ALLEGRO

Three Central European members of the European Union, the Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovak Republic are traditionally prominent users of nuclear energy. They intend to use nuclear energy on the long run and beside the lifetime extension of their nuclear units, each country decided to build new units in the coming years. In addition, Poland is considering the construction of High Temperature Reactors. Sustainability of nuclear energy production is a vital interest of the Visegrad 4 region.

Fast reactors are especially important from the point of view of sustainability of nuclear energy since they represent the main tool for closing the fuel cycle. Closing the fuel cycle has a double purpose: to reduce the amount of high level radioactive waste and at the same time saving natural resources by generating fissile materials to be used in nuclear power plants. The Gas cooled Fast Reactor (GFR) has a potential to deliver high temperature heat for industrial processes and is considered as an alternative reactor type to the Sodium cooled Fast Reactor (SFR). The European prototype of the future SFRs is under development and will be built in France. Technically, GFR is a realistic and promising alternative thanks to its specific advantages connected with high temperatures. The main research and development areas for GFR technology were identified in the Strategic Research Agenda (SRA) of the SNETP and the Concept paper of the European Sustainable Nuclear Industrial Initiative (ESNII).

The four respective nuclear research organizations of the Visegrad 4 region (ÚJV Řež, a.s., Czech Republic, Centre of Energy Research of the Hungarian Academy of Science (MTA EK), Budapest, Hungary, NCBJ, Świerk, Poland and VUJE a.s., Trnava, Slovak Republic) established the V4G4 Centre of Excellence in 2013 for the coordination of technical, experimental and other issues related to the preparation of the construction of the GFR demonstrator ALLEGRO. In January 2017, CEA joined the consortium as an associated member. V4G4 launched the ALLEGRO Project in July 2015. The first phase of the Project aims to develop the Conceptual Design of the ALLEGRO reactor answering all safety related and other technical issues. The corresponding roadmap of the design works and safety analysis is under realization and the Conceptual Design has to be completed by 2025. To support these activities a Research, Development and Qualification Roadmap is under elaboration providing a framework of the experimental works needed by the design and safety activities.

This website intends to show the development of V4G4 efforts and also used by the ALLEGRO Project participants.