IAEA Completes Review of Safety Standards for New Nuclear Reactor Designs

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has finalized its assessment of how well its existing safety standards apply to new designs of nuclear reactors. With over 80 innovative reactor designs under development globally, the IAEA’s safety standards needed to be reviewed for their applicability to these emerging technologies.

More than 150 experts from thirty different countries collaborated on this project, examining and documenting areas of novelty in these designs and evaluating their impact on the applicability of safety standards. The comprehensive findings are outlined in the IAEA Safety Report.

The review covered various stages of the nuclear power plant lifecycle, including siting, design, construction, commissioning, operation, decommissioning, and safety standards related to fuel cycle facilities, waste management, safety assessment, emergency preparedness, response, and transport. The report also addressed the interface between safety, security, and safeguards in these technologies.

Based on the report’s findings, the IAEA is pursuing further activities to ensure the safety of advanced and innovative reactor designs, including small modular reactors (SMRs). Projects on regulation, safety, security, safeguards by design in SMRs, and safety considerations of High Temperature Gas Cooled Reactors, Liquid Metal Cooled Fast Reactors, and Molten Salt Reactors are currently underway.

Head of the Safety Assessment Section, Ana Gomez Cobo, emphasized the importance of scientific reasoning and evidence when claiming high levels of safety for new reactor designs. The IAEA is developing new guidance, including a Safety Guide on Safety Demonstration of Innovative Technology in Power Reactor Designs, to support these claims.

The publication of this safety report is valuable to regulatory bodies, technical support organizations, operating organizations of nuclear power plants, vendor companies, and research establishments. The IAEA remains fully committed to enabling the effective deployment of safe and secure advanced nuclear reactors.

To disseminate the outcomes of the review, the IAEA organized a series of webinars. Videos of these webinars are accessible on their website. The safety report can be downloaded free of charge from the IAEA’s website.

Furthermore, the IAEA is hosting an international forum in October 2024 to discuss the progress, opportunities, challenges, and enabling conditions for the accelerated development and safe deployment of SMRs in particular.