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Current and future nuclear power reactors and plants 151

GIF roadmap 2002 GIF roadmap 2013
VHTR VHTR
SFR SFR
SCWR SCWR
MSR MSR
LFR LFR
GFR GFR
2000 2005 2010 2015 2020 2025 2000 2005 2010 2015 2020 2025 2030
Viability Performance Demonstration Viability Performance Demonstration
Fig. 4.29 System development timelines as defined in the original Roadmap in 2002 and in the
2013 update.
Courtesy of Generation IV International Forum.

of technical maturity, the Generation IV systems are expected to become available for
commercial introduction in the period around 2030 or beyond. The path from current
nuclear systems to Generation IV systems is described in a 2002 roadmap report enti-
tled “A Technology Roadmap for Generation IV nuclear energy systems,” which is
currently being updated.
All Generation IV systems aim at performance improvement, new applications of
nuclear energy, and/or more sustainable approaches to the management of nuclear
materials. High-temperature systems offer the possibility of efficient process heat
applications and eventually hydrogen production. Enhanced sustainability is achieved
primarily through the adoption of a closed fuel cycle including the reprocessing and
recycling of plutonium, uranium, and minor actinides in fast reactors and, also,
through high thermal efficiency. This approach provides a significant reduction in
waste generation and uranium-resource requirements. Table 4.10 summarizes the
main characteristics of the six Generation IV systems.
On the GIF website (https://www.gen-4.org/gif/jcms/c_9260/public), the sequence
of referencing six nuclear reactor concepts is based on alphabetical order, but in this
chapter other sequences are used (see Figs. 4.28 and 4.29). Also, it was decided to list
them according to the type of reactor coolant, i.e., first two reactors (VHTR and
GFR)—helium cooled; next two concepts (SFR and LFR)—liquid-metal cooled; next
one concept (MSR)—molten-salt cooled; and the last concept (SCWR)—supercriti-
cal-water cooled (see Table 4.10).

4.3.5 Six Generation IV nuclear energy systems
4.3.5.1 Very-high-temperature reactor

The very-high-temperature reactor (VHTR) (see Fig. 4.30) is a further step in the evo-
lutionary development of high-temperature reactors (HTRs). The VHTR is a helium-
gas-cooled, graphite-moderated, thermal-neutron-spectrum reactor with a core outlet