent to him by Nicolas Sarkozy.

Before the commission of inquiry, he states: “After Fukushima, the head of state must keep his cool” to announce “that there will be no closure in France.” The real marker in his words: “You were among the modern or the archaic, it was as stupid as that.” For him, “contrasting renewable energy and nuclear energy does not make sense.”

He sticks to his stance: “To meet our environmental goals, we need nuclear power. “And he recalls the remarks made in 2011 by François Hollande to him: “By defending nuclear energy, Nicolas Sarkozy shows that he is a man of the past, because he is defending an outdated economic model. And in continuation “the facts say, I’m not sure that any model is more outdated than the other.” For the former president, “nuclear power is neither right nor left, it is in the interests of France.” Before ending with the final slide: “Energy is a fascinating discussion, we can’t go there with just an ideological grid.”