The CEA research centre is located in the town of Fontenay-aux-Roses, bordering on the towns of Châtillon and Plessis-Robinson, in the Hauts-de-Seine département . It covers an area of 13.8 hectares.

This centre comprises four BNIs, which pursued research activities in the fields of chemical engineering, analytical chemistry, storage of radioactive waste and transuranic elements. The laboratory for plutonium-based fuel studies (RM2) and the plutonium chemistry laboratory (LCPu) are currently being cleaned-up. Only the radioactive liquid effluent and solid waste treatment station and the interim storage facility for radioactive solid waste are still operating.

The Fontenay-aux-Roses research centre will be decommissioned in around 2010. In view of this decision and the accompanying clean-up operations, the CEA is preparing to group its nuclear activities in the Fort part of the installation, which presupposes modification of the existing BNI perimeters , a process which has already been started. The final shutdown, decommissioning and perimeter modification application dossier for the basic nuclear installations at the Fontenay-aux-Roses centre was sent to the ASN in December 2003. A public inquiry from May to June 2004 was carried out accordingly. The approval process of the draft decrees which should lead to the creation of two BNIs in place of the four original BNIs mentioned above are still following their course.

• Radioactive effluent and solid waste treatment station and solid waste interim storage station (also see chapter 13)

Despite the closure of some workshops (incineration, evaporation), the Radioactive effluent and solid waste treatment station (BNI 34) continues to evacuate radioactive effluent from the site and to treat solid waste, in particular as part of the site decommissioning operations. BNI 34 also stores effluent from past practices, for which the disposal channel is not yet operational. The solid waste interim storage station (BNI 73) stores irradiating drums in decay pits, pending removal, and provides interim storage of low and very low level waste drums waiting for shipment to a repository. BNI 73 is carrying on the removal of the irradiating drums of solid waste from the decay pits. Shutdown of these BNIs is included in the decommissioning dossier for the CEA's Fontenay-aux-Roses site.

• Plutonium chemistry laboratory (LCPu)

Until July 1995, the plutonium chemistry laboratory (LCPu) at the CEA Centre in Fontenay-aux-Roses was used for research and development work on spent fuel reprocessing and waste treatment methods.

Final shutdown of this installation began in July 1995 and is continuing pending the publication of the final shutdown and decommissioning order for the entire Fontenay-aux-Roses site. This will involve recovering, processing and removing the radioactive materials present in the installation.

The Petrus high-level tanks were characterised in June 2004, confirming that their content was indeed liquid. The operations to empty these tanks were approved by an internal authorisation in 2005. This work will be carried out in 2006.

• Laboratory for plutonium-based fuel studies

This radio-metallurgical laboratory, located on the CEA site at Fontenay-aux-Roses, comprised two units, RM1 and RM2, located in two separate buildings. The activities of the spent fuel analysis laboratory ended in 1984.

Cleanup operations took place from 1991 to 1995.

In 1999, the CEA provided an end-of-cleanup report for the RM1 part and a more detailed decontamination plan for the RM2 part. The CEA sent the ASN a clean-up report concerning the floor in the filters room as experience feedback. Decommissioning will be regulated by a common decommissioning order covering the CEA site at Fontenay-aux-Roses (see previous point).