Senior Research Fellow Denise Cheong and Research Associates Nivedita S and Manisha Regalla attended a webinar organised by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) entitled ‘Advances in Reactor Technologies for Marine-based Small Modular Reactors’ on 18 May 2021. The webinar provided an overview of the reactor technologies of some of the marine-based Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) being developed, such as the ACPR50S (from the People’s Republic of China), BANDI-60 (from the Republic of Korea), KLT-40 and RITM-200 and RITM-400 (from the Russian Federation). These models are considered to have reached or are expected to reach the advanced stages of development. The webinar also highlighted the advantages and challenges of these marine-based SMRs, including safety (where it is easier to implement passive safety features), multiple applications (where these SMRs can be used not just for electricity generation but also other applications), flexibility (small site area required), competitiveness and commercial attractiveness. Speakers also highlighted the need for these models to comply with international regulations and standards, not just those from the nuclear sector but also from the maritime sector. In this regard, a key challenge is the regulatory treatment to be accorded in particular to non-self-propelled marine-based SMRs. In addition, a new paradigm for construction, siting and operation of nuclear plants was also introduced by a research team from the Massachusetts of Institute of Technology (MIT), which leverages off mature and successful technologies already in existence within the offshore oil and gas and nuclear sectors.

Opening remarks were given by Stefano Monti, Head, Nuclear Power Technology Development Section, Division of Nuclear Power, IAEA Department of Energy. The speakers were Dengcheng Sun, Senior Engineer, China Nuclear Power Technology Research Institute Co., Ltd, P.R. China; B.J. Lee, Project Manager, KEPCO E&C, Republic of Korea; Nadezhda Salnikova, Head of Business, Development Department, JSC “Afrikantov OKBM”, Russian Federation; and Michael Golay, Jacopo Buongiorno and Neil Todreas, Nuclear Science and Engineering Department, MIT, United States of America. The event was moderated by Hadid Subki, Nuclear Engineer, Nuclear Power Technology Development Section, Division of Nuclear Power, IAEA Department of Energy.