History
Progress of a new development!
- AVR reactor 1970
The history of the gas-cooled reactor begins in 1953 with the British "Calder Hall†nuclear power plant which was ordered to be built by the then British Prime Minister, Winston Churchill. This was a gas-cooled reactor with a large-volume core using metallic natural uranium with a magnesium alloy (Magnox) as a nuclear fuel; carbon dioxide (CO2) was used as the coolant.
- Drawing of section through the reactor
To increase the cost effectiveness however, a reactor with a smaller core, higher burn-up and a higher steam temperature was needed. The British answer to this was the "Advanced Gas-cooled Reactor“ (AGR) with enriched, mineral fuel elements and stainless steel cladding, likewise using CO2 for cooling.
Using the chemically inert gas helium as a refrigerant and avoiding the use of any metals in the core make it possible to achieve even higher temperatures in an HTR. The refrigerant gas temperatures achieved by this are indeed so high (on average up to 950 ° C) that besides using the heat for electricity generation (the conventional part, such as exists in any combustion power plant) that a broad field of further uses for the heat from the process is created.
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