U.S., UK, Canada Ink Trilateral Memo to Cooperate on Advanced Reactor Licensing
U.S., UK, Canada Ink Trilateral Memo to Cooperate on Advanced Reactor Licensing
Nuclear regulatory agencies from the U.S., Canada, and the UK will collaborate on technical reviews and share best practices for advanced reactors and small modular reactor (SMR) technologies. The measure is aimed at improving regulatory efficiency and effectiveness as more reactor technologies seek approval in the three countries.
A trilateral memorandum of cooperation(MOC) signed by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC), the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC), and the UK’s Office of Nuclear Regulation (ONR) on March 13 will focus on developing shared technical review approaches “that facilitate resolution of common technical questions to facilitate regulatory reviews” that address each country’s national regulations.
The MOC also calls on all three countries to collaborate on pre-application activities to “ensure mutual preparedness to efficiently review advanced reactor and SMR designs.” In addition, the MOC calls for collaborations on research, training, and in the development of regulatory approaches to address unique and novel technical considerations for ensuring the safety of advanced reactors and SMRs.
The MOC will supersede earlier bilateral agreements between the entities. These include separate memoranda of understanding (MOU) for cooperation and exchange of information “in nuclear regulatory matters” between the NRC and the CNSC, signed in March 2023; an MOU between the NRC and the ONR, signed in October 2020, and an MOU between the CNSC and the ONR, signed in October 2020. It also supersedes the NRC and CNSC’s MOCs on advanced reactors and SMRs signed on August 2019, and similar MOCs signed by the ONR and CNSC, signed on October 2020.
All three countries have been preparing for a ramp-up in advanced reactor licensing. While the UK in January issued an Alternative Routes to Market Consultation as part of its “smarter regulation challenge,” a civil nuclear roadmap calls upon ONR to begin streamlining its nuclear reactor design assessment and licensing processes for more efficiency. In addition, ONR and an environmental counterpart will publish guidance to the Generic Design Assessment (GDA)— a non-mandatory regulatory process—“requesting parties on how to maximize the use of overseas regulatory assessment and expectations for moving from a two-step GDA to licensing and permitting.”
Last week, meanwhile, the NRC directed its staff to publish a proposed rule and draft guidance to create Part 53, a much-awaited risk-informed and technology-inclusive licensing framework geared toward advanced technologies, including non-light-water-reactors (non-LWRs). All U.S. Advanced reactor developers—such as Kairos, X-energy, TerraPower, and Abilene Christian University—are currently pursuing demonstration projects under Part 50.
“This agreement shows the great progress we’ve made with our international counterparts to ensure advanced reactor technology can be safely and efficiently deployed,” said NRC Chair Christopher T. Hanson in a statement noted joint reports the NRC and CNSC in the past have supported “significant licensing activities on several advanced designs over the past couple of years. We look forward to ONR’s contributions as we all consider applications to build SMRs and advanced reactors,” he said.
ONR Chief Nuclear Inspector Mark Foy also lauded the measure, noting: “The agreement will ensure the efficient use of regulators’ time and resources through a willingness to share technical knowledge and judgments, streamlining regulation while maintaining safety standards, acting as an exemplar of how regulators should work together in today’s modern world.”
—Sonal Patel is a POWER senior associate editor ( @sonalcpatel, @POWERmagazine).
Related Knowledge Center: ENERGY BASICS: nuclear
Nuclear energy provides almost 20 percent of the U.S. electricity supply. Advocates have called for an expanded role for nuclear as an emissions-free fuel source. But the economics of building new reactors are daunting. In addition, lingering safety concerns are an institutionalized part of the calculation of nuclear regulation, and highly radioactive nuclear waste remains a can that public officials have been inclined to kick down the road. The Energy Information Administration projects a sharp decline in nuclear power generation over the next decade, as new nuclear plants — two are planned — are more than offset by anticipated retirements of several operating reactors.