18.2.1 Introduction of HTR-200

Since the 1970s, the high-temperature gas-cooled reactor (HTR) technology has been developed in China. A 10 MW(th) test reactor (HTR-10) with spherical fuel elements was constructed in 2000 and is now in operation. A number of safety-related experiments have been conducted on the HTR-10. R&D on direct cycle helium turbine technology is being carried out. Coupling a helium turbine system to the existing 10 MW(th) test reactor is foreseen. The construction of an industrial scale demonstration plant of modular HTGR (HTR-200) is one of the so-called ‘national major science & technology special projects’. The construction of the 200 MW(e) HTR-200 will be finished around the end of 2015 [4].