[en] For a long time the research effort bas been sustained for the management of short-lived, low and intermediate activity waste. It is true that their share in volume is dominating, in France as well as in countries which do not reprocess spent fuel. But it is remarkable that the research effort is clearly growing as far as the management of waste containing long-lived radionuclides is concerned, particularly spent fuel which is considered as waste in some countries. The framework of research concerning this last waste category is, in France, set by a law promulgated in 1991 to study the final disposal of this waste in deep geological formations. This waste is, in majority, one that comes from the reprocessing of spent fuel. The part of spent fuels that would not be reprocessed in the end is also added to them. The 1991 law thus imposes deeper research following three paths: - The first one concerns the separation of long-lived radionuclides and their transmutation into stable nuclides or into short-lived radionuclides. - The second one concerns disposal in deep geological formations. - The third one covers research for the improvement of waste storage conditioning on one hand, and research on long-term storage on the other hand. The research programs are described annually in a document that explains the research strategy. These programs are mainly implemented by the national Agency for radioactive waste management, by the national Center for scientific research and by the Atomic Energy Board. University laboratories also participate to them within the context of common research groups. (author)