25 Nov (NucNet): Without further government investment the UK will be left behind when it comes to Generation IV nuclear technology research and other nations will partner China to develop new systems and reactors, a charity advocating next generation nuclear energy has said.
The London-based Alvin Weinberg Foundation said there is increasing collaboration between the China and the US on advanced nuclear fission research.
The two superpowers have been jointly developing the molten salt-cooled reactor known as the fluoride-salt-cooled high temperature reactor (FHR) since 2011. The Australian government’s Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation has teamed up with China to contribute materials expertise to the molten salt reactor programme.
The UK should also be looking east for joint nuclear R&D opportunities, which could include molten salts work with China, the Foundation said. “As it stands, however, the UK is missing out, while China and its partners storm ahead and position themselves to corner the global market in advanced nuclear fission technologies.”
The Foundation said in the space of just over 20 years, China has transformed from a country with no commercial nuclear reactors, to one of the world’s leading nuclear nations. There are now 23 reactor units in China, with a further 26 being built and more slated for future construction.
“China is pursuing the world’s most comprehensive and ambitious portfolio of Generation IV and advanced reactor R&D work,” the Foundation said.
China leads the world on molten salt reactor (MSR) R&D, with both a molten salt-cooled pebble-bed reactor, and a molten salt-cooled and fuelled reactor in the pipeline. Earlier this year the Chinese government brought forward the completion date of the MSR programme to 2024, the Foundation said.
China is also developing a sodium-cooled fast reactor (SFR), a supercritical water-cooled reactor (SWCR) and a high temperature, gas-cooled reactor (HTGR).
China’s “impressive” Generation IV R&D portfolio provides “a sharp contrast” to the nuclear R&D situation in the UK. Since the closure of Dounreay in 1994, the UK has not had an advanced nuclear fission programme.
But this could change if a January 2015 report by the Nuclear Innovation and Research Advisory Board’s (Nirab), established to provide advice to the government on nuclear R&D, recommends investment in Generation IV R&D, the Foundation said. “We’re hopeful that Nirab’s report will be bold and ambitious, and that government will be receptive to any suggestions made.”
