CHAPTER 5 - REACTOR STUDIES

Abstract

This chapter discusses the reactor studies conducted by the working groups of OEEC. The working group Réacteurs de Puissance (REP) began its work by instituting a study of the power programs of the member countries. This was completed in February 1957. In March, the experts were talking of the need for speed and large sizes, picking out the following as possible systems: gas-cooled graphite-moderated natural uranium-fuelled reactors (GCGR) as in the British and French national programs; two types of light water-moderated and cooled reactors viz. the pressurized water reactor (PWR) as developed by Westinghouse for the first U.S. submarine Nautilus and the first U.S. civil demonstration power plant at Shippingport, and the boiling water reactor (BWR) under development by the General Electric of America; the sodium-cooled graphite-moderated reactor (SGR) as developed by Atomics International in the US and used to power the submarine Sea Wolf. From amongst these, REP recommended either the GCGR reactor or a PWR for a large-capacity plant with a preference for the PWR and, as variant, a pressurized heavy water reactor on the lines of the Swedish design for a power and district heating plant to be built at Ågesta.