United States and France : a regulatory perspective

Abstract

Nuclear materials and their uses are regulated differently in countries around the world. In the United States, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission regulates the different commercial and academic uses of nuclear technology, including nuclear power plants. In France, the Direction Generale de la Surete Nucleaire et de la Radioprotection (DGSNR) and the Electricite de France (EDF) control the nuclear industry, with the DGSNR controlling most of the regulation and the EDF presiding over the construction. In this thesis, the two systems of regulation will be reviewed and compared for efficiency and efficacy. Furthermore, those efficiencies will be examined for implications in the technical, social, and economic regimes. This thesis will review the histories and present-day structures of two different regulatory agencies, propose reasons for the difference, and argue the benefits and shortcomings of each. At first glance, the American regulatory system appears to be in the hands of the lawmakers and founded on a legal basis. The French system, however, emphasizes the scientists and engineers as the regulatory experts and is thus founded more on a scientific and technical foundation.