Sodium Fast Reactors GIF System Steering Committee
The Sodium Fast Reactor System Steering Committee (SFR SSC) was formed following the signing of the SFR System Arrangement in 2006. Currently, eight members of the Generation IV International Forum (GIF) are engaged in the activities of the SFR SSC. This committee supervises five projects encompassing a wide array of subjects pertaining to Sodium Fast Reactors. Until recently, the SFR System was the sole system with commercially operating reactors globally. However, the VHTR system has now entered this group with the HTR-PM commencing commercial operations in 2023.
Activities and Membership of the Sodium Fast Reactors GIF System Steering Committee
GIF SFR SSC gathers eight GIF Members. It oversees five R&D cooperation projects. It is to be noted that it is under the SFR System that the first GIF Project Arrangement was signed in 2007 on Advanced Fuel for the SFR System.
SFR Projects
| Project Arrangement | Project Description | Effective Date | SIGNATORIES
(GIF Member) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Advanced Fuel (AF) - Expired | Fuel-related research aims towards developing high burnup minor-actinide (neptunium, americium, curium) bearing fuels as well as claddings and wrappers capable of withstanding high neutron doses and temperatures. It includes research on remote fuel fabrication techniques for fuels that contain minor actinides and possibly traces of fission products, as well as performance under irradiation of fuels, claddings and wrappers. | 2007 | JRC (EU) |
| System Integration and Assessment (SIA) | The objectives of the SIA project are to: review and integrate the Generation-IV R&D results from a system design perspective in order to help define and refine requirements for the overall SFR concept R&D; review and integrate results from the R&D projects in order to ensure consistency; and periodically assess the system options and design tracks for conformance with the GIF technology goals and other SFR-specific requirements. | 2015 | CIAE (CN) |
| Global Actinide Cycle International Demonstration (GACID) - Expired | Collaborative R&D activities have been initiated with the objective of demonstrating, on a significant scale, that fast reactors can indeed manage the actinide inventory to satisfy the Generation IV criteria of safety, economy, sustainability, proliferation resistance and physical protection. The project consists of: MA-bearing test-fuel fabrication, material properties measurements, irradiation behaviour modelling, and pinscale irradiations in Joyo; licensing and fuel assembly irradiation tests in Monju; and post-irradiation examination, as well as transportation of MA raw materials and MA-bearing test fuels. | 2007 | CEA (FR) |
| Component Design and Balance-of-plant (CD&BOP) - Extended | Research on component design and balance of plant has the objective of enhancing SFR system performance in order to reduce the capital cost per unit electrical power and the cost of electricity generation. Primary research and development activities include work on: advanced components and technologies to enhance the economic competitiveness of the plant, development of advanced in-service inspection instrumentation and repair methods using different approaches and technologies. | 2007 | CEA (FR) |
| Safety & Operation (SO) | In the field of safety, experiments and analytical model developments are being performed to address both passive safety and severe accident prevention and mitigation. Options for safety system architecture are also being investigated. This R&D covers reactor operation, inspection, maintenance and technology testing campaigns in existing SFRs. | 2009 | CIAE (CN) |
If you want to learn more about the Sodium Fast Reactor technology head to the SFR System description page. If you want to learn more about the latest outcomes and international efforts carried out under the GIF SFR SSC please refer to the latest GIF Annual Report.