[en] The present position with respect to the development of fast reactors in France and prospects for future R and D is summarized. The paper gives an overview on the status of the fast reactors Phenix and Super Phenix. In addition to the studies in support of the EFR project, which are presented in a separate report, CEA and NOVATOME have conducted exploratory studies to evaluate the potential of fast reactors to burn plutonium and long lived wastes with the objective to maintain the acceptable values of two important parameters for safety, namely the sodium void worth and the Doppler coefficient. (author). 1 fig