International Licensing Process and Practices Development - Supporting NPP Licensing as well as SMRs

摘要

We need to rethink the role of nuclear energy to enable competitive nuclear power production in the current and future power production system that includes also a lot of renewables. Nuclear licensing process and practices in different regulatory frameworks are evaluated and discussed in this paper. The research indicates benefits of certain type of licensing approach to improve the efficiency on nuclear licensing, and therefore nuclear energy production. One of the main benefits of the presented Systems Engineering (SE) and Requirement Management (RM) approach can be utilized in first movers, such as SMR developers and SMR operators. The complex and wide set of licensing requirements needs advanced management tools and methods to be well organized and taken care of systematically. One suggestion for further development in international nuclear arena could be a RM database development of selected international guides. Perhaps, IAEA guides and relevant standards, such as certain ASME standards, could build up an effective tool to support the licensing activities.