New trends in nuclear technology

Seventy five per cent of the electricity generated in France comes from nuclear reactors. A new generation of these reactors is presently under construction and preparation of the next generation is already in progress. But this means of electricity production also depends on the fuel cycle which consists of uranium enrichment, spent fuel reprocessing and storage of the nuclear wastes. This article is a brief survey of some of the technological research that is in progress on these aspects of producing energy. (author)