TECHICAL WORKING GROUP ON GAS COOLED REACRORS
The TWG-GCR provides feedback and advice to the Agency on its gas-cooled reactor activities conducted within the Department of Nuclear Energy. It also provides an effective forum for information exchange and cooperation among interested Member States on the various aspects of High-Temperature Gas-cooled Reactor (HTGR) technology development.
Achievements since January 2003:
Advice on, and review of, Agency activities:
Ongoing Agency activities have been reviewed and advice provided for the Agency’s 2006-7 Programme (Ref: 18th meeting – Turkey - June 2003).
Information exchange:
- National and international programmes related to HTGR development have been discussed.
- Topical sessions on HTGR design calculation methods, simulation as well as fuel and graphite issues have been held.
- Topical sessions on HTGR safety guidelines and emerging design options are scheduled during the planned workshop on HTGR safety demonstration and market potential, scheduled in China (Sep. 2004)
- Consultancy on HTGR graphite issues, scheduled in UK (Jan. 2005).
- The online HTGR website has been periodically updated and a kernel for an online knowledge base updated. The website continues to register a high level of monthly hits and downloads (> 45,000 hits for the month of June 2004)
Cooperative Research:
- 1 research coordination meeting and 2 consultancies have been held for CRP on “Advances in HTGR coated fuel particle technology”.
- A fifth research coordination meeting is scheduled for CRP on “HTGR performance evaluation”.
Education:
- Workshop on “Status of HTGR technology” was hosted by ICTP in Italy (July 2003).
- Workshop on “Safety demonstration and market potential of HTGRs” is scheduled in China (Sep. 2004).
Cooperation in non-Agency Meetings:
- Cooperated with OECD-NEA on high-temperature engineering meeting in Japan (Sep. 2003)
- Cooperating with the EU HTR-Network on the international conference on High-Temperature Reactors, scheduled in China (Sep. 2004)
Problems:
Long time between successive TWG meetings (18 months)
Recommendations (18th meeting):
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The TWG recommends that the Agency organize a Technical Meeting on emerging HTGR plants and applications.
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The TWG supports holding a fifth Research Coordination Meeting (RCM) for the CRP on HTGR performance evaluation (CRP-5), provided enough new benchmarks are made available by participants.
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The TWG underlines the importance of issuing safety guidelines specifically addressing gas-cooled reactors where current provisions have no reference to them.
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The TWG supports knowledge preservation in the area of HTGR technology.
MEMBER STATES
- China
- France
- Germany
- Indonesia
- Japan
- Netherlands
- Russian Federation
- South Africa
- Turkey
- UK
- USA
Next Meeting:
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2005: 19th Meeting (VIC, Vienna - Jan. 17-19, 2005)
Previous Meeting:
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2003: 18th Meeting (Istanbul, Turkey - June 16-18, 2003)
