4. Research and development activities

4.1 MOX research and development activities

The decision to recycle plutonium in PWRs on an industrial scale was taken at a time when most of France's experience in fuel fabrication and behavior was based on experience with the RNR.

The breadth of knowledge and wealth of experience gained from our work on mixed oxides for nuclear reactors - manufacturing techniques, properties of uranium and plutonium oxides, behavior under irradiation, reprocessing, etc. - have provided a valuable legacy.

In parallel with developments in RNR fuel, interest in MOX fuel began to emerge both in France and abroad.

As early as 1963, the first MOX assembly manufactured by Belgonucléaire was loaded into the BR3 reactor in Belgium....