SUMMARY OF GAS-COOLED REACTOR PROGRAMS

This report has been compiled by Gas-Cooled Reactor Associates (GCRA) as a central source of summary-level information on the present status of High-Temperature Gas-Cooled Reactor (HTGR) programs in the world and on future plans for the continued development and deployment of HTGRs. Most of the information concerns the programs in the United States, the Federal Republic of Germany, Japan, and the Soviet Union; countries that have had large programs related to HTGR technology for several years. Summary-level information is also provided in the report on the nature of the HTGR-related efforts in several other countries who either have an increasing interest in the technology and/or who are performing some development effort related to HTGR technology. Similarly, the report contains an summary-level update on the MAGNOX and AGR reactor programs, in recognition that these gas-cooled reactors were predecessors of the HTGR and have provided some of the bases from which the HTGR has evolved. Most of the new information for this report was gathered from material presented at the Eleventh International Conference on the HTGR held in Dimitrovgrad, USSR on June 19-20, 1989, the subsequent International Atomic Energy Agency Technical Committee Meeting on Gas-Cooled Reactor Technology, Safety and Siting held at the same site on June 21-23, 1989, and from several correspondents closely connected on a regular basis with the activities discussed.