The 11th international thematic meeting dedicated to high-temperature reactor (HTR) technology was held in Beijing, China, from 14-18 October. During the meeting, Chinese representatives presented the plans, approved in August by the government in Beijing, for the construction of the next 6 commercial HTGR reactors by 2030. NCBJ representatives presented various aspects of the work carried out within the HTGR-POLA basic reactor project.

HTR thematic meetings are held regularly every 2 years. The first meeting was held in Petten (the Netherlands) in 2002, while in 2018 the meeting was organised in Warsaw. In Beijing, more than 200 participants from 14 countries presented the results of their work and discussed the current status of activities related to the development and implementation of high-temperature reactor technology. The aim of such meetings was to accelerate the research and development of high-temperature technology and heat applications and the practical use of the systems, by discussing and exchanging the latest results and information on the above technologies and user requirements, as well as future prospects and plans. The current meeting was dominated by solutions based on high-temperature gas-cooled reactor (HTGR) technology, which is related to the commercialisation of this technology in the host country of the 11th thematic meeting.

China currently operates a commercial version of the HTR-PM reactor, i.e. a high-temperature helium-cooled reactor with a core in the form of slowly moving downward graphite spheres with TRISO nuclear fuel inside (so-called pebble bed). It is a full development of technology developed in Germany in the 1970s, which, after further work in Germany was halted for ideological reasons, was transferred in its entirety to China. Built over 20 years ago at the Institute of Nuclear and New Energy Technology (INET), the HTR-10 research and demonstration reactor (10 MW thermal power), was the basis for the development of the HTR-PM reactor (250 MW thermal power), a unit of two identical reactors of which has been in commercial operation at Shidaowan since December 2023.

During the conference, the Chinese government's plans for the construction of six HTGR reactors (HTR-PM600), which are intended to be exclusively a source of process heat at around 550°C for the Lianyungang petrochemical plant, were presented. The Chinese government accepted this decision in August 2024. Notably, Chinese companies are so confident in the know-how of the technology and its supply chain that the reactors are scheduled to come online in 2030.

Poland was represented at this 4-day meeting by four NCBJ staff members. They presented the results of work related to the design of the Świerk HTGR-POLA research and demonstration reactor, and participated in the work of the Organising Committee, the Programme Committee and had the pleasure of co-chairing individual plenary and technical sessions. As part of their individual presentations, Józef Sobolewski introduced the current directions of nuclear energy research and development in Europe, Mariusz Dąbrowski presented the HTGR-POLA basic design as a result of Polish-Japanese cooperation, Maciej Skrzypek reported on the results of safety analyses for this reactor, and Dominik Muszyński discussed the concept of a fast thermal-hydraulic tool coupled to a Monte Carlo Serpent code.

At the end of the meeting, the participants had a study visit to INET, where the HTR-10 reactor is located, were introduced to the command and control system of this reactor, and visited the laboratories where the helium test loops and pebble fuel handling systems were built. Conference participants were also introduced to the HTR-PM600 unit simulator consisting of six HTGR reactors.

The next thematic meeting HTR2026 on high-temperature technology will be held in the UK.