Separation of long-lived radionuclides: Main goals and recent progress of the SPIN programme

The Act of the French Parliament passed on 30 December 1991 concerning the management of high activity, long-lived nuclear wastes identifies three main lines of research: the separation of long-lived elements for their transmutation, repository in deep geological formations and, third, conditioning and interim storage. In each of these fields, the research organisations involved are required to provide the necessary scientific and technical assessments before the year 2006 to enable the public authorities to make the appropriate strategic decisions. The French Atomic Energy Commission (CEA) drew up the SPIN programme as a response to the first axis of the Act: it essentially involves investigation on the separation and transmutation of the long-lived radionuclides present in spent nuclear fuel [1,2].