Pierre-Marie Abadie Nominated to Head the ASN

The French Presidency announced on May 27 the proposed appointment of Pierre-Marie Abadie as the French Nuclear Safety Authority (ASN) president. Currently serving as the Director-General of the National Agency for the Management of Radioactive Waste (Andra), he would succeed Bernard Doroszczuk, whose term ends in November.

Having led Andra for over a decade, this mining engineer has also worked at the Directorate General of the Treasury and was an Advisor for Industrial Affairs to the Minister of the Armed Forces from 2002 to 2007 before becoming the Director of Energy for more than seven years (2007-2014) at the Directorate General for Energy and Climate.

If his appointment is confirmed, he would initially lead the ASN. He would also be tasked with the prefiguration of the future Nuclear Safety and Radioprotection Authority (ASNR), which will incorporate ASN and the Institute for Radioprotection and Nuclear Safety (IRSN). He would then take over as head of the ASNR upon its establishment on January 1, 2025.

See also: ASN-IRSN Merger: Constitutional Council Confirms Constitutionality of the Safety Reform.

Parliament must first validate this nomination. The appointment is conditional upon the votes of the competent commissions of the National Assembly and the Senate to be accepted. Negative votes must not reach three-fifths of the votes cast; otherwise, the appointment cannot take place.■