System Steering Committees
The work of GIF on each of the six Gen-IV systems is governed by Systems Arrangements (SAs) or Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) that establish respectively System Steering Committees (SSCs) and provisional SSCs (pSSCs).
The SSCs report directly to the GIF Policy Group (PG), are in close communication with the Experts Group (EG) and are supported by the GIF Technical Secretariat (TS). They also provide input and can require support from Methodology Working Groups that look into cross cutting topics. Each SSC oversees several projects.
GIF has currently four SSCs and two pSSCs covering all the Gen-IV Systems.
System Arrangements and Memoranda of Understanding
The GIF has established System Steering Committees (SSCs) to implement the research and development (R&D) for each Generation IV Reactor Concept, with participation from GIF Members interested in contributing to collaborative R&D. Each System Steering Committee plans and integrates R&D projects contributing to the development of a system. The participants in System Committees and in projects, sign agreements governing intellectual property rights and other matters in order to work co-operatively on the concepts. The GIF Charter and the Framework Agreement allow for the participation of organizations from non-GIF countries on all research projects, but not on Systems Steering Committees.
The current System Arrangements in place are set out in the table below. Four System Arrangements have been signed (GFR, SCWR, SFR and VHTR) while for the last two systems LFR and MSR, Memoranda of Understanding have been signed to allow for collaboration until System Arrangements are put in place if participating countries decide to deepen the R&D cooperation on those systems.
To learn more about the R&D activities of each (p)SSC please follow these links:
- Gas Cooled Fast Reactors (GFR) SSC
- Lead Cooled Fast Reactors (LFR) pSSC
- Molten Salt Reactors (MSR) pSSC
- Sodium Fast Reactors (SFR) SSC
- Super Critical Water Reactors (SCWR) SSC
- Very High Temperature Reactors (VHTR) SSC
Under each SSC, members carry Projects, that are managed by a Project Management Board (PMB) and governed by a Project Arrangement. A Project agreement sets out a detailed plan for research and development activities in the area of the project and details the schedule, funding and deliverables expected to achieve this.
