Although there are many reactor system benchmarks in the literature, they mostly
concentrate on the reactor system in isolation with only a few considering the fuel cycle.
However, there is currently increased emphasis on the performance of reactor systems
linked to their associated fuel cycle (Generation-IV for example). The published
international benchmark studies which relate to burn-up depletion calculations are
restricted to specific aspects of the fuel cycle:

Taking into account of the loss of reactivity of fuels at the end of their irradiation is known under the
term burnup credit (BUC). It is a question of dimensioning in a less penalizing way the devices of transport,
storage or of processing with respect to the risk of criticality. In the context of nuclear criticality safety a better
realism cannot be obtained at the price of conservatism. As a result the regulator requires measurements make it
possible to validate the adequacy between real fuels and the design assumptions. The sophistication of the