The development of nuclear power in France

The author of this contribution, who read a paper on the same subject on the evening he was appointed Honorary Member of the Kerntechnische Gesellschaft (KTG), has been continuously engaged in a wide variety of activities within the French Atomic Energy Commission, CEA, for the past 32 years and has been in charge of the French breeder program since the late fifties. His analysis of the nuclear power situation in France and his survey of problems and development goals therefore is not only based on expert knowledge, but also reflects the official French idea of the rank nuclear power in the French energy supply policy and in the French economy. It shows that the foreseeable pronounced slowdown, due to declining demand, in the expansion of the network of nuclear power plants - a slowdown at a high level of capacity - does not detract from the growing importance of nuclear power in France. The awareness exists that this program can be, and must be, continued in its subareas. The French Government is convinced that the nuclear option was the only possible choice and that having decided in favor of it will pay even more in the future than it does already. (orig.)