[3] After the birth of their daughter, in 1987, Kearney was hired by Société Générale pour les Techniques Nouvelles (SGN),[3] a subsidiary of the Cogema group (later Areva), to teach English to technicians who were going to work outside France.

On 27 September 2012, Le Nouvel Obs published excerpts from a draft bipartite agreement between EDF and its partner CGNPC.

On 3 October 2022, Le Canard enchaîné published a note from the APE (State Holdings Agency), entitled “alert relating to a draft cooperation agreement between EDF and CGNPC”.

[18] Despite the support of her inter-union, Kearney was the subject of anonymous threats which she described to journalists from L'Express she met at the end of October 2012.

[clarification needed] On 15 December, Ministers of the Interior Bernard Cazeneuve and of the Economy Arnaud Montebourg were contacted personally by Kearney and responded to her messages.

[3] The housekeeper discovered her six hours later and wanted to call the police; Kearney refused, citing fears of reprisals.

[citation needed] Two days after the assault, Areva announced to AFP that it was filing a complaint against the newspaper,[19] which reported in a separate article on the concerns of the group committee.

[19] Michel Toudret, CFDT central delegate from Areva confirmed to the press that the unions “fear technology transfers with China”[19] and that Maureen Kearney received threatening phone calls.

[17] L'Express specifies that the talks are progressing without Areva, whereas in February 2011 the French Nuclear Policy Committee (CPN) had decided: EDF can only join CGNPC with Areva28.

The CEO of Areva replied on 30 December in an interview with the JDD that the “transfer of technology to China” will only be done “on a case-by-case basis”.

[29] Kearney is the subject of 2019 French book La Syndicaliste (literally The Trade Unionist) written by Caroline Michel-Aguirre, an investigative journalist for L'Obs.

[30] The book was adapted in 2022 into the French-language thriller of the same name, known in English as The Sitting Duck directed by Jean-Paul Salomé[31] with Isabelle Huppert playing Kearney.