Simulating a crisis: the construction of reality in nuclear accident exercises.

Summary Crisis management exercises are nowadays a widespread method of preparation for the occurrence of uncertain events that could potentially destabilize administrations and companies. However, the literature on crisis management exercises has given little attention to the writing of the scenarios that make up the framework. By taking the case of crisis exercise scenarios in the civil nuclear sector in France, this article intends to show that these scenarios, far from placing the participants in a totally new and uncertain universe, tend on the contrary to bring out an ordered vision of the crisis. This is due to the different kinds of constraints and framings that are embodied in the writing of the scenarios, which are the result of tacit agreements and power relations between the organizations of the civil nuclear sector (operators, regulatory authorities, expert organizations, etc.) and civil security.