The Nuclear Safety and Security Commission announced a "road map for building a regulatory framework for small modular reactors (SMR)" at a meeting held on the 12th. SMRs are expected to be used for a range of purposes beyond simple power generation, including ship mounting, heat supply, and hydrogen production, and are being developed to incorporate diverse and new design concepts and technical features. However, experts noted that there is a significant lag between reality and the legal framework.
According to the road map, the Nuclear Safety and Security Commission will gradually overhaul the safety regulatory framework based on existing large nuclear power plants over the next five years through 2030. First, it will expand and reorganize the existing licensing system, which defines reactors for power generation, research, and education, so that it can cover various purposes and designs such as ship use, heat supply, and hydrogen production.
At the same time, considering that each SMR has a different design and applies new and innovative technologies, it will introduce a method suitable for verifying safety. To that end, it will define licensing technical standards around core functions and requirements so operators can set methodologies appropriate for their reactors and present criteria to demonstrate safety, and it will also push to enact the "(tentative) rules on technical standards for small modular reactors."
In addition, because a comprehensive overhaul of the nuclear safety regulatory framework is underway, it will take a cautious approach by preparing detailed reform plans by 2027 and, starting in 2028, sequentially revising relevant laws and standards after collecting diverse and broad input from stakeholders. It will also seek ways to link with regulatory systems in other industries and review a full life-cycle regulatory framework covering reactor design, construction, operation, and decommissioning.
To scientifically evaluate the safety of SMRs, it will continue regulatory research and development (R&D) to develop safety verification and evaluation technologies—such as methodologies, codes, databases (DB), and equipment—that make up for the limits of applying evaluation methods for existing large nuclear power plants and can systematically verify safety characteristics by design concept.
Communication with operators (developers) will also be further strengthened to improve the predictability of licensing for new designs and technologies. A pre-review system, which allows regulatory review even before a licensing application, is being pursued for legislation with the goal of introduction within the year. Regulatory research groups by reactor type—high-temperature gas-cooled reactor (HTGR), sodium-cooled fast reactor (SFR), and molten salt reactor (MSR)—where stakeholders such as regulators, developers, and researchers discuss safety issues together, will begin operations in the first half.
The Nuclear Safety and Security Commission will also actively participate in discussions to harmonize SMR safety regulations among countries led by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), going beyond domestic licensing responses. Through this, it plans to establish a three-dimensional and organic SMR safety regulatory governance framework.
In addition, for the innovative small modular reactor (i-SMR), it set the review direction reflecting the results of prior design reviews. The innovative small modular reactor (i-SMR) is the same pressurized light-water reactor type as existing large nuclear power plants, but because a differentiated design is applied, some standards will be exempted or allowed to be demonstrated for safety in other ways. To prepare for this, the Nuclear Safety and Security Commission last year prepared the "regulation on recognizing alternative applications of reactor facility technical standards, etc." and safety review guidelines for the innovative small modular reactor (i-SMR) so that reviews can reflect new design characteristics.
However, the industry noted that there is a gap with reality in the road map announced that day.
Chung Yong-hoon, a professor in the Department of Nuclear and Quantum Engineering at KAIST, said, "This road map aims for innovative regulation, but it bears a fatal regulatory gap of a 'two-year lag' between the current moment, when licensing demand for small modular reactors is surging, and a dedicated legal framework that will only be completed after 2028," adding, "While emphasizing global standardization, it lacks practical barrier-removal measures such as accepting English-language documents for the domestic entry of foreign designs or administrative exceptions for paying review fees, so the threshold remains high to truly move toward a 'global small modular reactor hub.'"