THE FRENCH FAST NEUTRON REACTOR PROGRAM AND EUROPEAN NUCLEAR INTEGRATION

Abstract

For over a decade (1959-1969), the Euratom (European Atomic Energy Community) Commission made many attempts to persuade Member States to develop a plan for large-scale fast breeder reactors (FBRs) by establishing a “Joint Undertaking” within the framework of the Euratom treaty. In 1974, the French, Italian and West German electricity producers created the multinational company NERSA (Centrale nucléaire européenne à neutrons rapides SA) to build such a plant, called Superphénix. Although NERSA had the right to apply for Joint Undertaking status, it never did. Based on evidence from archival documents, this paper retraces the ambiguous approach of French actors towards Euratom and provides new insights into the attitude of French nuclear actors towards European nuclear integration. We argue that Euratom Commission’s desire to develop a fast breeder plant within the Community framework coincided with a crucial period in the strategy of the French nuclear sector, with FBR technology considered vital to France’s nuclear success. As a result, the French public authorities distanced themselves and the French programme for fast breeders from the Euratom Commission, thus avoiding Community control over Superphénix. We also argue that French technocrats built a narrative of urgency that led the Euratom Commission to invest in this technology and we question the need for rapid industrial development of fast breeder technology.