Editorial: Nuclear engineering and design – Special edition on HTR 2014 conference

This special edition features selected articles from the 7th International Topical Meeting on High Temperature Reactor Technology (HTR 2014), held under the motto “The modular HTR is advancing towards reality” from 27 to 31 October 2014 in Shidao Bay, Weihai, China. More than 400 experts from nearly 20 countries, regions and international organizations met in proximity to the construction site of the 2-module nuclear demonstration plant HTR-PM in Shandong province. Since 2002, this conference series is specifically tailored to exchange the latest information on industrial, economic, energy policy and research topics related to High Temperature Reactor technology. Two of the four plenary sessions addressed progress made by the HTR-PM project with focus on reactor design and the supply chain for fuel, technologies, systems and components as well as on the market deployment of HTR technology for a variety of industrial applications. The other two plenary sessions were devoted to update the attendees on the status of national programs and international cooperation as well as on safety and licensing topics. With 185 technical presentations and 44 plenary talks the event reflected the growing international interest in the development of safe, clean and sustainable nuclear energy. With the potential to provide electricity and process heat at various temperature levels, the deployment of HTR is intended to broaden the horizon for nuclear energy applications beyond electricity and to provide cleaner, safer nuclear energy to power economies in many regions around the world. There is a large potential market for such applications in energy-intensive industries in the mid-term, and ultimately for bulk hydrogen production. HTR have the ability to greatly expand the uses of nuclear energy while significantly enhancing the security of energy supply and massively reducing greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution. This holds especially for industrialized countries with high costs of fossil fuel, and for developing countries where the nuclear power infrastructure is more favorable for small and modular intrinsically safe reactors. The performance and particularly attractive intrinsic and passive safety features of High Temperature Reactors have been demonstrated earlier in the United Kingdom, the United States, Germany, Japan and the People’s Republic of China, where the technology is making its next step into the commercial energy marketplace with the scheduled completion of HTR-PM by the end of 2017. The follow-on event HTR 2016 will be held in conjunction with the ANS Winter Meeting on 6–10 November 2016 in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA.JRC.G.I.4-Nuclear Reactor Safety and Emergency Preparednes