[CORRECTED] With a unanimous 4-0 vote, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission on May 26 approved a streamlined and more predictable process for licensing advanced non-light-water reactors.
The approach, the Nuclear Engineering Institute said, “is consistent with the Nuclear Energy Innovation and Modernization Act that was passed by Congress in 2019. That bill called for the development of a “risk-informed, performance-based and technology inclusive licensing process for advanced reactor developers,” the NEI said.
NEI Chief Nuclear Officer Doug True called the vote a step forward in the country’s need to meet energy demand “while protecting the climate.”
“Over the last several years the industry’s Licensing Modernization Project, sponsored by DOE, led by Southern Nuclear, and supported by NEI’s Advanced Reactor Regulatory Task Force, developed the guidance for this new framework,” he said.
”A well-defined licensing path will benefit the next generation of nuclear plants, which could meet a wide range of applications beyond generating electricity such as producing heat for industry, desalinating water, and making hydrogen – all without carbon emissions,” True said.
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