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The Technical Working Group (TWG) on SMR, established in 2018, focuses on technology development, design, deployment, and economics of SMRs that can be deployed in both expanding and embarking countries. The members of TWG-SMR provide advice and recommendations for the IAEA’s activities on SMRs, among others in the areas of:
- Codes and design standardization of structures, systems, and components;
- Industrialization of SMRs, covering design, engineering, manufacturing, and supply chain; and
- Capacity building for embarking and expanding nuclear countries.
With relevance to these topics, the TWG-SMR discussed and highlighted key issues in this area. It was recognized that the Codes and Standards (C&S) could be country specific and dependent on the SMR design under consideration. Several Member States are working on and show interest in advanced SMR technology that involves high temperature materials; these issues should also be covered in C&S. Periodic surveillance such as weld examinations, steam generator tube inspections, structure integrity, etc, as was well as in-service inspections are essential to ensure nuclear facilities safety, resource optimization, as well as operation and maintenance. The requirements for commissioning, testing, inservice inspection and surveillance for SMRs may be different.
The functional requirements and safety design criteria may also be different between particularly non water-cooled SMRs and large nuclear reactors. This might require establishment of a technical forum to identify the differences in functional and operational requirements, so that exceptions on C&S can
be identified accordingly. SMR industry is also driven by innovation at different stages of development and is also taking reference from other industries that have achieved a higher level of standardization.
Adoption of new and advanced manufacturing methods and techniques will also require adaptation of existing codes and standards for the nuclear industry. Therefore, issues and impediments on design, manufacturing process and technology qualification of novel components for SMRs need to be
identified and addressed including quality assurance and quality control for these new nuclear components. How can SMR industries learn from other regulated regimes to support a diversified/larger supply chain and enable in-factory construction also needs to be properly addressed and understood.
As most SMR vendors are targeting standardization in several aspects of design, component manufacturing, construction, arrangements etc. there is a need for readily available codes and standards, providing clear rules and guidelines and/or equivalences between existing codes so that their licensing by regulatory bodies can be facilitated. This is beneficial in supporting development of common approaches that enable sharing of knowledge, assure fair global competition, protect intellectual rights, by still encouraging technological innovation for continuous improvements.
During the annual meetings of the TWG-SMR in 2018 and 2019, members have requested the IAEA to provide support, guidance, and capacity building on this subject. Therefore, to understand and address these issues at a global level, the IAEA is organizing a Technical Meeting on Codes and Standards, Design Engineering and Manufacturing of Components for Small Modular Reactors. These issues will be categorized under several topical sessions during the meeting. The meeting will also support the work of the IAEA’s platform on SMRs and their application.
