Recent progress on minor-actinide-bearing oxide fuel fabrication at CEA Marcoule

Abstract

Partitioning and transmutation (P&T) of minor actinides (MA: americium, neptunium and curium) in fast neutron reactors or accelerator-driven systems is a route envisaged to reduce nuclear waste inventory. Over the years, several modes of P&T were proposed, each being based on the use of dedicated fuels such as inert-matrix fuels, MA-bearing MOX or MA-bearing blankets. In this context, progress on the manufacturing of such fuels is a key-challenge in order to render P&T viable at the industrial scale. Here, MA-bearing oxide fuel fabrication and characterization conducted in the CEA Marcoule Atalante facility is reviewed. A particular attention is also given to the research conducted on uranium–americium mixed-oxides fuels, which are now considered the reference fuels for MA transmutation in France.