Polar explorer on energy and ITER
5 Sep 2016
-
Interview by Robert Arnoux
In 1986 Jean-Louis Etienne set out for the North Pole alone, on foot, from Ward Hunt Island in the extreme north of Canada—a voyage across the frozen Artic Ocean that lasted 63 days. Doctor, mountaineer, navigator ... Etienne has said that reaching the North Pole "doesn't require any particular talent," only endurance, determination and near-superhuman fortitude. The experience determined the course of his life; since, either alone or as part of international expeditions, he has explored the poles by dog sled, by Rozière balloon and airship (dirigible), and even on a schooner adrift in ice-locked waters.
Doctor, mountaineer, navigator, Jean-Louis Etienne was the first man to reach the North Pole solo, over land, in 1986. In the Artic or in Antarctica, by foot, dog sled or airship, energy questions have always been at the heart of his preoccupations. Photo Francis Latreille
Jean-Louis Etienne is an explorer but also a scientist who is concerned by the fragility of our planet, with the question of energy occupying a central role in his reflection. Refusing to be boxed in by dogma or "posturing," he considers that nuclear energy is "the intelligent way to go" and has spoken publically in favour of ITER.
He visited the ITER site in June.