Quel est votre parcours professionnel ?

I joined the French Navy at the age of 16, entering the apprentice sailors’ school in Brest. I spent a year learning the rules of army and navy life. Then I joined the school of electricians and volunteered for nuclear powered ballistic-missile submarines. I boarded the Redoutable for my first patrol in 1978. I had the equivalent of an advanced technician’s certificate as an electrician.

Subsequently, I joined the Navy’s nuclear power technician training programme. I had my first contact with TechnicAtome in January 1981 to obtain my nuclear power technician qualification during the PAT 33 internship. I then went on several operational patrols - 17 in all - during my career, totalling 23,000 hours of diving! I held various positions on board, in the steam supply system control team and then in the ship’s diving safety department. Then I became an instructor at the Brest school of submariners.

After 20 years in the Navy I joined TechnicAtome in August 1997 on the staff of the Reactor Operations Department at Cadarache.

There I started again at the bottom of the ladder as a shift electrician, and I went through the internal qualifications to become shift leader; in 2000 I qualified for the RNG facility. I took part in the start-up of the aircraft carrier Charles De Gaulle (as head of the aft steam supply unit) and of two nuclear powered ballistic-missile submarines: I was shift leader of the propulsion control panel when the Terrible went critical, and director of tests on the Vigilant.

When the RNG was shut down, I took up the functions of facility safety engineer of the Reactor Operations Department, then of Department Manager to supervise the construction of the machine section for the RES reactor project. In July 2015, I resumed my duties as shift supervisor for the commissioning of the RES.

Why did you choose this job? What made you want to work in this field?

Managing complex installations involves a wide range of activities: electricity, mechanics, safety, security, nuclear power, human factors, and without being specialized in each area, it requires cross-cutting knowledge. A reactor is run as a team and continuously, 24 hours a day. The job of shift supervisor makes perfect sense as he is the reference, both technical and managerial, for the team. I feel a real sense of pride at being part of the control team. It’s much the same sort of feeling you get as part of the crew of a submarine, where everyone is supportive of each other. In 20 years, I’ve never seen a team changeover fault!

In my job, what I like the most is the team spirit that we share. What I also like is that we have a fairly central role: whatever the operation to be carried out on the installation it has to be validated by the control team.

What would you like to say to a young person looking to do this job?

I would say that continuous service leads to a certain amount of inconvenience, such as working nights and weekends, respecting the shift schedule, and so on, but I would also say that it also has advantages, both financial and in terms of autonomy. More than anything else, it's a fascinating job, where you never get bored, that with time gives you cross-cutting skills and gives you plenty of prospects for career development.