A new generation of nuclear reactor designs is being developed in order to meet the needs of the 21st century. In the short term, the most important objective is to improve competitiveness in the deregulated market. For this purpose evolutionary light water reactors are being developed and promoted actively. In the longer term, other requirements related to long-term sustainability will emerge, including the need to minimise the environmental burden passed on to future generations, the need to establish sustainability of the fuel and the need to minimise stocks of separated plutonium and their accessibility.

At this workshop, information on R&D activities for advanced reactor systems was exchanged and research areas in which international co-operation could be strengthened were identified, in particular the roles that could be played by existing experimental facilities and the possible needs for new infrastructure.