Description

ASME STP-NU-072 – Small Modular Reactor (SMR) Roadmap

NRC licensing reviews of several SMR designs will commence within the next 1-2 years upon the filing ofDesign Certification applications. Pre-application reviews between vendors of SMR designs and the NRChave been ongoing for over 5 years. While these near-term SMR designs are based on proven LWRtechnology, several new design features and systems may present challenges to their licensing ordeployment. Critical to effective and timely licensing, SMR vendors and designers must appropriatelyinterpret and apply ASME Codes and Standards that are NRC licensing requirements.

This SMR Roadmap project was initiated to start a dialogue and interactions between vendors, NRC, ASMEand other stakeholders to determine how ASME Nuclear Codes and Standards will be interpreted andapplied. These interactions will provide information, insights and strategies to facilitate SMR designdevelopment, NRC licensing, and ultimately commercial deployment of these new reactor technologies.This SMR Roadmap identifies critical technology and process issues that are covered by ASME Codes andStandards and may present barriers or unique challenges to effective NRC licensing. This SMR Roadmapidentifies those specific ASME Nuclear Codes and Standards that are included by reference in the NRC®sregulations and are therefore legally-binding regulatory requirements. This SMR Roadmap discusses areasin these Codes and Standards that might present licensing challenges to all the SMR designs underconsideration, as well as unique design-specific challenges. Strategies to address identified challenges forNRC licensing are discussed. This SMR Roadmap does not identify any research and development neededat this time to support Codes or Standards modifications. Included in these strategies is the option forlicense applicants to propose alternatives to ASME Codes and Standards® requirements to the NRC for theirreview and approval.