Strategy of fuel management

The management of nuclear fuels in PWR type reactors has been adapted to improve the safety and the competitiveness of brackets. The economic optimum, at the park level, depends on many parameters, variable with time and in function of them, we favour the annual campaigns and the economy won on the cost of cycle, or long campaigns with benefit on availability. The reduction of the number of stopping improves the availability, limits the doses integrated by the personnel of intervention and reduces the number of incidents during the stopping. An other determining factor is connected to the policy of closed cycle with the the principle of equality between the reprocessing flux and the valorization of reprocessed fuels: plutonium and reprocessed uranium. The progress of fuel have allowed significant improvements in the managements of cores. With the safety, the aim is also to keep if not improve the competitiveness of the Nuclear park by valorizing the matter coming from reprocessing. (N.C.)