Nuclear commerce in the 1990s

This article is a report of a conference held in Paris about the future of nuclear commerce in the 1990s. A number of speakers from France, the U.S.A. and the United Kingdom outline problems and expectations. The possibility of a new European safety inspectorate is suggested to overseas national inspectorates rather than nuclear operators. The United States experiences problems of diversity and high nuclear fuel costs, resulting from low market place bargaining power where the size of utility companies is small (perhaps one or two nuclear reactors). The remainder of the article concentrates on the United Kingdom situation at present, privatization of electricity generation, the economic unpopularity of nuclear power, environmental issues such as acid rain and the greenhouse effect, and the public, hostile attitude to nuclear power. (UK)