NRC Proposes New Framework to Enable High-Volume Microreactor Deployment

For decades, nuclear licensing has been built around a single assumption: reactors are large, site-built, and fundamentally one-off projects. That assumption is embedded in the NRC’s licensing framework, which centers on site-specific review of construction and operation for a single facility. Even newer pathways for small modular and advanced reactors—while more flexible—continue to rely on variations of this same model.... By: Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP