In 2008, the French Minister for Higher Education and Research created a co-ordination committee for nuclear education and training in order to ensure the expansion of the French nuclear energy sector through the renewal of its workforce. This committee, recently renamed the ‘French Council for Education and Training in Nuclear Energy’ (CFEN), assesses the adequacy between the education offer, the student population in differ­ent curricula and the industrial/research needs, advises the Office of Higher Education on opening new academic curricula, informs students of various educational curricula and possible professional careers and opportunities in nuclear power technology, coordinates the international recruitment of students, and promotes international curricula such as the new International Master of Science in Nuclear Energy starting in Paris in 2009.

The members of the CFEN include representatives of government authorities in education, research and industry, of academic institutions (universities and engineering schools), of the chief industrial actors (AREVA, EDF, GDF-SUEZ, ANDRA, and subcontractors), and of the main nuclear R&D public institutions: CEA and IRSN.

More than 20 chief universities and engineering schools, distributed all over the country though with many located in the Paris area, provide nuclear engineering-related education programmes. CEA/INSTN (Institut National des Sciences et Techniques Nucleaires) also plays an important role in this field through its establishments located in Saclay, Cherbourg and Cadarache.