Continuous training, university studies, innovations… The nuclear recovery plan boosts the attractiveness of the Marcoule Institute

Florent Lemont, directeur de l’Instn est également chercheur au Cea. Midi Libre – Arthur Cagna Demoustier

For the 2024/25 academic year, continuing education and university classes are almost full at the National Institute of Nuclear Science and Technology in Marcoule. Faced with this upsurge, the institute continues to offer more training and is expanding its classes.

For Nuclear Week, several players in Gard Rhodanien, including France Travail, are trying to attract people to a scientific sector that is always looking for new workers. But on the side of the National Institute of Nuclear Science and Technology (Instn) in Marcoule, there is no shortage of people. “The training load rate is almost 100% throughout the year”, says happily Florent Lemont, director of the Instn.

The school of the Atomic Energy Commission (Cea) depends on the commission of the Grandes Ecoles and can issue the status of engineer. Most of the time, the institute offers 60 different continuous training courses, starting from the professional baccalaureate and going up to the bac + 8 (around 1,300 people per year). These training courses range from half a day to two months.

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Tailor-made courses

The training courses are carried out at the request of partner companies. Management of an asbestos site, separation chemistry, decontamination of personnel… The majority of these courses are provided by Cea scientists. For certain skills, the Instn also uses subcontractors. “The institute responds to the needs of its partners, explains Clément Moulet, head of communications at the CEA. And then it remains the Cea school so many of our scientists come to follow training.”

The establishment also has a university activity with around 200 students each year. “All our classes are full, underlines the director of the institute. We are even obliged to refuse people in certain sectors. Even high school students are showing interest in us again.“

A sector with a future

This momentum is set to last. The nuclear recovery plan has boosted the numbers in the scientific community. By 2035, around 10,000 jobs should be created each year according to France Travail. “France has committed to building new power plants and it will not be able to backtrack, explains Florent Lemont.Add to that the constant need for manpower for the dismantling of certain centers and the maintenance of existing sites. I am convinced that these 100,000 jobs will be created.“

The most requested sectors are radiation protection, glove box handling and personnel decontamination. “We are trying to constantly develop our offer catalog, says the director of the Instn. We take the time to look at what works and what is most popular. We are also attentive to the needs of our partners.“

And it is in this desire to innovate that the institute set up a course on molten salt reactors last September. “The Instn is betting on the future, explains Clément Moulet. This is a project that is part of the development of small modular reactors. The institute adapts to the needs of the CEA, its partners and start-ups.“

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