For a country famed for worshipping women, France remains one of the most macho cultures in the whole of Europe. And nowhere more so than in the world of big business and high finance. Its not that women are inactive in the work force. Quite the contrary. It’s just that their place is seen is stop well before the smoke-filled rooms in which the key decisions are taken. Public relations, legal advisors, accountancy and press work of all kinds – these are deemed to the acceptable areas of activity for la femme française – where a woman’s place is seen to be anywhere but in the boardroom. The figures are shockingly sexist – out of France’s top four hundred firms – only seven have a woman at the helm, and three of those are heiresses. One of those who has made it to the top on her own merits, however, is Anne Lauvergeon, who was appointed by French Premier Lionel Jospin as Chair of Cogema, the French nuclear giant, for a period of five years. And all before the lady had hit the big 4.0. A graduate of France’s elite ‘Ecole des Mines’, Lauvergeon was only too well aware that in accepting her prestigious posting she was walking into – well – a minefield.

Far from being overawed by the size of Cogema - whose payroll lists almost 19,000 employees in over 30 countries and with sales revenues of over 30 billion French francs – Lauvergeon wasted little time in going on the offensive. Rather than waiting for the environmentalists and ecologists to set upon her, she decided to take the initiative from day one, proposing a wide-ranging national and international debate as to the precise role of nuclear power. For too long, Lauvergeon argued, the industry had been on the defensive – boxing itself into a world of mystifying secrecy, serving only to alienate the public in the process. From now on, the Cogema boss argued, transparency and openness would be the watchwords. Nor was this idle rhetoric on her part – within months of setting up shop at her Vélizy headquarters (a smart suburb to the west of Paris) she had seen to it that webcameras were permanently functioning at the company’s controversial la Hague site. And if you really wanted to see what was going on in the nuclear industry, Lauvergeon told her critics, you were just a couple of clicks of your mouse away. For an industry whose previous reflex had been to function as far away as possible from the public spotlight, here was another revolution à la française. For a brief interlude, Cogema’s critics did not know what had hit them, as her supporters and political backers Jospin shouted out a resounding bravo!

"Its very difficult to generalise about the nuclear industry", Lauvergeon told Utility Europe, "because each country has a particular situation of its own. There are huge disparities, for example, between Japan, China, Russia, Korea, Europe and the United States. I just have the impression that the industry is coming out of the closet, as it were, having had a rough ride for the best part of 15 years. A good illustration of this is to look at what’s happening in America. Nuclear power stations are now being bought for ever higher prices. Why? Because the perception of what the industry has to offer is changing. In fact the Clean Air Act has tended to help us – because our stations don’t pollute the environment. I mention this because what happens in the States often tends to be a precursor for what happens elsewhere. So I am confident of a rosy future for our industry. But not through shirking difficult issues or trying to sweep awkward questions under the carpet – as may have been the case in the past."

Like it or loathe it, less than fifty years after the commissioning of the first reactor in 1951 in the USA, nuclear power generates now 1kWh out of 6 on earth, and ranks fourth among primary energy sources, after oil, cola and gas. For the entire European Union nuclear power is the main source for generating electricity. In France itself nearly eight out of ten light bulbs are lit by the current produced by nuclear power plants – whereas thermal or hydraulic power plants account for only 5 and 15% of production. Operating 59 reactors, France boasts the second largest park in the world after the United States. Boasts? Yes, indeed says Lauvergeon, who despite having just returned from a few weeks maternity leave seems charged with an excess of energy of her own:

"The EDF (Electricité de France) and Cogema have together invested over 450 billion francs. Such an investment has allowed us to reduce our imported energy bill by more than 80% - so we are talking here about some 600 billion French francs saved over the last 25 years. This in turn has enabled us to conserve non-renewable fossil fuels. Not to mention over 120,000 jobs which have been created in the industry. So if you ask me if I am proud to be in charge of this dynamic industry the answer is a most certainly ‘yes’. Of course Chernobyl didn’t serve our cause well, but much of this was due the way the issues were tackled in the media. Some people came to believe that nuclear energy no longer had any role to play at all. Well we have to get away from such a policy of splendid isolation. For example, new scientific data about global warming proves more than ever how important an open and balanced debate is."

