GIF agreement continues international cooperation on Gen IV systems
A framework agreement to continue the work of the Generation IV International Forum (GIF) will enter into force on March 1.
At a January 29 ceremony held at the at the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development premises in Paris, France, representatives of Canada, France, Japan, and Switzerland signed the new agreement, which followed the earlier signatures by the United Kingdom and the United States in the margins of COP29 in Baku, Azerbaijan, in November 2024.
The new agreement will ensure the continuation of the GIF collaboration and projects beyond the expiration of the current agreement on February 28. Other major nuclear energy countries are expected to join the signatories of the new agreement, according to the OECD Nuclear Energy Agency (NEA).
About the agreement: The agreement is the international treaty that provides the legal foundation for GIF’s mission to advance nuclear energy technologies. It was the first agreement created to facilitate international research and development of Gen IV reactor concepts. Initially signed in Washington, D.C., in 2005, it was extended in 2015 for another period of 10 years.
The OECD NEA, which has supported GIF as the technical secretariat since its inception, will continue in this capacity under the new agreement.
About GIF: Established in 2001, GIF provides a platform for collaborative research and development on six Gen IV reactor concepts:
- Gas-cooled fast reactors.
- Lead-cooled fast reactors.
- Molten salt reactors.
- Sodium-cooled fast reactors.
- Supercritical water–cooled reactors.
- Very high-temperature reactors.
GIF also provides a forum for collaboration on topics crucial to advancing nuclear systems such as safety and risk assessment, education and training, economics modeling, proliferation resistance and physical protection, advanced manufacturing, and nonelectric applications such as hydrogen production and desalination.
Quotable: “As someone who contributed to GIF’s launch in 2001, I have witnessed its growth and potential to support global progress in advanced nuclear energy systems,” said OECD NEA director general William D. Magwood IV. “This new agreement is not just a continuation; it will pave the way for GIF’s mission to support a new era for nuclear energy.”
OECD secretary general Mathias Cormann said during the signing ceremony, “This is GIF’s 24th year as the bedrock of international research and development on advanced reactor concepts with improved safety, performance, and proliferation-resistant features. Work between national research laboratories, academia, and the private sector from GIF member countries under this framework continues to serve as among the world’s most important international initiatives in energy and science cooperation.”
