International cooperation and safety of advanced nuclear reactor designs were among the key topics discussed at the recently held 2024 Regulatory Cooperation Forum (RCF) Plenary Meeting during the IAEA’s 68th General Conference.
“This is an inter-regional forum that fosters strong regulator-to-regulator cooperation, meeting the expectation of both recipient and provider countries. Many embarking countries have benefited from the forum’s activities, including the facilitation of provider support and information exchanges,” said Anna Hajduk Bradford, IAEA Director of the Division of Nuclear Installation Safety in her opening remarks.
Bradford also underscored the IAEA’s commitment to the continuous improvement of its support programmes, ensuring they adapt to the evolving needs of Member States through varied ways and initiatives, such as the Nuclear Harmonization and Standardization Initiative (NHSI), the Generic RoadMap to Develop Infrastructure for Nuclear Safety of the First Nuclear Reactor (GRM), the development of technical documents; and peer review missions.
The plenary meeting explained the forum’s new strategic priorities for 2024-2028, focusing on enhancing support for regulatory infrastructure development and assistance for embarking countries, including those considering new technologies like small modular reactors (SMRs).
During the meeting a new RCF strategic plan was developed to provide direction and focus for future activities to ensure continued regulatory effectiveness and sustainability in a changing nuclear environment.
“The Regulatory Cooperation Forum is enhancing its coordination functions through increased transparency of bilateral and international assistance to the recipient countries among forum members,” said Ramzi Jammal, RCF Chair. He added that “The coordination with other networks for nuclear safety can further strengthen and optimize international cooperation for achieving a high level of safety in the safe deployment of innovative technologies such as SMRs.”
Participants explored innovative design approaches and discussed how the legal framework for new technologies, encompassing safety, security, safeguards, and liability, can challenge current national regulations. As advanced nuclear reactor designs, including SMRs, are expected to play a crucial role in meeting the twin goals of increasing access to electricity to power economies while minimizing greenhouse gas emissions.
Participants at the event also learned about the recently launched IAEA Generic RoadMap to Develop Infrastructure for Nuclear Safety of the First Nuclear Reactor that aims to assist embarking countries to develop the infrastructure for nuclear safety for licensing of their first nuclear reactor. The GRM includes practical guidance on the implementation of actions recommended in the IAEA Safety Guide SSG-16 (Rev.1), incorporating countries’ experiences and lessons learned. National regulatory practices, and lessons learned for the development of nuclear safety infrastructure from Türkiye and Saudia Arabia were shared.
Highlighting the importance of joint collaboration, regulators from UAE (FANR) and Canada (CNSC) also provided a presentation on the role of internal audits in elevating regulatory practices such as improving regulatory inspection efficiency and effectiveness, and ensuring compliance with laws and regulations. They covered specific outcomes such as enhancing risk management and facilitating the continuous improvement of the regulatory framework, demonstrating the success of a robust engagement that can be undertaken by RCF members.
