Licensing small modular reactors (SMRs) presents a new opportunity for standardization in the nuclear power industry, Vanessa Jakovich, counsel at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, told delegates at the World Nuclear Association 41st Annual Symposium in London. Jakovich, who chairs the WNA Licensing and Permitting Task Force, said traditional licensing frameworks and standards pose challenges in terms of standardization and cooperation. But, noting that 19 of the current reactor designs being considered by regulators are SMRs, she said, this seems to be the new world.
Existing nuclear countries have licensing and certification regimes that have been in place for over half a century and to try and create standardization in a retrofitted world is very difficult. They present a status quo that forms a significant barrier to international standardization of licensing requirements for nuclear new build, at anything more than an incremental level, she said.
Legal frameworks will in some cases need to be updated and new standards will need to be developed, but standardization is obviously more efficient and it lowers barrier to entry, with more opportunities for knowledge and experience sharing. These benefits are magnified in the world of SMRs.
It is somewhat difficult to talk about SMRs generally because the designs are different, but there are a number of similarities. They have little radioactive waste inventories and their modular manufacture means less difficulty with siting and financing. Most existing legal frameworks allow for the deployment of SMRs using existing requirements and standards, but these frameworks will be deployed in a new way, and in some cases, require the development of new standards. This provides a real opportunity for standardization for SMRs.
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