2. Characteristics of fuels to be processed

It is obviously essential to know as precisely as possible the objects that will be handled and processed, both for the design and for the operation of installations:

• overall characteristics (shape, structure, dimensions, gripping devices, mass, thermal power, activity) for all operations involving the handling of whole fuel elements (transport, reception, storage, mechanical processing);

• chemical and radioactive characteristics of the fuel itself and structural parts for reprocessing and waste management operations.

Pending the results of measurements and analyses, the composition of spent fuel can be estimated with good accuracy using increasingly powerful calculation codes, based on its characteristics before it is loaded into the reactor (new or fresh fuel), taking into...