COEX - process: cross-breeding between innovation and industrial experience

Recycling used nuclear fuel at an industrial scale has been a reality for over 40 years. Since it was founded in 1976, AREVA has designed and built two used fuel treatment plants in La Hague, France. These plants, named UP2-800 and UP3, use the PUREX process. UP3 began operations at the end of the 80's and UP2-800 in the mid 90's. The plutonium extracted in UP2-800 and UP3 is then processed in MELOX plant which started operation in 1995, to be recycled under the form of MOX fuel in LWR. This technology has been selected by JNFL for its reprocessing and recycling plants. Rokkasho-Mura reprocessing plant incorporates also some Japanese technologies and is being commissioned soon. Over 23,000 tons of LWR used fuels have been treated in La Hague plants and over 1200 tons of MOX fuels have been produced by MELOX plant. Innovations have been constantly incorporated to these plants to improve process efficiency and to reduce the activity and volume of waste. During these years, AREVA has acquired an invaluable experience in industrializing processes and technologies developed in the laboratory. In the frame of its continuous improvement policy, AREVA has developed jointly with CEA (French Atomic Energy Agency)more » a new process, COEX{sup TM} process, offering significant improvement in term of proliferation resistance, process performance and investment and operating cost. The present paper recalls the process principles applied in French and Japanese recycling plants. Then it describes the main steps of COEX{sup TM} process, the status of its development and the improvements compared to PUREX process. The possible evolution of COEX{sup TM} process to cope with needs of future nuclear fuel cycles using fast reactors and possible recycling of minor actinides is presented. (authors)« less