6th INPRO Dialogue Forum on Global Nuclear Energy Sustainability:
Licensing and Safety Issues for Small and Medium-sized
Nuclear Power Reactors (SMRs)
29 July - 2 August 2013
IAEA Headquarters, Vienna, Austria
Day 1
Member State Presentation to the Plenary
CANADA
Mr. Marcel de Vos
Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission
What kinds of SMRs might be deployed in Canada?
2
Possible SMR Options in the South?
Generation mPower
(~ 180 MWe/unit)
Pre-Licensing Vendor Design Review
Phase 1 pending start
Some others being investigated by Utilities:
Hitachi DMS Modular BWR (300 MWe/unit)
KAERI-SMART (100 MWe/unit)
CNEA-CAREM (27 MWe/unit)
NuScale Power (45 MWe/unit)
CNNC ACP-100 (100 MWe/unit)
Some Factors Affecting Technology Choices?
Water cooled (familiar technology)
Westinghouse SMR (200 MWe/unit)
Compatibility with smaller grids
Being built in home country? (no ‘orphan plant’)
Deployable in near future? (can apply for
construction license in 5 years)
Long term cost competitiveness with natural gas
and clean coal
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29 July-2 August 2013
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Industrial Power Challenges in the North
Diavik Diamond Mine
Daivik Diamond Mine - NWT
Power plant
Five diesel generators @ 4.4 MWe
Four diesel generators @ 1.25 MWe.
Two diesel generators @ 3.3 MWe.
11 units
total - 33.6 MWe
Boiler plant
Three diesel fired boilers @ 7 MWt
Photos: courtesy Dunedin Energy Systems Ltd
300 km by
air from nearest
210 km north of the Arctic Circle
city (Yellowknife NWT,
population ≈ 20,000
Fuel Storage
110 million litres
- Delivered by ice-road or, in
emergency, by aircraft
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Public Power Challenges in the North
Permanent population ….. 230
Location ……. 900 Km north of the Arctic Circle
Average daytime temperature -32.50C (winter)
Electricity cost (after subsidy)…..90.74¢ kWh
NOWHERE TO EVACUATE TO IN EMERGENCY – AIR RESCUE ONLY IF
WEATHER PERMITS
Photos: courtesy Dunedin Energy Systems Ltd
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Very Small SMRs for the North?
Possible designs?
StarCore (StarCore Canada – 10 MWe/ unit
HTG)
StarCore HTG
Reactor
Some Factors Affecting Technology Choices?
No evacuation of popuation
No more than ~10 MWe (deep load-following)
UNITHERM (NIKIET Russian Federation- 2.5
MWe/unit PWR)
KLT-40S (OKBM, Russian FederationBarge reactor – 35 MWe/unit)
SEALER (Sweden, 10 MWe/ unit based on
European Lead Cooled Training Reactor)
No on-site refuelling (replaceable and transportable reactor ‘cartridges’)
ELECTRA
(0.5 MWe)
Long core in-service life
Autonomous operation / remote monitoring and control capabilities
Capability to supply process steam for heating
Deployable in near future? (can apply for construction license in 10 years)
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Long term cost competitiveness with fossil fuels
CNSC’s Continuum of Requirements
for Nuclear Reactors
Nuclear Power Plant (NPP):
a fission reactor with a thermal
power approximately greater than
200 MWt (about 75 MW electrical
output)
SMRs “live” in here
Small Reactor: a fission
reactor with a thermal
power approximately less
than 200 MWt
RD-337 Design Requirements
RD-367 Design Requirements
10 MWe
180 MWe
Example:
Example:
B&W mPower
StarCore
Module
6th IAEA INPRO Dialogue Forum on Licensing and Safety Issues
Pool Reactor
29 July-2 August 2013
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Regulatory Requirements that Ensure Safety
While Permitting Flexible Approaches
Requirements written at a level that allows proponent to
propose how they will be met.
Example: RD-367, § 8.8 Emergency Heat Removal System
The design shall include an emergency heat removal system
(EHRS), which provides for removal of residual heat to ensure
fuel design limits and reactor coolant boundary condition
limits are met.
Grading or use of alternatives is permitted but safety
case must provide a clear explanation where this is done.
Requirements are not relaxed in grading. It is important to
understand the safety intent behind requirements.
6th IAEA INPRO Dialogue Forum on Licensing and Safety Issues
29 July-2 August 2013
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Developing more detailed requirements:
Example: Emergency Planning / Response
• SMR proponents are claiming their designs should
result in reduced emergency planning
• New REGDOC-2.10.1 Emergency Management and Fire
Protection: Nuclear Emergency Preparedness and
Response is being written with this in mind
• The CNSC will determine what is acceptable in meeting
requirements based on an applicant’s or licensee’s
supporting arguments (e.g. safety analysis, design info
etc.)
6th IAEA INPRO Dialogue Forum on Licensing and Safety Issues
29 July-2 August 2013
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Pre-Licensing Engagement
Early engagement with regulator is recommended
Future Licensee
- Am I interpreting requirements
-
-
correctly?
How does the licensing process
work?
What level of detail is needed in
licensing submissions
How to address ‘special needs’
around existing codes and
standards?
Is regulator involvement needed in
early project activities?
Technology Vendor
• Do I understand the Canadian
Approach? (regulatory language)
• Am I interpreting requirements
correctly?
• Will my design be licensable in
Canada?
• will any aspects of the design need
to be adjusted?
• any fundamental barriers to
licensing?
6th IAEA INPRO Dialogue Forum on Licensing and Safety Issues
29 July-2 August 2013
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What is a Vendor Design Review ?
A tool that reduces uncertainties
This optional process allows CNSC to evaluate whether:
• The vendor understands Canadian regulatory requirements and the
design will meet regulatory requirements for design and safety analysis
(among other things)
• A resolution path exists for any design issues identified in the review
• It helps vendors determine their state of readiness
• This process is used for evaluating designs before an applicant
references the design in a construction licence application
Certification is not currently done in Canada – numbers of projects have not
justified the need. Efficiencies in licensing exist already after the First of a Kind
project has gone through licensing
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6th IAEA INPRO Dialogue Forum on Licensing and Safety Issues
29 July-2 August 2013
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Flexible Licensing Process
• Existing licensing process suitable for SMRs - already
allows for parallel licensing reviews depending on the
applicant’s (and vendor’s) state of readiness and quality
of submissions.
• CNSC has committed to fixed review timelines
Review Environmental
Impact Statement and
Licence to Prepare Site
Application
Review Licence to
Construct
Application
Review Licence to
Operate Application
6th IAEA INPRO Dialogue Forum on Licensing and Safety Issues
29 July-2 August 2013
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In closing….
• CNSC is well situated to engage with proponents of SMR
reactors in design reviews or licensing discussions
• A risk-informed (graded) approach is possible in many
instances for reactors but it is not a relaxation of
requirements
• The vendor design review process helps reduce
regulatory risks by encouraging early engagement
• Regulatory requirements and guidance for design and
safety analysis are established and development of more
specific requirements and guidance is well underway for
small reactors (in the meantime, they already exist for
NPPs)
6th IAEA INPRO Dialogue Forum on Licensing and Safety Issues
29 July-2 August 2013
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