France's policy is to frame all exchanges that might take place in the field of the peaceful use of nuclear energy through cooperation agreements with the countries concerned.
These agreements provide France and the third countries with whom they are signed guarantees concerning the use and physical protection of nuclear materials. These agreements may also apply to equipment or technologies.
The CTE also evaluates the constraints that may result from these agreements for the operators and the French authorities. When the final agreement is signed, the CTE works with the Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs (MEFA) and the other ministries concerned to study the practical application of these agreements. In this context, it also benefits from the expertise of IRSN.
Commitments made by the Euratom Community or by France to a third country and/or the IAEA are traced by means of specific codes that appear in each accounting line declared by the operators. When nuclear materials of foreign origin under IAEA safeguards are received in a French installation, they retain their "label", which traces the country of origin or a commitment to peaceful use through submission to IAEA safeguards. In other words, Euratom and national safeguards are designed to prevent the direct or indirect use of foreign nuclear materials in defense-related programs and to ensure that they remain in the civilian domain, subject to IAEA safeguards.