Do not be lulled into thinking, however, that when it comes to Cogema, it’s nuclear or bust. For the group is involved in dozens of other operations around the world. It is active in uranium and gold mining, the company one of the two leading mining operators in the world uranium market with a total production of 6,000 metric tons of uranium – that’s almost 18% of world production. Cogema, together with Framatome, has also been closely associated in fuel fabrication since the early 80s – manufacturing and marketing MOX fuels for pressurised water and boiling water reactors – in addition to fuels for fast breeder reactors.

Lauvergeon became a partner of Lazard Frères in 1995, following several months spent in their New York offices. It comes as no surprise, therefore, to see that her sights are firmly set on further expansion abroad. Even prior to her arrival over 40% of consolidated sales revenue originated from foreign customers, underlining the strong international focus of the Group’s operations. In fact over 50 electric utilities have chosen Cogema to provide them with front-end services, including most European countries, the USA, Canada, Japan, China, the Czech Republic, Russia and Slovakia – to name but a few. Over 200 reactors have been supplied by the Cogema group world-wide. Travel where you like around the globe – but the chances are that you will never be far from the group’s sphere of influence. In Niger, for example, the group is the operator and one of the main shareholders in two companies, Somair and Cominak, which mine a series of deposits of sedimentary origin located on the western border of the AIR to the north of the country. Fly far, far away – to Australia, say – and you will find the group present via its Koongarra deposit, estimated at 12,000 metric tons of uranium with a concentration of about 7kg of uranium per ton, and where it also has a participation in the Energy Resources of Australia which operates the Ranger mines.

But relentlessly damaging the environment in the process? Not at all – at least according to Lauvergeon.

"I believe that we are living through a kind of intermediary period – with the greenhouse effect, global warming – both of these phenomena have been proved beyond reasonable doubt. The problem is to know to what extent these phenomena ought to lead us towards a policy of prudence. To some extent I believe that there is a kind of selfishness on the part of some countries, which aren’t prepared to call into question their existing system of energy supply – and the various systems linked to it. And its our duty to point out that le nucléaire is the only source of energy developed on a large scale today which doesn’t not add to the damage already done by the greenhouse effect. People often speak about how we are merely trustees of this planet, of how we are just here to look after the earth for future generations. But I do wonder if those who oppose nuclear energy so categorically won’t be judged harshly – in failing to admit that they have been fighting the wrong battles on the wrong battle fields."

This is more than political rhetoric on Lauvergeon’s part. Apart from her professional qualifications as an Engineer, she is a graduate of the French Ecole Normale Supérieure and "agrégée" in Physics. As such the scientific arguments are not difficult for to grapple with – and she is as much at home in the scientific sessions of the Rio and Kyoto summits as she is on the main plenary sessions. In fact immediately prior to her appointment at Cogema she was appointed Senior Executive Vice President of Alcatel Telecom and shortly afterwards was made in charge of the Group’s international organisation and the overseeing of the Group’s interests in the energy and nuclear fields. So in some respects her move to Cogema was a natural progress – and she has had little difficulty in adapting to her new, high profile job.

Whatever the case, on the financial front, she has certainly got off to a flying start. Results released on 19^th April reveal a turnover of 33.15 billion French francs, up 5.5% compared to the previous twelve months trading. And Lauvergeon’s taste for all things international could already been seen paying dividends, with sales outside of France up to 13.65 billion francs, up by 7.3%.

Does she see it as her brief to convert people – French and foreign alike – to the virtues of all things nuclear? Perhaps – but if she does she is not saying.

"That’s not the way I would put it. The main thing to do", she concludes, "is to get back to having a sensible and balanced debate. For me it’s absolutely right and proper that people should have worries and fears about issues of safety. We all do. It’s the same thing in other areas – such as food and health. I share these concerns. The first thing to do is to acknowledge that these fears are legitimate and then, one by one, to address them."