The EOLE and MINERVE critical facilities of the CEA Cadarache play an important part in the validation of neutronic and photonic calculation schemes and associated nuclear data. In support of the Water Reactors studies, they are in particular used for obtaining a large and accurate experimental database for nuclides arising in plutonium and waste management (heavy nuclides and long lived fission products), exploring innovative systems and reducing the uncertainties associated to the prediction of most of the neutronic parameters. In the framework of the Gen-III reactors studies, these programs are important for supporting the validation of the APOLLO2 code and the JEFF3.1.1 nuclear data. Several proposals of new experimental programs in EOLE and MINERVE are currently studied in support of specific Gen-III reactors features (impact of the core internal instrumentation, improvement of the nuclear data of the associated materials…).The EOLE facility is a small experimental reactor composed of a cylindrical vessel with an over structure of stainless steel able to contain various types of core, representative of different water-cooled reactors (PWR, BWR, future Jules Horowitz Reactor…). The MINERVE facility is a pool type reactor used as a driver zone for different water-cooled experimental lattices located in a central cavity. MINERVE experimental programs are performed by using the oscillation technique consisting in measuring the reactivity effect of an experimental sample in the central zone, with a calibrated rotary automatic pilot. The characterization of the experimental configurations and the measured parameters are obtained using various other types of experimental measurements and techniques (reactivity changes between core configurations with the MSM technique based on fission chamber counting rates, fine power distribution in the fuel elements by gamma-spectrometry measurements, spectral indices using miniature fission chambers and activation foils…).