The French nuclear programme: Part I. Political, institutional and logistical factors

Abstract

The French nuclear power programme is perceived to have overcome the twin problems of deteriorating economics and implacable opposition. This, the first of a pair of articles, examines the political and institutional structures that enabled this programme to be carried through, including the history of nuclear power in France, technology choice and the significance of standardisation. It concludes that the common perceptions that the French nuclear power programme has required centralised, dirigist decision– making was particularly true for the period 1974–81, when most orders were placed. The policy before 1974 was more flexible, while by 1981 there remained few degrees of freedom left to the Mitterand government. One of the major achievements of the programme was the transformation of the French power station supply sector from being fragmented and weak into a unified structure capable of supplying nuclear plant more cheaply and efficiently than almost anywhere else in the world.