Policy Issues Associated with Licensing Advanced Reactor Designs

Over the years, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) has identified specific policy issues associated with licensing advanced, non-light-water (non-LWR) and LWR reactor designs. These issues are discussed in the documents and public workshop materials assembled on this page:

Commission Papers and Staff Requirements Memoranda
Policy Statements

For additional information, see Commission Policy Documents Related to New Reactors.

Commission Papers and Staff Requirements Memoranda

The following table presents a chronological listing of Commission (SECY) papers and staff requirements memoranda (SRMs) related to licensing advanced reactor designs, with the most recent first.

SECY	Title	SRM
11-0184	Security Regulatory Framework for Certifying, Approving, and Licensing Small Modular Reactors	N/A
11-0181	Decommissioning Funding Assurance for Small Modular Reactors	N/A
11-0178	Insurance and Liability Regulatory Requirements for Small Modular Reactors	N/A
11-0156	Feasibility of Including Risk Information in Categorizing Structures, Systems, and Components as Safety-Related and Non Safety-Related	05/11/11
11-0152	Development of an Emergency Planning and Preparedness Framework for Small Modular Reactors	N/A
11-0112	Staff Assessment of Selected Small Modular Reactor Issues Identified in SECY-10-0034	N/A
11-0098	Operator Staffing for Small or Multi-Module Nuclear Power Plant Facilities	N/A
11-0079	License Structure for Multi-Module Facilities Related to Small Modular Nuclear Power Reactors	N/A
11-0024	Use of Risk Insights to Enhance the Safety Focus of Small Modular Reactor Reviews	08/31/10
10-0034	Potential Policy, Licensing, and Key Technical Issues for Small Modular Nuclear Reactor Designs	N/A
09-0137	Next Steps for Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on Variable Annual Fee Structure for Power Reactors	10/13/09
09-0064	Regulation of Fusion-Based Power Generation Devices	07/16/09
09-0056	Staff Approach Regarding a Risk-Informed and Performance-Based Revision to Part 50 of Title 10 of the Code of Federal Regulations and Developing a Policy Statement on Defense-in-Depth for Future Reactors	N/A
08-0152	Final Rule- Consideration of Aircraft Impact for New Nuclear Power Reactors (RIN 3150-AI19)	02/17/09
08-0134	Regulatory Structure for Spent Fuel Reprocessing	06/27/07
08-0130	Update Policy Statement on Regulation of Advanced Reactors	03/26/08
07-0167	Revision of Policy Statement on Regulation of Advanced Reactors	03/26/08
07-0101	Staff Recommendations Regarding a Risk-Informed and Performance-Based Revision to 10 CFR Part 50 (RIN 3150-AH81)	09/10/27
07-0074	Update on the Improvements to the Risk-Informed Regulation Implementation Plan	N/A
06-0217	Improvement to and Update of the Risk-Informed Regulation Implementation Plan	N/A
06-0099	Energy Policy Act of 2005 Implementation Status	N/A
06-0007	Staff Plan to Make a Risk-Informed and Performance-Based Revision to 10 CFR Part 50	06/01/06
05-0006	Second Status Paper on the Staff's Proposed Regulatory Structure for New Plant Licensing and Update on Policy Issues Related to New Plant Licensing	N/A
05-0006 Appendices	Appendix A: Guidance for the Formulation of Performance-Based Requirements	N/A
04-0157	Status of Staff's Proposed Regulatory Structure for New Plant Licensing and Potentially New Policy Issues	N/A
03-0059	NRC's Advanced Reactor Research Program	N/A
03-0047	Policy Issues Related to Licensing Non-Light-Water Reactor Designs	06/26/03
02-0139	Plan for Resolving Policy Issues Related to Licensing Non-Light Water Reactor Designs	N/A
01-0207	Legal and Financial Issues Related to Exelon's Pebble Bed Modular Reactor (PBMR)	N/A
01-0188	Future Licensing and Inspection Readiness Assessment	N/A
01-0007	Plan for Preapplication Activities on the Pebble Bed Modular Reactor (PBMR)	06/19/01
Draft SECY	Licensing Approach for Exelon's Pebble Bed Modular Reactor	N/A