4th GIF Symposium 2018

The Generation IV International Forum has fourteen members that are signatories of its founding document, the GIF Charter. The goals adopted by GIF provided the basis for identifying and selecting six nuclear energy systems for further development. The selected systems are based on a variety of reactor, energy conversion and fuel cycle technologies. Their designs include thermal and fast neutron spectra cores, as well as closed and open fuel cycles. The reactors range in size from very small to very large. Depending on their respective degree of technical maturity, the first GEN IV systems are expected to be deployed commercially around 2030-2040.

This Symposium led to Proceedings which served as the 2018 GIF Annual Report.

The GIF Symposia are public scientific events aimed at disseminating the results of international collaborative research performed within the framework of the Forum. The first GIF Symposium was held in Paris, France in 2009, the second in San Diego, United States in 2012 and the third in Chiba, Japan in 2015.

The Fourth GIF Symposium is embedded in the Atoms for the Future Conference and designed to inform and educate audiences beyond the GIF community. Its objective is to report the achievements of the Forum in developing nuclear energy systems that are aligned with today’s global sustainable development goals. In particular, the Fourth GIF Symposium will outline a credible GIF path towards achieving the goals of the updated GIF R&D Roadmap leading to demonstration and deployment of innovative nuclear energy systems that would establish nuclear energy as a valuable part of the global, long-term sustainable carbon-free energy mix.

The symposium has two major objectives:

• to review the progress achieved for each system against the R&D goals of the 2014 Technology Roadmap Update,
• to identify the remaining challenges and associated R&D goals for the next decade necessary for the demonstration and/or deployment of the Gen IV systems, and the goal of establishing nuclear energy as a necessary element in the world’s long-term sustainable carbon-free energy mix.

Target Audience

MSc and PhD students, young professionals, policy makers and nuclear stakeholders. The following topics will be addressed:

• The current development status of the six Gen IV reactor systems.
• The enhanced safety, security and safeguard capabilities inherent in Gen IV reactor systems.
• Mechanisms for accelerating advanced reactor deployment.
• Economic considerations affecting investment in Gen IV reactor systems.

The 4th GIF Symposium 2018 was held at UIC-P Espaces Congrès, Paris, France on 16-17 October 2018. The full Symposium Programme is available for download at the bottom of this page.

PLENARY SESSIONS