1. Home
  2. Power and energy
  3. Nuclear engineering
  4. Nuclear Reactors Fuel Cycle : from the Third Generation to the Fourth Generation

  5. Current fuel cycle in France and future "4th generation" cycle (reminder)

Article | REF: BN3561 V1

Nuclear Reactors Fuel Cycle : from the Third Generation to the Fourth Generation

Authors: Jean-Michel DELBECQ, Bertrand CARLIER, Christine CHABERT-KORALEWSKI, Romain ESCHBACH, Dominique FAVET, Véronique GARAT, Claude GARZENNE, Laurent GAUTHIER, Frédéric LAUGIER, Alain ZAETTA

Publication date: January 10, 2015 | Lire en français

You do not have access to this resource.
Click here to request your free trial access!

Already subscribed? Log in!

Automatically translated using artificial intelligence technology (Note that only the original version is binding) > find out more.

    A  |  A

    3. Current fuel cycle in France and future "4th generation" cycle (reminder)

    3.1 France's current fuel cycle

    France's nuclear fleet currently comprises 58 PWRs, with a total installed capacity of 63 GWe. The average annual reference volume of nuclear fuel consumed by these reactors is around 1,200 t of fuel, including around 1,000 t of UO 2 fuel (Unat enriched to less than 5% in 235 U), 120 t of MOX fuel [fuel made from plutonium from the processing of spent fuel (CU)] and 80 t of URE fuel (enriched reprocessed uranium made from – URT). The current nuclear fuel cycle is therefore a partially closed cycle with plutonium and TRU recycling, known as the "reprocessing cycle" (§

    You do not have access to this resource.

    Exclusive to subscribers. 97% yet to be discovered!

    You do not have access to this resource.
    Click here to request your free trial access!

    Already subscribed? Log in!

    The Ultimate Scientific and Technical Reference

    A Comprehensive Knowledge Base, with over 1,200 authors and 100 scientific advisors
    + More than 10,000 articles and 1,000 how-to sheets, over 800 new or updated articles every year
    From design to prototyping, right through to industrialization, the reference for securing the development of your industrial projects

    This article is included in

    Nuclear engineering

    This offer includes:

    Knowledge Base

    Updated and enriched with articles validated by our scientific committees

    Services

    A set of exclusive tools to complement the resources

    Practical Path

    Operational and didactic, to guarantee the acquisition of transversal skills

    Doc & Quiz

    Interactive articles with quizzes, for constructive reading

    Subscribe now!

    Ongoing reading
    Current fuel cycle in France and future "4th generation" cycle (reminder)
    Outline