ASME STP-NU-072

NRC licensing reviews of several SMR designs will commence within the next 1-2 years upon the filing of Design Certification applications. Pre-application reviews between vendors of SMR designs and the NRC have been ongoing for over 5 years. While these near-term SMR designs are based on proven LWR technology, several new design features and systems may present challenges to their licensing or deployment. Critical to effective and timely licensing, SMR vendors and designers must appropriately interpret and apply ASME Codes and Standards that are NRC licensing requirements.

This SMR Roadmap project was initiated to start a dialogue and interactions between vendors, NRC, ASME and other stakeholders to determine how ASME Nuclear Codes and Standards will be interpreted and applied. These interactions will provide information, insights and strategies to facilitate SMR design development, NRC licensing, and ultimately commercial deployment of these new reactor technologies. This SMR Roadmap identifies critical technology and process issues that are covered by ASME Codes and Standards and may present barriers or unique challenges to effective NRC licensing. This SMR Roadmap identifies those specific ASME Nuclear Codes and Standards that are included by reference in the NRC®s regulations and are therefore legally-binding regulatory requirements. This SMR Roadmap discusses areas in these Codes and Standards that might present licensing challenges to all the SMR designs under consideration, as well as unique design-specific challenges. Strategies to address identified challenges for NRC licensing are discussed. This SMR Roadmap does not identify any research and development needed at this time to support Codes or Standards modifications. Included in these strategies is the option for license applicants to propose alternatives to ASME Codes and Standards® requirements to the NRC for their review and approval.