HTGR locked in for U.K. demonstration project

Context: In July, the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy issued a “call for evidence,” seeking views on the Nuclear Innovation and Research Office’s (NIRO) Advanced Modular Reactors Technical Assessment, which concluded that the HTGR (including the very-high-temperature gas reactor) had the greatest potential to support the nation’s net-zero pledge. (Other advanced modular reactor technologies reviewed in the assessment included the sodium-cooled fast reactor, supercritical water-cooled reactor, gas-cooled fast reactor, lead-cooled fast reactor, and molten salt reactor.)

Sixty responses to the call were received, with 38 in favor of the government’s selection, 16 opposed, and six neither for nor against.

In its assessment, NIRO provided the following reasons for its choice:

• HTGRs have a high technology readiness level.
• With output temperatures of 700°C–950°C, HTGRs provide for greater versatility in the applications they could potentially support.
• HTGRs can be considered as evolutions of advanced gas reactors (AGRs), a technology in which the United Kingdom has significant experience, and many of the safety characteristics of HTGR design concepts, including passive safety, are broadly proven.
• As with existing nuclear plants in the United Kingdom, HTGRs operate with an open fuel cycle and therefore present no significant issues for security or additional costs associated with closed fuel cycle infrastructure.
• The United Kingdom’s historical experience with Magnox reactors and AGRs could provide an advantage for the development and fleet roll-out of HTGRs in terms of transferable skills and supply chain capability, potential for the development of U.K. intellectual property, and potential for international partnerships, which could further reduce cost and risk to the Advanced Modular Reactor Demonstration Program.