Small modular reactors (SMR) are increasingly emerging as an efficient and effective method to meeting growing energy demands worldwide. Because the global community has a growing aversion to cost and schedule overruns traditionally associated with the current fleet of commercial nuclear power plants (NPP), SMRs are attractive, viable alternatives because they offer a significant relative cost reduction to current-generation NPPs. In addition, popular claims for SMRs indicate certain benefits for safety and security that seemingly challenge long-established regulatory regimes and procedural norms. Yet, the new physical layouts, procedural design, and increased digitization of proposed SMRs may challenge traditional approaches to nuclear security, safety, and safeguards (3S)-related risk.
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