Possible new developments based on HTGR technology and operating experience

The completely ceramic fuel elements used in high-temperature gas-cooled reactors (HTGR) can withstand very high temperatures without releasing fission products. They can be arranged in low-power density reactor core configurations which, solely by physical processes, limit both the rate of increase in temperature and the maximum temperature reached during the removal of decay heat. These basic characteristics, verified by an extensive development programme and operating experiences of HTGRs, enable an entirely new safety concept: one in which the fuel element itself becomes the containment, capable of retaining fission products during even the most severe hypothetical accidents. Utilization of this new safety concept permits the design of simpler power plants that exclude major damage, are easier to understand, can be built, at least for the major part, by developing countries, and can be operated and maintained with confidence by them