REACTOR DESIGN | SMRs
IAEA ups support for SMRs
The safety and economic competitiveness of SMRs must be fully demonstrated if their potential is to be realised. The IAEA has established a platform to help
HIGHLIGHTING THE ROLE OF THE International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA) Platform on Small Modular Reactors and their Applications, a side event at the recent 66th IAEA General Conference looked at the achievements of the Platform that had been established just a year before. Developed with the aim of helping member states
Judith Perera
Contributing Editor, Nuclear Engineering International
to better understand SMR technology, its safety and economic competitiveness, it provides a one-stop shop to access the IAEA’s full array of support and expertise. From technology development and deployment (including non-electric applications) to nuclear safety, security and safeguards, the platform uses as reference the IAEA Nuclear Energy Series publications, Technology Roadmap for Small Modular Reactor Deployment and other resources. While the technology’s safety and economic
competitiveness must be fully demonstrated before SMRs can be more widely deployed, the SMR Platform has developed a medium-term strategy aimed at providing support to governments, operators, industry and regulators to address these and related challenges. “The Platform is a very powerful interdepartmental mechanism, bringing together expertise from across the organisation on SMRs,” said Stefano Monti, Chair of the Platform Implementation Team and Head of the IAEA’s Nuclear Power Technology Development Section. More than 80 SMR designs are under development in
19 countries and the first SMR units are already in operation in China and Russia. As a result, SMRs, including
microreactors (MRs), are expected to play an increasingly important role in helping to ensure energy security as well as supporting the transition to net zero emissions. The technologies thus provide a unique potential to address some of our most pressing challenges, from climate change to sustainable development. “SMRs are perhaps the most exciting and most watched
emerging technology in nuclear power today,” Mikhail Chudakov, IAEA Deputy Director General and Head of the Department of Nuclear Energy, said at the meeting, which took place in September. “Member States from Africa and the Americas to Asia and Europe are developing or interested in deploying SMRs, and in a variety of ways, the IAEA Platform on SMRs and their electric and non-electric applications is helping them to do this effectively, safely and securely,” he added. Participants at the meeting were given an overview of the latest updates on the Platform, as well as IAEA’s Medium-Term Strategy for SMRs and on the related Nuclear Harmonisation and Standardisation Initiative. Two new publications were also launched, which will provide countries considering SMRs with additional tools. Advances in Small Modular Reactor Technology Developments is a supplement to the IAEA’s Advanced Reactors Information System (ARIS) that can help countries to identify reactor designs that suit their needs. It provides the latest data and information on SMRs from around the world, including detailed descriptions of almost all SMRs under development or construction worldwide.
Above left: International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA) Platform on Small Modular Reactors and their Applications meets at the 66th IAEA General Conference in Vienna Above right: Discussing Nuclear Harmonisation and Standardisation Initiative
22 | December 2022 |
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