[en] The AVR agreement was established in February 1959 by sixteen public utility companies. The objective of this association was to gain experience in the construction, operation, and especially the science, technique, and economics of the high temperature reactor (HTR). In August 1959, the company Brown, Boveri/Krupp was commissioned to construct the reactor. In 1961 construction started in Jülich; in August 1966 the core reached its first criticality, and on December 17, 1967 the electrical power generation commenced. This report contains a description of the plant, an evaluation of the AVR concept, ada description of the main components of the plant. In addition, the aspects of radiation protection and reactor operation from the utility view point is discussed