Interview with our Nuclear Defence Product Manager Yohann Clavier

We caught up with Yoann Clavier, Product Manager in the defence sector, who shares his career path and assignments as a nuclear engineer. Yoann goes on to reveal how our community of more than 1,500 engineers specialising in gas, energy and nuclear power is also involved in this sensitive and essential sector. See what he has to say about the fascinating and secretive world of nuclear defence!

Yoann Clavier, Project Director in the defence sector

At Tractebel, the diversity of our assignments reflects the challenges of today’s world. In an international context marked by strong geopolitical tensions, defence issues are central to European and global political priorities. Nuclear energy plays a strategic role in defence, and Tractebel is actively contributing.

Daphné, communications manager: When we talk about nuclear energy, we rarely think about the defence sector. Can you explain in what context nuclear power is used in the defence sector?

Yoann: In fact, nuclear energy has two main applications in the defence sector. The first is nuclear deterrence, which involves the manufacture, deployment, storage and warehousing of missiles. The second is everything related to naval propulsion, i.e. the use of nuclear energy to power aircraft carriers and nuclear submarines, whether they’re attack submarines or missile-launching submarines, as well as the entire fuel cycle involved in managing fresh fuel and spent fuel downstream. It is mainly in this second area that Tractebel is involved, providing engineering services for infrastructure.

Daphné: What projects is Tractebel currently working on in this field?

Yoann: France has launched a programme to replace its nuclear attack submarines with a new generation: the BARRACUDA Programme. As part of this programme, in addition to designing and manufacturing the submarines themselves, France also needs to upgrade the infrastructure for hosting and maintaining these submarines, as well as all nuclear fuel cycle facilities. It is in this context that Tractebel is providing engineering services across all disciplines for the design and construction of this infrastructure.
To a lesser extent, Tractebel is also involved in the ‘S3G’ (3rd Generation Nuclear-powered Ballistic Missile Submarines) and ‘PANG’ (New Generation Aircraft Carrier) infrastructure programmes.

Daphné: Can you tell us a little about your career path and how you came to work on these defence projects?

Yoann: I started at Tractebel in 2006 as a nuclear decommissioning engineer; it was my first job. I worked for two years in the Paris region before joining the Pierrelatte agency in the Rhône Valley for the decommissioning of the Eurodif/Georges Besse uranium enrichment site. In 2009, I became a nuclear safety engineer for the GDF SUEZ EPR project to develop the Tricastin power plant. The Fukushima accident in 2012 put an end to the GDF-SUEZ EPR adventure, so I became a project manager and head of nuclear safety project management for the renovation of the French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA)’s Irradiated Assembly Monitoring Facility in Marcoule.

In 2014, I joined the Cigéo project for the deep geological disposal of radioactive waste as head of the Nuclear Safety team for the underground facility, then in 2016, I joined ITER, the international nuclear fusion project, as head of design for the Hot Cell Complex. I was one of the first six people to join the Marseille office when it opened in 2017 to support the ITER project.

I then embraced the nuclear defence adventure on the BARRACUDA Programme as Head of Systems Engineering and Deputy Project Manager on MY2 in Toulon, before becoming Project Director in 2020. Since 2022, the demonstration of our expertise and credibility in Toulon has paid off, as we have won the Quai Ouest, Flood Barrier and Assistance in Monitoring the Construction of the MY03 Nuclear Facility projects as Project Manager or Project Management Support. This portfolio of projects has positioned me as Deputy Unit Director to Hubert Moustardier, our head of Defence activities.

Daphné: I see that you have benefited from career development and geographical mobility within Tractebel. Your professional life is very busy. Are you able to balance your professional and personal life?

Yoann: It is a challenge. But I am lucky to have a wife who is also an engineer and very understanding, who realises that sometimes I have to prioritise my work schedule. In terms of hobbies, I enjoy going for walks on the weekend or mountain biking. I am lucky to live in what is arguably the most beautiful region in the world: Marseille.

Daphné: Why did you join Tractebel in the first place? What do you like most about it?

Yoann: Actually, when I was looking for work in 2006, I wanted to join a large nuclear engineering company in France. And it was with the Tractebel teams that I had the most rewarding interviews. I met a team of young, dynamic, motivated and competent experts who were not afraid to take on challenges. That’s what appealed to me the most. So I joined the team and have been fortunate to have always been surrounded by illustrious engineers who have served as role models and mentors. And today, I hope to embody the role model that they themselves showed me during the early years of my career.

Daphné: What kind of candidate are we looking for at Tractebel? What advice would you give to an engineer who wants to join us?

Yoann: First and foremost, we are looking for intelligent and open-minded people. Intelligence is ultimately the only thing we have to sell at Tractebel, but it is very important. You need to be able to synthesise information and also have a lot of empathy for our clients. When we work on complex projects like we do, our clients never know exactly what they need to write down the first time around. We can’t presume to know their needs better than they do, but it’s by working with the client that we’re able to establish the best expression of needs for the project. That’s how we can develop intelligence. So, the best advice for young engineers is that we are not the engineers our degrees claim us to be; we become the engineers we build ourselves through our experiences, our careers and the credibility we build up over time.

Listen to the original podcast (in French)