The 2010 amending budget act published in the March 10, 2010 Offical Journal makes the name change for the French atomic energy commission (CEA) official. The CEA’s full name is now Commissariat à l'énergie atomique et aux énergies alternatives, or “Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission”. The change was announced on December 14, 2009 by French President Nicolas Sarkozy as he presented the financing priorities for the national loan. The new name recognizes both the research the CEA has been conducting for many years on a broad range of low-carbon energies and its generally active role in scientific and technological research in that field.
By alternative energies, we mean alternatives to fossil fuels. This covers both nuclear power and renewable energies. The CEA’s research in the nuclear field includes new-generation systems, boosting the capacity of current power programs, and dismantling operations. In the field of renewable energies, the CEA is working on three components: solar power, upgrading biomass, and energy storage for transport.
3/23/2010