* CEO Levy acknowledges criticism from government
* Finance Minister said EDF cannot be a "state within the
state"
* Levy says EDF's problems are hurting its credibility
By Geert De Clercq
PARIS, Oct 1 (Reuters) - EDF will take concrete action to
remedy a string of technical problems, delays and cost overruns
at its nuclear plants, its CEO said on Tuesday after coming
under heavy criticism from the French finance minister over the
weekend.
In unusually tart comments, Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire
had said that the government could no longer accept how 84%
state-owned EDF's costs keep "drifting, month after
month, year after year".
Le Maire also said he could not accept that France's nuclear
industry is a "state within the state".
Critics have long said that too many government and elected
officials have close ties with the nuclear industry, potentially
deterring them from questioning its costs and safety record.
"I take note of the government's words ... the nuclear
industry is going through hard times, there is an accumulation
of problems with industrial quality ... budgets and deadlines
are not respected," EDF Chief Executive Jean-Bernard Levy said
in a speech at a utilities conference in Nice.
Only a few years after EDF and reactor builder Areva needed
a taxpayer-funded rescue costing more than 10 billion euros
($10.9 billion), EDF and Areva - now integrated into EDF and
renamed Framatome - have had to announce major new problems,
delays and cost overruns at the Flamanville and Hinkley Point
projects.
"The shortcomings in our industrial management are hurting
the credibility of our nuclear know-how, both for clients and
for people who might consider working for us," Levy said.
He said an audit of the French nuclear industry by
Jean-Martin Folz, former chief executive of carmaker PSA Peugeot
Citroen, would be sent to the government by the end of
October.
Levy said that once EDF has found a solution for the welding
problems, the company will then update budgets and deadlines for
its long-delayed Flamanville project.
"Beyond Flamanville, I will have to announce concrete
decisions for the entire industry because we have to
collectively draw lessons from this situation," Levy said.
($1 = 0.9146 euros)
(Reporting by Geert De Clercq
Editing by David Goodman)