The Groupement des scientifiques pour l'information sur l'énergie nucléaire GSIEN (Association of Scientists for Information on Nuclear Energy) is a multidisciplinary not-for-profit association of independent scientists who aim to spread information about the nuclear industry in France[1] founded on December 15, 1975.
GSIEN was first to provide an explanation of the causes and consequences of the Three Mile Island accident, while the authorities tried to play-down the incident,[3] however GSIEN came to prominence at the time of the 1986 Chernobyl disaster when the press and public found that their independent information helped to compensate for the shortcomings in the official information.
[1] GSIEN was founded in the wake of the launch in 1974 of the Messmer Plan to switch all of France's electricity generation to nuclear power, which took place without public or parliamentary debate.
[3] The announcement of the Messmer Plan caused a split in the scientific community between those physicists (generally older) who favoured the plan, and those (generally younger) who were concerned about the potential risks, leading to l’Appel des 400 (the appeal of the 400), a petition signed initially by over 400 scientists, and ultimately by around 4,000, expressing their concern over a number of issues including 'secrecy' and 'official propaganda'.
[3] In 1998 Monique Sené, nuclear physicist, one of GSIEN's co-founders and its president,[3] was awarded the National Order of the Legion of Honour for her work as anti–nuclear power activist.