Examples of CEA managements of spent fuels from a prototype power reactor (PHENIX) and from commercial power reactors after post irradiation examinations

CEA gained a good experience in the management of spent fuels from its research or power prototype reactors and of the fuel samples for post irradiation examinations. The solution for these products is the reprocessing. The delay to apply that solution is bound to the disponibility of the reprocessing facilities, and in several cases induce a delayed reprocessing. Only particular and limited fuels are planned to be sent in a definitive storage. The definitive storage is choosen only for a few fuels essentially requiring important modifications of the dissolution process. The treatments and operations on the spent fuels must be carried out following the French safety rules. Long and detailed flowsheet studies are therefore necessary before the setting up of the operations. Generally the cost of the management of limited quantities of fuels, as it is the case here, is high. The flowsheets are established in taking into account, as far as possible, the use of existing facilities, procedures, transport casks