OSGE at the U.S. NRC Conference

OSGE representatives participated in the annual Regulatory Information Conference organised by the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission (U.S. NRC). The development of SMRs was an essential part of this year’s event which brought together nuclear industry representatives from around the world.

OSGE’s delegation with CEO Rafal Kasprów took part in the Regulatory Information Conference (RIC) organised by the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission (US NRC). The annual meeting brings together representatives of national nuclear regulators, government agencies, NGOs, technology suppliers and the nuclear industry not only from the United Stated, but from all over the world.

In his opening speech, Christopher T. Hanson, Chairman of the NRC Commission, emphasised the necessity of action in the area of small and micro-reactors. He stated that “(…) it is high time to start preparing the NRC for what I call the serial deployment of microreactors and small modular reactors. It is likely that we will see submissions that either have significant similarities, or are based on similar assumptions, or even seek some form of joint technical evaluation and approval (…)”. Mr. Hanson added: “(…) The classic approach to technical evaluation in the way we have always done it simply will not work. I expect every leader on the NRC to take a hard look at our processes and procedures and then develop more efficient and effective ways to accomplish our safety mission (…).”

This is a very important statement that demonstrates how crucial it is today to have a modern and efficient approach to the early involvement of licensees and experts from the nuclear regulators. In addition, they can benefit from the experience and lessons learned from similar licensing processes which are in progress in Canada, the US and in the United Kingdom. An example of such collaboration is the UK Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) has joined  the collaborative assessment and cooperation on technical reviews of small modular reactors, including BWRX-300, already being carried out by NRC and CNSC. Poland’s National Atomic Energy Agency (PAA) is an active observer of this cooperation.

On the sidelines of the RIC, there was a meeting of the so-called working group for the BWRX-300 technology licensing processes attended by Christopher T. Hanson (Chairman of NRC), Ramzi Jammal (Acting CEO of CNSC), Andrzej Głowacki (President of PAA), Mark Foy (CEO of ONR) and  Jay Wileman (CEO of GE Hitachi), Ken Hartwick (CEO of Ontario Power Generation), Jeffrey J. Lyash (CEO of TVA) and Rafał Kasprów (CEO of OSGE). The group summarised the work on the assessment of safety documentation in Canada and the USA. The initiation of the Generic Design Assessment (GDA) process for the BWRX-300 technology by the UK ONR and the continuation of site assessment work in Poland, including the General Directorate for Environmental Protection (GDOŚ) decision specifying the scope of the environmental report for the construction of the BWRX-300 nuclear power plant in Stawy Monowskie, Małopolska region.

As part of the conference, the OSGE delegation also had a meeting with representatives from the US Department of State (DoS), which was an opportunity to discuss with experts from EXCEL Services Corporation and Jensen Hughes the status of the Project Phoenix in Poland. Phoenix Project is a U.S government initiative aimed at supporting the energy transition in Central Europe by supporting coal-to-SMR power plant conversions.