Combating the proliferation of nuclear weapons


France gives great importance to the development of peaceful uses of nuclear energy, an available, affordable and green source of energy. Nuclear energy has an important role to play against a backdrop of growing electricity consumption in all regions of the world and the need for clean energy to fight climate change.

The growth of the nuclear energy industry in the world was not called into question by the accident at the Fukushima Daiichi plant in Japan following the earthquake and tsunami which hit the country on 11 March 2011. There are nearly 450 working reactors in the world, around fifty under construction and nearly thirty countries are considering developing a civil nuclear energy programme.

In this context, France, as a responsible nuclear actor, conducts all cooperation activities in the field of civil nuclear energy in compliance with the highest safety, security and non-proliferation standards.

France also promotes the many non-energy nuclear applications, such as in the areas of human health (prevention, diagnosis and treatment of diseases), agriculture and food security (improvement of agricultural techniques), environmental protection (study of ocean acidification) and industrial applications (preservation of cultural heritage).

To find out more:

Peaceful uses of nuclear energy on the France NTP Website

Updated April 2019