A Technology Roadmap for Generation IV Nuclear Energy Systems

The technology roadmap defines and plans the necessary research and development (R&D) to support the next generation of innovative nuclear energy systems known as Generation IV. The roadmap represents a concerted international effort of ten countries; Argentina, Brazil, Canada, France, Japan, Republic of Korea, South Africa, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, the United States, in addition to, the International Atomic Energy Agency and the OECD Nuclear Energy Agency.

In 2001, over 100 experts from these countries and international organisations began work on defining the goals for new systems, identifying many promising concepts, evaluating them, and defining the R&D needed for the most promising systems*. By the end of 2002, the work resulted in a description of the six most promising systems  and their associated R&D needs. The six systems feature increased safety, improved economics for electricity production and new products such as hydrogen for transportation applications, reduced nuclear wastes for disposal, and increased proliferation resistance. Download the Technology Roadmap (2002) pdf icon  

In 2009, the Experts Group published the Generation IV R&D Outlook, to provide a view of what GIF members hope to achieve collectively in the period 2010-2014. Download the GIF R&D Outlook pdf icon  

As part of the GIF Strategic Planning activity launched in 2012, the Technology Roadmap has been updated under the coordination of a dedicated Task Force. The updated Roadmap takes into account plans to accelerate the development of some technologies by deploying prototypes or demonstrators within the next decade. The report is the result of discussions between the Task Force, the Experts Group and the different Systems Steering Committees. Download the Technology Roadmap Update (2013) pdf icon

 

* See http://energy.gov/ne/downloads/observations-technology-roadmap-generation-iv-nuclear-energy-systems for more information.