Objective
Specific Objectives
- To support the build-up of European Networking on High Temperature Gas Reactors;
- To support the development of HTR fuel with irradiations in HFR
- To support the development of HTR material knowledge;
- To support any training and to increase international collaborations;
- To give visibility and consistency to the European action on HTR;
- To support enlargement actions and transfert;
- To prepare FP6 actions.
Additionally the project supports the execution and co-ordination of related Shared Cost Action projects in FP5 . This cumulative work will lead to a the establishment of a competent group which is able to voice a credible European position at world level, and which will embark in international collaborations through appropriate co-operation agreements. It allows also preparing the European position in FP6 for HTR matters with consistency and continuity, with the works already made in FP5.
Planned Deliverables
Specific deliverables to DGs:
- The project will maintain a European platform for further development of the HTR concept. The specific deliverables to DG RTD are included in the Thematic Network and SCAs. The global volume of these SCAs in the FP5 is about 17ME.
As a result of the research:
Two fuel test devices will be available end 2002. One will be funded through the SCA HTR-F and the other through this project. One will test pebbles fuel (fuel of German type used in the South African and in the Chinese project) and the other will be used for compact tests (fuel of USA type used in the Japanese reactor and in the GT-MHR studies). With these two loops, HFR will reach a very strong international position in the field of HTR fuel tests in
2002.
Other deliverables are described in the table below.
Summary of 2001 Deliverables: 31/12/2001
- HTR-TN network deliverables: Minutes, newsletter, agreement;
- HTR-TN web site;
- Symposium dedicated to fuel technology (Feb. 1-2, 2001, Brussels).Organisation and proceedings;
- Newspaper articles, participation to conferences and publications;
- International agreements with China and USA
- Engineering of the two loops for fuel test on HFR.
Output Indicators and Impact
Objectives
Output indicators
(Specific actions taken)
Impact (long term results)
To support the build-up of European networking on High Temperature Gas Reactors
- Number of co-normative and pre-normative research projects;
- Number of meetings related to HTR-TN (Steering Committees, Task Groups, Spin-off actions);
- Retrieval of past European knowledge on HTR ,with related data base;
- Establishment of efficiency and economy of HTR in comparison with other innovative reactor concepts.
To support the development of HTR fuel with irradiations in HFR Petten
- results of irradiations performed
Give back to European industry the knowledge on HTR fuel behaviour with a comparison of the four existing types of HTR fuel in the world. Allow in the future the comparison with a "European HTR fuel"
To support any training and to increase the international collaborations. (China, USA, Russia, Japan)
- HTR 2002 Conference
- EUROCOURSE organised by HTR-TN on HTR technology in September 2002;
- Number of international collaboration agreement signed and quantification of results obtained;
- Participation to international workshop as generation4, INPRO ,ISTC.
- Give to European industry access to prototype reactors and results ,not available in Europe
- Training of new generation nuclear scientists and technicians
To give visibility and consistency to the European actions on HTR
- Number of participations and articles in international conferences.
- Number of articles in newspapers
- Database availability
- Road map of HTR-TN strategy
- Status of communication tools (website, newsletter)
- HTR 2002 and following
E C becomes a visible actor in the definition of new reactors with a grip on the annual world event on HTR, with the responsibility of cooperation agreements with all other countries, with a participation to new licence definition, with the responsibility of the data base on the subject.
To support the development of HTR material knowledge
- Test results
- Database volume
- Validation of European industry choice in classical part of the plant (turbines) and in nuclear part (vessel material)
To support the Enlargement action
- Representation of these countries in the steering committee
- Volume of participation in the next FP6 propositions
- Integration of CCs into the European Research Area.
Summary of the project
A network of 18 European organisations has been created to develop at European level the technology for the next generation High Temperature Reactors: HTR-TN.
This institutional project supports the following activities:
1) It provides the platform for the management of the network;
2)It allows specific scientific and safety-related research utilising HFR and its irradiation possibilities;
3)It is a platform for defining technical needs, new projects and other externally funded activities.
Rationale
The High Temperature Reactor has numerous potential advantages for the next generation nuclear power plant: in terms of non-proliferation
(possibility to burn Pu), of inherent safety, of modularity, and of use outside the nuclear field.
Due to these potential advantages, several countries have started research and development work on this concept: USA and Russia in the GT-MHR project, Japan with a prototype operating since 2 years, South-Africa with one under construction, and China with another prototype in operation since one year.
There are isolated, related competencies in Europe, but no national projects. Thus the HTR-TN has been created to pool the competencies at European level in order to maintain and develop the technology around the HTR and to allow to European industry to remain present in this field. In the longer term a design for a prototype could be proposed.
Fields of science
Call for proposal
Data not availableFunding Scheme
JRC - Joint Research Centre researchCoordinator
Petten
Netherlands