KAERI teamed up with ANL for PGSFR Development

KAERI teamed up with the Argonne National Laboratory (ANL) to develop the PGSFR.
 
On August 25, 2014 at ANL, Dr. Jong Kyung Kim, President of KAERI, along with Dr. Peter Littlewood, ANL Director, signed a Memorandum of Understanding between ANL and KAERI, mainly focusing on the development of the Prototype Gen-IV Sodium-cooled Fast Reactor(PGSFR) by taking advantage of his recent visit to Chicago to participate at the 8th International Conference on Isotopes(ICI).

At the meeting with ANL senior management staff members prior to the MOU signing ceremony, Dr. Kim expressed his hope that bilateral collaboration will be further promoted with the signing of the revised MOU as a turning point, and he solicited ANL’s positive support in raising the level of nuclear cooperation between the two organizations to a higher level, especially in proceeding smoothly with the PGSFR in the future. Dr. Kim was briefed on an overview of ANL R&D Programs and DOE Nuclear Programs and took a technical tour of the NSTF/METL Facilities.
 
Recognizing the excellent state of bilateral cooperation between KAERI and ANL that  has existed over the past decades, Dr. Littleword mentioned that the conclusion of the MOU will provide a significant momentum in keeping the 10-year long-term PGSFR project moving forward successfully.

KAERI is developing the PGSFR with the target of obtaining design approval from the government by the end of 2020 and commissioning by the end of 2028. The PGSFR incorporates many innovative design features, particularly metal fuel, which enables inherent proliferation resistant features by the recycling and burning of uranium and transuranic elements through a coupling with pyroprocessing.

ANL has played an important role in carrying out nuclear R＆D activities in the US since its inception as the first DOE national laboratory in 1946, and is the very birthplace of nuclear energy.