A study of nuclear power in France

It is stated that the purpose of the study is to identify and explain, for a British audience, what the author perceives to be the combination of forces and events that have led France to adopt the most thrustful nuclear programme in the world at the present time. The subject is discussed under the headings: nuclear perspectives (energy needs and supplies - forecasts and programmes); the national interest (government policies in relation to energy; reactor types - gas-graphite and LWR); the structure of the French nuclear industry; the State (the French corps of scientists; the existence of an Administrative Elite; the role of the State and its function in industrial management); decision making; the CEA (Commissariat a l'Energie Atomique); Electricite de France; electricity growth and prices; financing the expansion; the international dimension (cooperation). (author)