Regulatory Cooperation Council work plan for small modular reactors

On August 15, 2019, a memorandum of cooperation (MOC) was signed between the President of the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission (CNSC) and the Chair of the United States Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to enable specific cooperation on the regulation of activities involving small modular reactors (SMRs) and advanced reactor designs.

• Read the CNSC announcement
• Read the NRC announcement (PDF, 1 page, 215 KB)

Under the terms of this MOC, the CNSC and NRC may take each others’ experiences, regulatory information and results into account when conducting technology assessments for the purposes of feedback to vendors or making recommendations for regulatory decisions. The Joint Reports produced out of this collaboration are published here: Joint Reports | NRC.gov

In September 2022, the NRC and CNSC signed a charter documenting collaboration on a new project under the MOC covering both countries’ interest in the BWRX-300 SMR design. The Tennessee Valley Authority and Ontario Power Generation are working together on the industry side to share experience and enhance design standardization. The CNSC and NRC collaboration is intended to reduce duplication of licensing review efforts, jointly utilize third party verification, identify areas for collaborative verification, share expertise and leverage analysis performed by each organization.

On March 12, 2024, the CNSC, the NRC and the United Kingdom’s Office for Nuclear Regulation (ONR) signed a historic trilateral MOC on advanced reactor and SMR technologies. The trilateral MOC is publicly available: ML24066A026. The trilateral MOC supersedes the individual bilateral MOCs (i.e., NRC-CNSC, CNSC-ONR). In addition to trilateral cooperation, the MOC allows for continued bilateral engagements between any of the three parties. Under the terms of this MOC, the CNSC, ONR, and NRC may take each others’ experiences, regulatory information and results into account when conducting technology assessments for the purposes of feedback to vendors or making recommendations for regulatory decisions. This new agreement provides a framework for the exchange of information, sharing of best practices, and development of joint products with the objective of strengthening collective regulatory effectiveness to ensure the safe and efficient deployment and operation of new nuclear technologies, as regulators adapt to a changing landscape in the nuclear sector.

During the September 4, 2024, Canada-U.S. Regulatory Cooperation Council (RCC) meeting, the parties acknowledged that cross-border regulatory barriers have not been identified. Recognizing that under the trilateral MOC a committee meets periodically to establish work plans, deliverables, and priorities, the CNSC and NRC jointly agreed to close the SMRs RCC workplan item.