The creator of the AVR

In the 1950s, Prof. Dr. Schulten had been involved in the original development work on a helium-cooled, graphite-moderated reactor. What was needed was a new type of nuclear fuel elements which would fulfill the mechanical demands made on them, as well as those made by high temperatures of up to 1 000 ºC. From this was born the pellet-shaped fuel element, in which the fuel is enclosed by layers of pyrolitic carbon and silicon carbide.