STATUS OF THE FUEL BACK END CYCLE OPERATIONS IN THE COGEMA REPROCESSING PLANTS

As far as the Fuel Cycle Back End is concerned, France turned very early to the systematic spent fuel reprocessing option in view of, on one hand, the recycling of Pu and U in thermal or fast reactors, and on the other hand, the embedding and packaging of the different wastes ready for disposal.In this respect, COGEMA, a subsidiary of the French AEC, is operating two industrial scale reprocessing facilities :- The UP1 plant, on the site of MARCOULE, since 1958.- The UP2 plant, on the site of LA HAGUE, since 1966.In addition, on these sites, very important investments are in progress, particularly in LA HAGUE, in order to increase the production capacities for LWR spent fuels, (conventionnal or MOX fuels).The two sites are equipped with gaseous and liquid wastes treatment facilities, and with solid wastes coating and encapsulating facilities.In those different fields, reprocessing and wastes management, outstanding and complete experiency and mastery, have been gained by COGEMA and the CEA Group that are presented in the paper.