The G.E.G.N. (Groupement pour l'Etude de la Gazéification Nucléaire) is a group which will study nuclear coal gasification and which is formed by “Commissariat à l'Energie Atomique”, “Gaz de France”, “Charbonnages de France”, “Creusot-Loire” and “Novatome”. The G.E.G.N. was created in 1976, with the approval of the French government, to determine a coal gasification process, to define a R & D programme and to evaluate the cost of the process.

The nuclear steam reforming of methane and the hydrogasification of coal were chosen as preliminary options. The hydrogasification was also chosen because the temperatue level of the steam reforming is lower than that of the coal steam gasification.

Therefore, it seems reasonable to limit the core outlet temperature to 850°C, although the core can deliver higher helium temperatures.

The use of an intermediate circuit allows a great flexibility in the reformer design and makes it easier to handle the catalyst.

In this paper the reasons for these choices are explained and the technological solutions are discussed.