The Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) took part in conversations about risk-informed regulation and small modular reactors at the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s (US NRC) 37th Regulatory Information Conference (RIC).
The event in Maryland was attended by Mark Foy, ONR’s Chief Executive and Chief Nuclear Inspector, and Rob Exley, ONR’s Head of Generic Design Assessment.
The annual conference brings together thousands of participants from across the globe, including regulators, government agencies, non-governmental organisations, academia, industry, media and members of the public to discuss a broad range of topics in the fields of nuclear safety security and safeguards.
Mark participated in two panel sessions, the first entitled ‘Elevating NRC Safety and Efficiency Through Risk-Informed Decision-Making’.
He discussed ONR’s Risk-Informed and Targeted Engagements (RITE) Policy, and how it reinforces the organisation’s approach to good, risk informed regulation and its decision-making processes, with a focus on enhancing safety and efficiencies.
Mark said: “Getting risk-informed regulation right improves safety and avoids undue burden on industry and regulatory bodies while continuing to ensure effective regulation and safety of the nuclear industry.”
The second session was entitled ‘U.S.-Canada-UK Small Modular Reactors and Advanced Reactor Trilateral Cooperation’. Mark joined representatives from the US NRC, Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC), Tennessee Valley Authority, Ontario Power Generation and GE Hitachi, to discuss progress with joint regulatory assessments of the BWRX-300 reactor technology – currently undergoing the UK’s Generic Design Assessment process.
The trilateral Memorandum of Cooperation, signed at last year’s RIC conference, has already produced significant and tangible results for small modular reactor and advanced reactor licensing.
Mark said: “The MoU is a model for multilateral international regulatory collaboration on new reactors and an exemplar of how regulators should work together in today’s modern world.
“It demonstrates how we are willing to doing things differently to ensure nuclear safety, but to also enable the desired outcomes of those we regulate.”
The conference also provided an opportunity for Mark to chair a meeting with the above organisations, plus with representatives from Poland observing, to set the strategic direction for our collective collaboration on the BWRX-300 reactor design.
Mark added: “I am very grateful to colleagues at the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission for staging this successful event.
“It provided an opportunity to have important conversations with international regulatory partners, helping us to reflect and learn from the experience of others as we continually seek to improve how we deliver our mission to protect society in an ever-changing environment.”
The theme of this year's three-day RIC conference was ‘Charting the Next 50 Years’.
Technical sessions at the conference included data and artificial intelligence: balancing innovation and safety, re-energising license renewal, approaches for addressing evolving external hazards in nuclear power and design to assembly line: understanding high volume nuclear reactor licensing.
The RIC welcomed more than 3,000 registrants during the three days, including participants from more than 50 different countries, reflecting the global reach and importance of the event.