The Regulatory Approval Process and NuScale's SMR

NuScale’s SMR design addresses NRC licensing requirements with two distinct advantages. First, NuScale’s SMR is designed with fewer systems and demonstrates greater simplicity. Second, the elegantly simple NuScale plant provides greater levels of safety that translate into larger operating margins and more flexible design solutions for support systems.

Licensing the NuScale SMR and power plant pursuant to 10 CFR part 52 allows for pre-application engagement with the NRC to facilitate the regulatory review process. NuScale Power has been in the forefront of this pre-application engagement and has had continuing discussions with the NRC since 2008, providing for greater NRC design familiarity with this innovative design. These discussions increase efficiencies with regard to the NRC review of NuScale SMR and power plant.

Besides the pre-application engagement with the NRC, NuScale Power has other resources available to enhance the design certification process. The NuScale Integral System Test facility (NIST) was designed and built at Oregon State University which will assist in the verification and validation of key analytical tools and assumptions. NuScale Power also has a main control room simulator which demonstrates the robustness of the NuScale design under transient conditions and will aid in the development of Human Factors analyses and address operational issues.

Read an informative fact sheet on the review and certification project published by the Nuclear Energy Institute.

Learn about NuScale's status in the regulatory process.

Read about the NRC Licensing Process.
Read about the NRC NuScale Project pages.
Projected Timeline of NRC Review and Approval
Projected Timeline of NRC Review and Approval (click to expand)