The agency said senior nuclear regulators and industry leaders met for the first time under its nuclear harmonisation and standardisation Initiative to discuss “roadmaps to accelerate the safe and secure deployment of advanced nuclear reactors, with a particular focus on small modular reactors”.
“In nuclear, we must have the highest standards of nuclear safety and security – they are indispensable for the public, governments and investors,” IAEA director-general Rafael Grossi told the meeting.
He said the initiative is not about cutting corners – it is about “getting it right and getting there fast”.
Harmonisation is seen as a way of cutting the time and investment needed in getting new reactors licensed. The aim is to avoid repetition by different regulators in different countries and help establish the basis for regulatory decisions on the safety of a design while preserving national sovereignty.
The IAEA wants to build an information sharing framework, develop an international pre-licensing regulatory design review and develop approaches to leverage other regulator’s reviews for advanced reactors, particularly SMRs.
It said the goal is to “greatly increase regulatory collaboration” to avoid duplication of regulatory efforts, increase efficiency and facilitate reaching common regulatory positions without compromising nuclear safety and national sovereignty.
Participants at the meeting agreed an international pre-licensing regulatory review for generic designs would be valuable and it should follow an internationally agreed process and criteria.
A pre-licensing review focuses on generic designs without the consideration of site-specific and organisational aspects that are traditionally part of licensing reviews. Under this approach, technical aspects of the design would be considered internationally, while the national regulatory assessment would also cover site-specific aspects
