EDF to Invest 100M Euros in Upgrading Labor Training in the Nuclear Industry

EDF plans to put 100 million Euros ($110 million) into investment in 2020–2021 to set up a training college and boost welding and other skills in the French nuclear sector in a bid to correct problems that have mired the industry. The company said on Friday.

EDF did not say where it would open the college or give other details of its planned training schemes. The firm’s plan and the completion of the Flamanville project is a prerequisite for a French government decision on new nuclear projects in France.

“The Excell plan must create the conditions to regain confidence in the French nuclear sector,” Jean-Bernard EDF Chief Executive Levy told a news conference, adding that the nuclear sector has not been able to maintain the same industry standards as other sectors such as the aeronautic sector.

Excell, the action plan, was demanded by the French government in October to tackle skills shortages and other shortcomings that have damaged the industry’s reputation and led to over a decade of delay and major cost overruns on the construction of the new-generation Flamanville 3 EPR nuclear reactor.