1. Safety by design

The decision to build the nuclear power plants currently in operation was taken from the late 1960s to the early 1980s. In deciding to build pressurized water units under license from the American company Westinghouse, Électricité de France and the French government chose to benefit from this manufacturer's experience and the global knowledge accumulated in this field, particularly in the USA. This was the framework within which the 34 900 MWe units were built. Framatome, the licensee, and EDF then gradually became independent, and with the most recent units, known as N4, the design is purely French .