MICROREACTOR MOVEMENT | COVER STORY
Above: The Westinghouse e-vinci microreactor completed the front-end engineering and experiment design (FEEED) phase of a prototype at Idaho National Laboratory last year
It decided that a factory-built microreactor loaded with
fuel may be excluded from being ‘in operation’ if it has features to prevent a nuclear chain reaction, and operation in these circumstances would begin with removal of those features. In a separate second decision, it said that a microreactor with features to prevent a chain reaction may be loaded with fuel at a factory if it is done under an NRC licence that allows possession of the fuel. The third decision is that the NRC staff may apply regulations for non-power reactors to authorise testing of a microreactor at a factory, before it is shipped to an operating site. Alongside the decisions, the Commission said staff had
to keep the Commission informed as they develop the necessary technology-inclusive guidance on the use of features to preclude criticality, and ensure there are no unintentional contradictions other regulations. It said, “ln developing guidance and policy recommendations for the concept of features to preclude criticality, the staff should consider that the dynamics of transporting manufactured modules should, at minimum, require some form of physical measures to preclude criticality for modules in transit, especially those that have undergone preoperational testing at the factory.” The staff should ensure that the reactor licence clearly does not authorise operation at power when features to preclude criticality are inserted so the reactor can be transported, after operational testing or at the end of the operating cycle.
Regulating for microreactors In developing a regulatory framework for microreactors, the USNRC is aiming to speed up and smooth the process, ensure the burden of regulation is appropriate, and where possible be proactive. In that respect, under the ADVANCE Act of 2024
(Accelerating Deployment of Versatile, Advance Nuclear for Clean Energy Act), the Commission is required to “develop risk-informed and performance-based strategies and guidance to license and regulate micro-reactors... including strategies and guidance for.... risk analysis methods, including alternatives to probabilistic risk assessments”.
That includes, for example, using existing meteorology and weather data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, National Weather Service or other established nearby sources to support analyses and design bases for applications. The NRC staff is expected to be proactive in developing
regulation and licensing options for microreactor manufacturers that combine the activities of a microreactor applicant (factory fabrication, operational testing, fuel loading and transport) in a single licence. That could use licence conditions or technical specifications to address unique technical considerations, such as (above) the need for features to preclude criticality while the microreactor is in transit. If NRC follows its direction to be ‘proactive’ on
microreactors it may have implications for licensing of other reactor classes. The NRC staff have to consider whether proposed licensing and oversight strategies for microreactors, now or in the future, would be applicable to other types of nuclear reactors, including larger power reactors, research reactors and test facilities. Further, the staff have to analyse what changes could or should be made to the Atomic Energy Act “to better accommodate the production and deployment concepts currently under consideration”, and submit its findings as part of papers submitted to the Commission on policy or regulatory issues.
One proactive role for the staff is to engage with
Department of Energy (DOE) and Department of Defense (DOD) efforts to build and operate microreactors on the departments’ sites or as part of critical national security infrastructure. This engagement “should include identifying and implementing licensing process efficiencies… to streamline the transition of microreactor technology to the commercial sector”. Among these commercial options are maritime applications, and the NRC staff plans to monitor developments related to commercial maritime applications and assess the need for future Commission direction and coordination with other Federal agencies related to deployment of commercial maritime reactors.
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