UK regulator highlights international collaboration on SMRs
The UK Office for Nuclear Regulation has published its first report on international regulatory collaboration on small modular reactors, outlining how it is working with international counterparts to create more efficient, harmonised approaches to reactor design assessment. Meanwhile, more US states have joined a lawsuit challenging federal licensing rules for advanced nuclear energy technology.
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Among the key achievements the Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) highlights in the report are the signing of a trilateral memorandum of cooperation with the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) and the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) in March 2024, establishing a framework for streamlined regulation while maintaining each country's independent regulatory authority.
The report also says the ONR is leading international harmonisation efforts through its vice-chair role in the International Atomic Energy Agency's SMR Regulators' Forum and chairmanship of the OECD Nuclear Energy Agency's Working Group on New Technologies.
It also notes the progress of three significant Generic Design Assessments (GDAs) for Rolls-Royce SMR (now in Step 3), GE-Hitachi BWRX-300 and Holtec SMR-300 (both in Step 2 of two Step GDAs), with potential additional assessments and ongoing regulatory engagement for a number of other projects.
The ONR said it was also pioneering international regulatory observation by inviting five European nuclear regulators - the Polish National Atomic Energy Agency; Sweden's Radiation Safety Authority; the Dutch Authority for Nuclear Safety and Radiation Protection; and the Czech State Office for Nuclear Safety - to observe the Rolls-Royce SMR assessment process.
The report details numerous collaborative activities undertaken by ONR between October 2024 and March 2025 to advance regulatory harmonisation, including regular high-level meetings with international regulators and industry representatives, holding technical workshops on a range of key design elements and attending international forums.
"Our international collaboration is delivering tangible efficiency improvements to our assessment of new reactor designs and to harmonising regulatory approaches to SMRs and AMRs," said Tim Parkes, ONR's Head of Regulation - GDA. "This collaboration will support the global deployment of standard designs and help to ensure the highest safety standards are maintained."
ONR said the coming months will see joint workshops and reports with CNSC and NRC on advanced construction techniques, discussions with international partners on emerging reactor designs and supporting UK government trade delegations and bilateral forums with Hungary.
Going forward, ONR said it plans to release quarterly updates on its international regulatory cooperation work.
US lawsuit
In the USA, three states - Arizona, Florida and Louisiana - have announced that they have joined a lawsuit filed in December by Texas and Utah and microreactor developer Last Energy Inc challenging the US NRC over its application of a rule it adopted in 1956 to SMRs and research and test reactors. SMR developers Deep Fission and Valar Atomics have also joined the lawsuit.
Under the Utilization Facility Rule, all US reactors are required to obtain NRC construction and operating licences regardless of their size, the amount of nuclear material they use or the risks associated with their operation. The plaintiffs say this imposes "complicated, costly, and time-intensive requirements".
However, the NRC says it is already addressing the issue: in 2023, it began the rulemaking process to establish an optional technology-inclusive regulatory framework for new commercial advanced nuclear reactors, which would include risk-informed and performance-based methods "flexible and practicable for application to a variety of advanced reactor technologies".
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