No actually not the same thing. There’s a lot of local cultural expertise that you can’t import (ie regulatory environment and knowing how to work within it). You can import some technical knowhow but that’s only a fraction of the experience problem.
Also re cancer, nuclear power plants emit no radiation. All the radiation exposure risk comes when you’re doing certain kinds of maintenance (eg refueling). Nuclear subs are a different matter. I don’t know the safety standards there and the military is typically a lot more loosy goosey with safety.
Sorry, I should have mentioned that my dad got his start in nuclear at a reactor at Hanford. For some reason, he was included in on the settlement due to improper storage of waste, which is why the settlement was from the DOE and not Westinghouse (the company he was actually contracting for). I wouldn’t blame the reactor for the cancer, I’m not even sure it was the waste’s fault, but the cancer was rare enough to qualify.
If we bought plans for the French, I’m sure we could merge in American culture quickly. We won’t find any pure nuclear engineers being trained up in the USA anyways outside of the navy, there are only a few programs left.
Also re cancer, nuclear power plants emit no radiation. All the radiation exposure risk comes when you’re doing certain kinds of maintenance (eg refueling). Nuclear subs are a different matter. I don’t know the safety standards there and the military is typically a lot more loosy goosey with safety.