An agreement between Canada and Poland will allow for regulatory collaboration on all advanced and small modular reactor technologies although the “early focus” will be on GE-Hitachi (GEH) BWRX-300 reactor technology, which both countries are planning to deploy in the coming decade.

Canada’s regulator, the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission, said practical examples of tasks under the agreement, which was signed last month, include staff exchanges, developing shared technical review approaches for advanced and small modular reactor technologies and collaborating on research, training, and the development of regulatory approaches that will address “unique and novel technical considerations” for ensuring the safety of advanced and small modular reactor technologies.

“Shared design reviews and standards provide greater regulatory certainty for the safe global deployment of these technologies,” Caroline Ducros, the CNSC’s director-general of the directorate of advanced reactor technologies, said in an email to NucNet.