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Generation IV
Roland Schenkel
DG Joint Research Centre - EUROPEAN COMMISSION
Bucharest, 11 May 2006
http://www.jrc.cec.eu.int
The Generation IV International Forum (GIF)
 Objective: to support R&D, within a time frame from 15 to 20 years and reach
technical maturity by 2030
 The 5 GIF fundamental criteria :
Sustainability
Non-Proliferation and physical protection
Safety and reliability
Minimization of waste production
Economics
The GIF Charter
 The JRC has been designated as the
Community Implementing Agent
E.U.
 Designed for different applications
Electricity, Hydrogen
Desalinated water, Heat
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The six Generation IV nuclear systems
Lead Fast Reactor
Sodium Fast Reactor
Gas Fast Reactor
Very High Temperature Reactor
Supercritical Water-cooled Reactor
Molten Salt Reactor
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Interest in GIF Systems
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VHTR
GFR
SFR
LFR
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SCWR
MSR
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July 2005
Note that all Steering Committees are
provisional until the System
Arrangements are finalized and
signed.
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 signifies Co-chair
GFR
LFR
MSR
SFR
SCWR
VHTR
– Gas-Cooled Fast Reactor
– Lead-Cooled Fast Reactor
– Molten Salt Reactor
– Sodium-Cooled Fast Reactor
– Supercritical Water-Cooled Reactor
– Very-High-Temperature Reactor
Major Advantages Gen IV over Gen II/III
Gen II / III
Once Through
Spent Fuel
U + Pu + MA + FP
130000 years
U, Pu
Reprocessing
Vitrification
< 0.1 % Pu + MA + FP
10000 years
Gen IV
FR
Partitioning
U, Pu + MAs
Fuel Fabrication
Pu + MAs
Breeder/Burner
U consumption
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Proliferation Resistance
Traces: Pu + MA; + FP
<1000-2000
years
Radiotoxicity
Volume
Safe Storage Time
The GIF Governance
Organes de Gouvernance
Instruments
Framework
Agreement
System
Arrangement
Project
Arrangement
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The Framework Agreement
• Legally binding text governing the overall functioning of GIF
• Entered into force on 28 February 2005.
• Objective:
“… to establish a framework for international collaboration to foster and facilitate
achievement of the purpose and vision of the GIF”.
• Potential Parties to the FA: Governments (or their ministries or agencies) for
GIF Member States and Euratom
• Each Party to designate Implementing Agents (IAs) which will implement SAs,
but only one of them can sign a specific SA
– The Joint Research Centre is the Implementing Agent of Euratom
• The Framework Agreement describes the role of the other arrangements in the
GIF system (System and, respectively, Project Arrangements)
• IPR provisions will be dealt with at the appropriate level (mainly at project level)
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The System Arrangements (SAs)
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Basic Principle: One System / One System Arrangement/ Only one Implementing
Agent may be signatory
Signatories: Public institutions/research organisations designated by the FA
signatories
SFR SA signed; VHTR under discussion/finalisation
Negotiation for SCWR, GFR SAs to start on the basis of the SFR/VHTR template
Content of the Template System Arrangement:
 Collaboration to be undertaken
 Management of the research and the development activities undertaken to
realize the objective of GIF
 Financial arrangements
 Protection, use and disclosure of background proprietary information
 Adequate and effective protection and allocation of intellectual property created
or furnished in the course of the collaboration, including provision for the
resolution of disputes concerning intellectual property rights
The SFR SA was signed on Tuesday, 14 February 2006, in Fukui (Japan) by France,
Japan and the USA
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The Project Arrangements (PAs)
• R&D within each System will be performed in one or more projects (coordinated by a Project Management Board)
 each System Arrangement implemented through 4 to 5 project
arrangements
• Signatories to the PAs: Implementing Agents or other R&D organisations
(subject to the approval of the respective SSC)
• Integration of the work within each system will be done by a “Design and
Integration Project”
• IPR provisions included at this level.
• Statute of the PAs: contracts
• Negotiations on PA content have started and appeared to be the most
difficult
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A discrimination among partners
• Minor/Major Contributors
– The notion was introduced by US/DOE during the third round of
negotiations on the SFR Advanced Fuel PA
– Major contributors will have a large access and use of the outcome of
the R&D: the “Generated Information”
– Minor contributors will have a limited access to this Generated
Information
• Defining “Minor” and “Major” Contributors
– Based on “initial inputs”, not on “outputs”;
– According to a certain threshold of contribution.
• Important Conclusion: if this notion is kept, it will be of
utmost importance for the Community to organise its
contribution to reach the critical size. In particular, the role
of universities shall be protected.
