The French Atomic Energy and Alternative Energies Commission (CEA) employ preventive and detective controls, fundamental elements of risk management in the nuclear facilities of the French nuclear sector. Using an ago-antagonistic systems (AAS) approach, CEA managers balance two ago-antagonistic (AA) forces (preventive and detective controls) that together make an AA couple, to mitigate subcontracting risks. The systemic vision of AAS, underpinned by systems thinking, enables managers to consider the collective impact of adjusting either a single force or both forces, particularly as action(s) on the couple may rebalance the overall system. This paper illustrates how preventive and detective controls meet Bernard-Weil's eight principal characteristics of AAS. The temporal aspect of preventive and detective controls, at the nucleus of the AA model, and their time-sensitive role in averting and detecting an event are also discussed. Examples are provided of how CEA managers mitigate risk through AA couples by pursuing forces and considering them collectively in terms of “both /and” rather than separately in terms of “either/or”.