Innovative nuclear at the CEA: SMRs and Gen4 reactors activities

For a few years, SMRs have been proposing a new economic and industrial model for nuclear plants to deliver low carbon heat and power. We will review the features of this new approach based on simplified design, prefabrication and serial production, give an overview of on-going projects at the French national level and in Europe, and explain in which way the CEA contributes to these developments. In parallel, recent decisions by the French government have asked the big players in the nuclear industry to propose a technical roadmap for the closure of the fuel cycle by the end of the century: we will present the issues at stake and underline some of the areas of R&D where the CEA is involved.