American Nuclear Society Releases First Group of Position Papers on Small Modular Reactors
The American Nuclear Society formed a Presidential Special Committee on Small and Medium Sized Reactor (SMR) Generic Licensing issues in early 2010 with the goal of addressing two dozen issues that were associated with licensing SMRs. After grouping the issues into three broad categories the issues were assigned to three volunteer subcommittees:
- Subcommittee A: Licensing Framework Issues
- Subcommittee B: Licensing Application Issues
- Subcommittee C: Licensing Design and Manufacturing Issues.
The subcommittees have been asked to work with due haste to provide technical guidance. After the first six months of effort, the subcommittees have released an interim report including the first eight of an initially planned total of 14 white papers. The remaining papers are due to be completed by November 2010. The white papers will cover the following topics:
- Emergency Planning
- Passive Safety Systems
- Operations Staffing Issues Related to SMRs *
- Physical Security for Small Modular Reactors *
- Financial Issues
- Nuclear Insurance and Liability for SMRs *
- Financial Qualifications
- Decommissioning Fund
* – these are the titles of the first eight white papers that were released on September 3, 2010.
Hat tip to Dan Yurman at Idaho Samizdat for his excellent coverage of the relationship between the ANS effort and the efforts of other organizations, including the NRC, that are identifying and suggesting resolutions to issues associated with the development and licensing of small and medium sized reactors. Dan’s post was mirrored on The Energy Collective under the title of Stand up double for SMRs
What is your estimation, when is the first small reactor ready for the market and wich one is it?
Interesting! Papers on paper reactors.
@Kit P – can you name me a single reactor ever built anywhere that did not begin on paper?
By the way, the NuScale guys were at the ANS Utility working group meeting describing how they are using CAD/CAM to enable a situation where they never need paper drawings. Maybe technology has moved on to the point where the Rickover appellation of “paper reactor” needs to be updated to be “digital reactor” until the inevitable happens and at least some of the digits turn into metal and concrete structures that actually begin producing power.
At some point, the naysayers may end up wondering what happened to their ordered little worlds where nothing new ever gets built to disturb the establishment.
Tell you what, when the NRC has a public meeting for small reactors I will go and speak in favor of it. In the meantime, I will keep being skeptical of slick marketing.
@Kit P – I guess I missed seeing you at the October 8, 2009 NRC workshop on small and medium reactors. I am sure you were there to speak out. If you want to read one of the documents that the staff prepared as a result of that meeting, you can find it at
http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/commission/secys/2010/secy2010-0034/2010-0034scy.html
You are also so right about the American Nuclear Society (ANS) – just a bunch of slick marketers in that professional technical society. (End sarcasm.)
Last October I was busy designing a new reactors. This year too. Let me know when there is a public meeting for a COL not a workshop. Things like COL and DC being review by the NRC are kind of an indication that there is a serious plan to build a small nuke.
Changing the goalposts halfway through the game doesn’t enhance your cred.