CEA's R&D on advanced fuel treatment with multi-recycling of plutonium and uranium

Abstract : The full closure of the fuel cycle stems from the progressive deployment of plutonium and uranium multi-recycling using Fast neutron Reactors (FR) associated with advanced fuel treatment/recycling. On the basis of industrial experience with the present closed fuel cycle and taking advantage of past pilot-scale demonstrations of FR fuel treatment in France, RandD is being conducted in the CEA to move forward in the adaptation and optimization of the overall treatment/recycling process. The main RandD subjects concern increased quantities of fissile material in some key steps of the process the head-end, because of a growing need for Pu based fuel treatment capacities (LWR and FR MOx), the separation step, because of higher Pu/U ratio, and the conversion and production stages to fabricate MOx fuels from recycled Pu and U. The different features of wastes from FR assemblies compared to those from LWRs may require significant optimizations considering future industrial deployment. The main RandD program orientations and recent achievements are presented in this paper.