Organization of nuclear safety in France

The first part of the paper describes the administrative organization related to nuclear safety of nuclear installations in France. The second part presents the French approaches to radiation safety for nuclear reactors, fuel cycle centers and other nuclear installations, the risk assessment associated with nuclear activities including a list of severe reactor and radiation accidents around the world, the safety problems related to radioactive wastes and to radioactive effluents from nuclear installations and to the decommissioning of nuclear installations. The last part presents the French legislation concerning the licensing procedures for nuclear installations, particularly the procedure for nuclear reactor commissioning, for the surveillance of nuclear installations and for the radiation protection of workers occupationally exposed to ionizing radiations