Back المفاعلات النووية الجيل الرابع Arabic Reactor de IV generació Catalan Reactor nuclear de IV generación Spanish رآکتور نسل ۴ Persian Nuklearni reaktori IV. generacije Croatian Reattore nucleare di IV generazione Italian 第4世代原子炉 Japanese 4세대 원자로 Korean Vierde generatie kernreactoren Dutch Reaktory jądrowe IV generacji Polish

Generation IV reactor

Generation IV (Gen IV) reactors are nuclear reactor design technologies that are envisioned as successors of generation III reactors. The Generation IV International Forum (GIF) – an international organization that coordinates the development of generation IV reactors – specifically selected six reactor technologies as candidates for generation IV reactors.[1][2] The designs target improved safety, sustainability, efficiency, and cost. The World Nuclear Association in 2015 suggested that some might enter commercial operation before 2030.[3]

No precise definition of a Generation IV reactor exists. The term refers to nuclear reactor technologies under development as of approximately 2000, and whose designs were intended to represent 'the future shape of nuclear energy', at least at that time.[4] The six designs selected were: the gas-cooled fast reactor (GFR), the lead-cooled fast reactor (LFR), the molten salt reactor (MSR), the sodium-cooled fast reactor (SFR), the supercritical-water-cooled reactor (SCWR) and the very high-temperature reactor (VHTR). [1][2]

The majority of reactors in operation around the world are considered second generation and third generation reactor systems, as the majority of the first generation systems have been retired. Since 2021, China is the first country to operate a demonstration generation-IV reactor, the HTR-PM in Shandong province,[5][6] of the pebble-bed type. (Meanwhile, Generation V reactors are purely theoretical and are not yet considered feasible.) According to Chinese state media, China began commercial operations on the HTR-PM in December 2023, which would make it the world's first Gen IV reactor to enter commercial operation.[7][8][9]

The sodium fast reactor has received the greatest share of funding that supports demonstration facilities. Moir and Teller consider the molten-salt reactor, a less developed technology, as potentially having the greatest inherent safety of the six models.[10][11]

The very-high-temperature reactor designs operate at much higher temperatures than prior generations. This allows for high temperature electrolysis or for sulfur–iodine cycle for the efficient production of hydrogen and the synthesis of carbon-neutral fuels.[2]

  1. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference gif-welcome was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ a b c Cite error: The named reference Locatelli was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference gen-iv_wna-2020 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ "Generation IV Nuclear Reactors: WNA - World Nuclear Association". world-nuclear.org.
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference HTR-PM-1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference HTR-PM-2 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Howe, Colleen (December 6, 2023). "China starts up world's first fourth-generation nuclear reactor". Reuters.
  8. ^ "China's demonstration HTR-PM enters commercial operation". World Nuclear News. December 6, 2023.
  9. ^ "The world's first HTR-PM starts commercial operation". en.cnnc.com.cn. Retrieved 2023-12-11.
  10. ^ Moir, Ralph; Teller, Edward (2005). "Thorium-Fueled Underground Power Plant Based on Molten Salt Technology". Nuclear Technology. 151 (3): 334–340. Bibcode:2005NucTe.151..334M. doi:10.13182/NT05-A3655. S2CID 36982574. Retrieved March 22, 2012.
  11. ^ De Clercq, Geert (October 13, 2014). "Can Sodium Save Nuclear Power?". Scientific American.

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