ALLEGRO gas cooled fast reactor demonstrator and SafeG H2020/Euratom project

ALLEGRO is the experimental and demonstration project of gas-cooled fast spectrum reactor technology (GFR) being developed by the Visegrad 4 for Generation 4 (V4G4) Centre of Excellence (CoE). NCBJ participates in its development from the beginning of CoE, when the concept was transferred from CEA to V4G4 partners. Tasks undertaken by researchers at the Division of Nuclear Energy and Environmental Studies (UZ3) are mainly focused on the assessment and demonstration of safety, but also on the optimisation of the core design and cooling systems.

Last year the proposal of a new R&D project in the frame of Horizon 2020/Euratom was accepted by EC and get financing. The SafeG project started in September 2020. NCBJ is engaged in tasks related to the application of special materials (performed by Material Research Lab – LBM) and tasks related to optimisation of core design and optimisation or redesign of the cooling system, especially in order to fulfil all the safety requirements (tasks performed by UZ3).

I will briefly recall the main features of the ALLEGRO reactor, and highlight the goals of the project, in particular focusing on tasks related to thermal-hydraulics and neutronics.