Page 187 - Managing Global Warming

150 Managing Global Warming

These goals guide the cooperative R&D efforts undertaken by GIF members. The
challenges raised by GIF goals are intended to stimulate innovative R&D covering
all technological aspects related to design and implementation of reactors, energy-
conversion systems, and fuel-cycle facilities.
In light of the ambitious nature of the goals involved, international cooperation is
considered essential for a timely progress in the development of Generation IV sys-
tems. This cooperation makes it possible to pursue multiple systems and technical
options concurrently and to avoid any premature down selection due to the lack of
adequate resources at the national level.

4.3.4 Selection of Generation IV systems

For more than a decade, GIF has led international collaborative efforts to develop
next-generation nuclear energy systems that can help meet the world’s future energy
needs. Generation IV designs will use nuclear fuel more efficiently, reduce wastes
production, be economically competitive, and meet stringent standards of safety
and proliferation resistance.
With these goals in mind, some 100 experts evaluated 130 reactor concepts before
GIF selected six reactor technologies for further R&D. These reactor technologies
include: (1) Gas-cooled fast reactor (GFR), (2) lead-cooled fast reactor (LFR),
(3) molten-salt reactor (MSR), (4) supercritical water-cooled reactor (SCWR), (5)
sodium-cooled fast reactor (SFR), and (6) very-high-temperature reactor (VHTR).
The latest information on the status of GIF-system arrangements and memoranda
of understanding is shown in Fig. 4.28, and system development timelines as defined
in the original Roadmap in 2002 and in the 2013 update—in Fig. 4.29.
The goals adopted by GIF provided the basis for identifying and selecting six
nuclear energy systems for further development. The selected systems rely on a vari-
ety of reactor, energy-conversion, and fuel-cycle technologies. Their designs feature
thermal- and fast-neutron spectra, closed and open fuel cycles as well as a wide range
of reactor sizes from very small to very large. Depending on their respective degrees

CA CN EU FR JP KR RU CH US ZA
System
SFR ¸ ¸ ¸ ¸ ¸ ¸ ¸
VHTR ¸ ¸ ¸ ¸ ¸ ¸ ¸
SCWR ¸ ¸ ¸ ¸
GFR ¸ ¸ ¸ ¸
LFR P P P
MSR P P P
¸=Signatory to the system arrangement; P=signatory to the memorandum of understanding; Argentina,
Brazil, and the United Kingdom are inactive.

Fig. 4.28 Status of the GIF system arrangements and memoranda of understanding (as of
January 1, 2014). Correction to the Figure: Also, China has signed the SCWR System
Arrangement in May of 2014. On June 22 of 2016, Australia signed the Charter, thus becoming
the 14th member.
Courtesy of Generation IV International Forum.