On February 19-23, 2024, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission’s (NRC’s) International Regulatory Development Partnership (IRDP) supported a training course on small modular reactors (SMRs). The training course was hosted by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and was titled, “Interregional Training Course on Safety Aspects of SMRs and other Innovative Reactors”. The purpose of the training course was to provide an overview of the safety aspects of five SMR and advanced technology types, namely, water cooled SMRs, high-temperature gas reactors, sodium fast reactors, lead fast reactors, and molten salt reactors.
The conference was held at the IAEA headquarters in Vienna, Austria and was attended by 42 individuals from 37 countries. The participants primarily represented countries considering a nuclear power program with an SMR as its first reactor. Mr. Stewart Magruder from NRC’s contractor, Advanced Systems Technology and Management, Inc. (AdSTM) made several presentations on the status of SMR development around the world and the safety aspects of water cooled SMRs.
The participants were very engaged, and the training objectives for the week were clearly met. The IAEA is planning additional sessions of this training course in the future.