Introduction to Feasibility Evaluation for Supercritical Water-Cooled Reactor Development in Korea

The supercritical water-cooled reactor (SCWR) is selected by Generation IV International Forum (GIF) as one of the six Gen IV reactor types. However, the level of Korean participation is still limited to several key areas and the decision-making on whether going into full-scale research is yet to be made. In these circumstances it has been decided to launch a feasibility study in 2007 to identify the required research areas and assess the domestic capability and resources as well as economics for development of an SCWR. This paper introduces a preliminary status of feasibility evaluation for an SCWR development in Korea. Specially, evaluation item derivation and criteria selection, technology tree development, and optimal capacity review are described. These subjects are a portion of 'Feasibility study for an SCWR' but they will be key factors to identify the most optimum way of an SCWR R and D strategy in future