COVER STORY | MICROREACTOR MOVEMENT continue research into remote and autonomous


operations, already in progress, to develop a long-term strategy for remote and autonomous operations.


Manufacturing: The NRC provided a paper to the Commission in January 2024, which included options for licensing fuel loading at a factory. The NRC staff are now waiting for a direction from the Commission, after which the NRC staff will consider the need to develop related guidance. Manufacturers will be licence holders but they may use contractors, so the NRC staff plans to engage with stakeholders on their plans for using such contractors in their microreactor deployment models.


Decommissioning: The NRC staff plans to engage with stakeholders on considerations related to decommissioning, refurbishment and refuelling of microreactors “to better understand post- operation aspects of microreactor deployment models”, and it seeks to provide flexibility for various potential microreactor decommissioning strategies. But at this point the dashboard says developers have not provided enough information on post-operation aspects of microreactor deployment for the NRC staff to develop new guidance.


Pre-application activity The NRC is already engaged in pre- application activities with Hadron Energy, Inc, regarding a future Standard Design Approval (SDA) application, and manufacturing and fuel loading license applications. Hadron Energy, Inc is developing a 2 MWe standardised


microreactor for commercial licensing and deployment. The factory-built microreactor would be transportable, using low-enriched uranium fuel and light-water cooled and moderated. It is designed to fit within the dimensional envelope of a standard ISO shipping container to facilitate transport via conventional road, rail, air, or sea logistics. It says fleets of units can be co-located to form modular installations capable of meeting aggregated energy demands of 50 MWe or more. It will be deployed “in locations where conventional grid power is unavailable, unreliable, or logistically impractical”,


such as: ● Replacing diesel generators in remote communities, disaster relief zones, and off-grid industrial operations.


● Power supply for military or scientific installations requiring secure, mobile and independent energy.


● Grid support functions such as peak shaving, renewable firming, or backup power in localized high-demand areas (eg data centres).


Established in 2024 as a privately held Delaware C-corporation, Hadron Energy is focused on the design, manufacturing, licensing, and deployment of the microreactor. It is based on light-water reactor (LWR) technology and Hadron says, “Grounding the design in established LWR principles minimizes technical risk associated with core reactor technology and allows regulatory review to focus efficiently on the novel aspects of our implementation”. It aims to maximise the benefits of standardisation


through factory production and testing to enhance safety, quality, and regulatory efficiency.


34 | August 2025 | www.neimagazine.com The fuel will be loaded into the reactor core at a certified


manufacturing facility prior to shipment, when the reactor module will be sealed, tested and shipped as a self- contained unit. It will use the existing LEU supply chain. At the end of its operational life (10 - 30 years, depending on fuel enrichment and burnup analysis), the entire reactor unit, including spent fuel, will be returned to a licensed facility for defueling, inspection, potential refurbishment or decommissioning, although detailed plans have still to be developed and discussed. In the interim there will be no refuelling during deployment at site. Hadron Energy says, “The inherent novelty of our


approach - particularly the factory fueling, transportability of the completed reactor, flexible deployment model, and planned remote operations - presents unique considerations for demonstrating compliance with existing regulatory frameworks. Key areas requiring early engagement include establishing the licensing basis for transporting a fuelled microreactor, developing flexible and/or bounding site parameter envelopes suitable for varied deployment locations, and demonstrating compliance with operational requirements, including staffing, for remotely monitored facilities. The company’s intended regulatory path involves


pursuing a Standard Design Approval (SDA) under 10 CFR Part 52, Subpart E for the standard design, followed by a manufacturing licence application under 10 CFR Part 52, Subpart F, together with a licence for fuel loading under 10 CFR Part 70 that references the approved SDA. Part 70, “Domestic Licensing of Special Nuclear Material” is required for factory fuelling because it allows for possession, use and transfer of special nuclear material and for conducting necessary testing activities (including potential Zero Power Critical tests) at the manufacturing facility. The company says, “We plan to utilize mechanisms such as targeted white papers, topical reports, and potentially a conceptual design assessment to seek early NRC feedback”. The first step for Hadron Energy will be finding a site for its manufacturing facility (with a manufacturing licence). At this point an Early Site Permit based on a deployment site is not needed. In its model Hadron Energy will not be the primary applicant for Combined Licenses. Its regulatory strategy focuses on obtaining Standard Design Approval (SDA), a manufacturing licence, and a Part 70 licence (as above). Once it has the SDA and manufacturing licence, Hadron


Energy expects it would be its customers or partners that apply for Combined Licences for specific deployment sites. The pre-application engagement plan was sent to


NRC in May. Hadron Energy says that it plans to submit a Preliminary Safety Information Document and request a formal conceptual design assessment from the NRC within a year. Its timetable from that point will be re-examined on a six-monthly basis, but it is hoping for SDA by May 2028, a 10 CFR Part 70 Licence by June-July 2028 and its manufacturing licence by October-December 2028. Meanwhile it hopes a customer or partner will submit a Combined Licence Application for the microreactor’s first site by December 2028, to be accepted by the NRC by February 2029.


Time will show whether the ambitious programme of work by regulators, manufacturers and potential customers will be completed on schedule. But at the moment, all parties are leaning on the accelerator. ■


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