Summary of GIF organization to develop the next-generation reactors

1. What is the Generation IV International Forum?

• The Generation IV International Forum (GIF) is an international framework established in July 2001 to promote the R&D of Generation IV (Gen IV) nuclear energy systems that meet the goals described in Section 2 though multilateral collaborations.
• Current member countries as of March 2020 are 13 countries and 1 organization—Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Japan, China, Korea, South Africa, Russia, Switzerland, United Kingdom, the United States, and EURATOM.

2. What are the Generation IV nuclear energy systems?

• Gen IV nuclear energy systems are next-generation reactor concepts being developed following the first generation, which are early protocol models, the second, the existing light water reactors (LWRs), and the third, improved LWRs such as ABWR, AP1000, EPR and SMR (Fig. 1).
• GIF selected the six systems in 2002. (Fig. 2) and promoting them as innovative systems that meet the following goals.

• Sustainability
• • Efficient use of fuel
  • Minimum waste and its management
• Safety and reliability
• • Safe, reliable operation
  • Very low likelihood of core damage and minimal degree of the damage
  • No need to have off-site emergency response
• Economy
• • Lifecycle cost superior to other energy sources
  • Financial risk comparable to other energy projects
• Proliferation resistance and physical protection
• • Unattractive to terrorists because of its difficult accessibility (hard to be stolen and diverted to weapons)
  • Terrorism resistant

Frequently Asked Questions about Gen IV Reactor Design
Benefits and Challenges in Gen IV Reactor

Figure 1 The generations of nuclear energy systems

Figure 2 The six reactor technologies selected as Gen IV nuclear energy systems

3. Development schedules

• Schedules of the six systems development, according to the GIF Technology Roadmap (updated in January 2014, Fig. 3)
  
  
  • (1) Viability phase
    　　Experimental/analytical feasibility studies on basic concept, fundamental technical trials
  • (2) Performance phase
    　　Performance studies to verify assumed phenomena and engineering systems to keep functional integrity
  • (3) Demonstration phase
    　　Demonstration activities of detailed design, compatibility against regulation, construction, and operation
  • GIF member countries practice collaborative R&D until their designs enter demonstration phases.
  
  When will Gen IV reactors be built? (FAQ)

Figure 3 Development prospect and phases

4. History of GIF

Table 1 Member countries signed into the FA (as of January 2020)

5. Governance structure (Table 2 and Fig. 4)

• Policy Group (PG) manages GIF' overall activities and operation including finance. Japan, the U.S., France, Korea and Canada serve the Chair or Vice Chairs and lead the member countries.
• Expert Group (EG) provides technical advice and counsel to PG.
• System Steering Committee (SSC), formed under each of the six systems, plans and monitors R&D of each of the systems.
• Project Management Board (PMB), formed under each of the six systems, plans R&D of each of the systems.
• Methodology Working Group (MWG) examines and promotes the development of cross-cutting evaluation methodologies on economic modeling, proliferation resistance and protection, risk and safety, education and training, and Advanced Manufacturing and Material Engineering.
• Policy Secretariat (PS) assists PG and EG, and Technical Secretariat assists SSC, PMB, and MWG.
• Senior Industry Advisory Panel (SIAP) reviews Gen IV system developments and/or advises development directions from industrial point of views.
• Task Force (TF), formed for a limited time, addresses issues on the basis of PG’s discussions. There is currently Non-Electric Applications of Nuclear Heat (NEaNH).

Figure 4 Governance Structure

Table 2 Functions of the groups

6. Cooperative activities with other organizations

• GIF has strong cooperative activities with IAEA, OECD/NEA and CEM NICE Future(Table 3 and Fig. 5). GIF shares information of open events/webinars/publications with GIF partners to understand/offer the emerging opportunities.
  GIF keeps holding open symposiums, workshops and communicates with stakeholders. Not only publishing technical documents but also sharing the stances to develop the advanced reactors with stakeholders.

Table 3 Cooperative activities with other organizations

*Click on the figure to open the pptx file.

Figure 5 GIF and GIF Partners (including a potential partners)