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3+1 GIF Methodology Working Groups
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Economic Modeling Working Group (EMWG)
Proliferation Resistance and Physical Protection (PRPP)
Risk & Safety Working Group (RSWG)
A 4th MWG under consideration: Sustainability Working Group
Each is chartered to work on crosscutting methodologies that can be
used to evaluate any of the Generation IV systems
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How to make Framework Programme
projects and GIF projects match?
• Ongoing discussion within the “Coordination Group” with a view to FP7
• Issues identified:
– Ensure that individual FP projects (Integrated Projects, STREPs) and
GIF projects match at task level FP;
– But individual FP projects corresponds to Systems rather than projects
(e.g. RAPHAEL FP – VHTR and GCFR FP – GFR);
– Consortium should accept that the Technical Annex may be reviewed to
fit as far as possible the GIF R&D plan and project plans;
– Would it be possible to identify in each consortium sub-entities
matching GIF Projects or even Projects Tasks? Will individual
consortium agree to create such sub-consortia? What will be their
relations with the main body and its individual members?
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Euratom membership may:
 ensure significant scientific/technical contributions to GIF reaching the
critical size
 play a constructive role towards R&D achievement of GIF objectives
 provide a platform for participation of R&D organizations (including
industry) from non GIF-members EU Member States and CCs
 offer an exciting and challenging field for the training of European
scientists and students in a worldwide R&D initiative.
We expect the offer of the Romanian nuclear scientific community
to this ambitious and challenging R&D initiative, of which some
main lines will be presented this afternoon during the “Nuclear
session”.
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Fast Reactors : Sodium Technology
- Sodium is a very suitable coolant:
- liquid in a wide range of temperatures (90 – 890°C)
- mono isotope (Na23)
- thermodynamics parameters
- no corrosion (when purified)
- Large industrial experience:
- various industrial uses
- 40 years of technological studies for nuclear applications
- Well-known drawbacks:
- chemical reactivity (sodium fires and sodium-water reactions)
- difficulties for handling and inspection (repairability)
- Challenges: fuel with minor actinides
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Fast Reactors : Lead Technology
- A candidate to avoid the risks associated with sodium fires
or sodium-water reactions
- A less favorable coolant (thermodynamics parameters,
corrosion risks)
- Lead-bismuth alloy to reduce corrosion risks
- Experience limited to Russian applications in naval
propulsion
- Studies going on in various countries
- Nitride fuel
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Fast Reactors : Helium Technology
- Gas cooling is less efficient than liquid metal cooling
- Development of a gas cooled fast reactor will require a new type
of fuel (burn up ≥ 150 GWd/t)
- Helium technology is already considered for VHTR
- Specific safety concerns need to be clarified (low thermal inertia,
high power density)
- If it can be successfully designed, the result will satisfy both
objectives for a sustainable development (fast neutron physics
and high temperature technology)
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MSR R&D Areas
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Very innovative and thus very challenging
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Molten salt properties and salt control (REDOX, impurities)
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Resistance of structural materials in molten salt environments
fluorides, chlorides)
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Specific components, esp. heat exchangers
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Graphite life
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Bubbling extraction of gaseous FPs and noble metals
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FP online extraction
Tritium control
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The role of reprocessing
• Long-term sustainability requires reprocessing (fuel
availability, number of geological repositories
• Advanced aqueous reprocessing
– Separation of Pu and minor actinides; ready for prototype
demonstration (small scale testing at JRC-ITU)
• Advanced dry reprocessing
– Previous experience with EBR metal fuel (Idaho); R&D in
several countries; small prototype in Japanese-European cooperation at JRC-ITU
• Challenge for new fuel to be developed for GFR: highly
refractive/ leak-tight yet dissolvable
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Very-High-Temperature Reactor (VHTR)
Characteristics
• Helium coolant
• 900-950°C outlet temp
• Water-cracking cycle
Benefits
• Hydrogen production
• High degree of passive
safety
• High thermal efficiency
• Process heat
• Preliminary design by 2011; prototype before 2020,
applications
dependending on available funding
• In Europe: focus on heat applications rather than electricity and H2
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SCWR R&D Highlights
• Target date to complete essential R&D: 2015 (establish viability)
• Prototype (30-150 MWe) by 2020
• Pressure-vessel & pressure-tube designs will be developed in
parallel with a decision on core type made by country/organization
supporting construction of POAK
• Includes a section showing proposed contributions from member
countries to specific R&D tasks
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GIF Resources on the web
• Basic information on GIF is available on:
http://www.gen-4.org/
• More detailed information to support Euratom contribution to
GIF is available to suscribers to the “Circa Group” managed by
DG Joint Research Centre (access on demand)
http://forum.europa.eu.int/Members/irc/jrc/euratom_
co_ordination_on_gif_issues/home
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