Lawyers and engineers from regulatory bodies, other government ministries, industry, and civil society organizations participated in the IAEA’s first Interregional Workshop on International and National Legal Frameworks for Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) last month. This event was organized to raise awareness and to strengthen capacity building in countries, enabling them to develop strong legislative and regulatory frameworks that will support the use of SMRs. The workshop, which took place at IAEA headquarters in Vienna, Austria, from 28 August 2023 to 1 September 2023, consisted of presentations and panel discussions delivered by experts from multiple international organizations, national authorities, and industry leaders. More than 35 countries from Africa, the Middle East, Asia and the Pacific, Europe, and Latin America and the Caribbean were represented.
“SMRs are viable options, not only for meeting electricity needs, but also for supplying district heating, desalination, industrial process heat or hydrogen production, among other potential uses,” said Peri Lynne Johnson, IAEA Legal Advisor and Director of the IAEA Office of Legal Affairs, during her opening remarks. She also noted that the unique characteristics of SMRs “may pose some challenges to the existing international and national legal and regulatory frameworks, including with respect to traditional licensing processes for the safe, secure and peaceful use of nuclear technology and its applications.”
The workshop provided opportunities for participants to discuss these challenges, as well as the potential solutions for future SMR deployments. The workshop began by providing an overview of the current status of SMR designs and deployment scenarios to support a general and common understanding of the technology. It then examined the relevant international legal frameworks through presentations by experts from the IAEA, the United Nations Division for Ocean Affairs and the Law of the Sea, the International Maritime Organization, and the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development’s Nuclear Energy Agency. Participants also learned about the national experiences of countries that are deploying, considering using, or developing SMRs, as well as from industry experts, who identified potential challenges and issues.
As noted by Mr Rômulo Lima, General Counsel at Brazil’s National Commission for Nuclear Energy, “[t]his workshop is an excellent opportunity to acquire more knowledge about the new and specific nuclear technology of SMRs and to discuss it internationally, looking toward existing legal and regulatory frameworks and the need to adapt them."
Ms Natalia Šubrtová, Director of the Division of International Relations and European Affairs at the Nuclear Regulatory Authority of the Slovak Republic, added “the comprehensive structure of the workshop enabled a thorough overview of all relevant aspects and elements, and it provided a valuable platform for the exchange of information on the experiences, lessons learned, and common challenges faced by Member States.”
The workshop was held under the IAEA’s interregional technical cooperation project INT2023, focusing on SMRs.
