This paper explains the variables that must be considered in the decision to develop
nuclear power capability such as (1)
the actual location of a
nuclear power plant, (2) the question of security and (3) the compatibility of entering into a nuclear program within the context of the country's long-range energy plans, international policies and aspirations and their level of scientific and technical education. The author points out that the critical gap in plans to expand British civil nuclear programs, which is widely recognized both by promoters and opposers of nuclear power, is the problem of managing radioactive wastes. The paper relates that the French policy differs from from the British policy in that it has gone beyond the concept of "nuclear substitution", designed to diversify and stabilize energy-producing capacity, into a policy of "nuclear electrification" under which the growth of electricity
consumption has been deliberately encouraged.