Webinar 027: The ALLEGRO Experimental Gas-Cooled Fast Reactor Project

The webinar presents the main design features of the ALLEGRO nuclear reactor demonstrator as developed in the frame of the European V4G4 Consortium “V4G4 Centre of Excellence” associating nuclear research organizations from the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia and France. The presentation provides an overview of the existing concepts of ALLEGRO, goals of the development, specific design solutions, and the safety approach and safety characteristics of ALLEGRO, touching the most important aspects of the demonstrator. Latest developments associated with both the use of UOX fuel and the new safety features are briefly presented as well. The remaining research challenges are summarized in the light of the present technology understanding to highlight the present status of knowledge and further steps to be pursued. Dr. Ladislav Bělovský works at the ÚJV Řež, a. s., Husinec-Řež close to Prague, Czech Republic as a senior engineer and has over 30 years of experience in nuclear energy research. He graduated from the Czech Technical University of Prague (Czech Republic) in 1988 as M.Sc. in Mechanical Engineering for Nuclear Industry, and earned his PhD in 1993 at the same university for “Modelling of LWR Fuel Behavior in Severe Accidents.” Since 2011, the main areas of his research activities have focused on development of Generation 4 reactors. At ÚJV Řež, Dr. Bělovský participates in the development of the helium-cooled demonstration Fast Reactor ALLEGRO in the frame of the international association “V4G4 Centre of Excellence” in the following areas: 1) Design & Safety of the reactor, 2) Related R&D focused on safety, helium technology and material research. His background in the Czech republic and France in the period from 1988 to 2011 is mainly characterized by activities in the development & application of computer codes for modelling of LWR fuel behavior in design basis & severe accident conditions.