Ukraine Implements Pre-licensing Regulatory Review for New Nuclear Facilities

On 19 October, the SNRIU Board approved the draft regulation “Provisions for Pre-licensing Review of Nuclear Facility’s Design”, developed by SSTC NRS with the support of the US Brookhaven National Laboratory. This regulation initiates the implementation of the pre-licensing review process, allowing cooperation between design organizations, nuclear technology suppliers, and operating organization and the regulatory body to commence as early as the stage of design development for new nuclear facilities to be potentially deployed in Ukraine.

The rapid development of innovative reactor designs is driven by humanity’s desire to move away from older generation technologies. The world is increasingly committed to technologies that are safer, more environmentally friendly, and more promising in terms of technical progress. Nevertheless, the development of new nuclear facility designs poses new challenges not only to scientists, experts, and designers but also to regulatory bodies, whose functions include reviewing the designs for compliance with regulatory requirements and rules on nuclear and radiation safety and assessing their potential for licensing.

Countries such as the United States, Great Britain, and Canada implemented pre-licensing review procedures to reduce the uncertainties of regulatory findings from nuclear and radiation safety reviews of new nuclear facility designs. This procedure, while not mandatory or part of the formal licensing process, is conducted by the state nuclear regulatory body upon request of the designer, operating organization, or another interested organization or institution. The procedure involves a preliminary review of the design documents and safety justifications for a new nuclear facility before an application is submitted for a construction and commissioning license and is aimed at identifying potential obstacles that may significantly complicate or prevent the issuance of a license.

As a country envisioning the development of the energy sector in its post-war recovery program, Ukraine must be prepared for new challenges today.

After analyzing in detail the experience of the USA, Great Britain, and Canada, SSTC NRS experts developed their own pre-licensing review procedure, drawing from Canada’s approach, which is performed in three phases.

“The first phase involves an overall assessment of the design, its features and approaches, and its compliance with the fundamental principles and criteria of ensuring nuclear and radiation safety. The second phase includes a detailed analysis of the submittals for compliance with the requirements of national standards and regulations on nuclear and radiation safety. If there are no regulatory provisions for individual aspects, compliance is assessed against the requirements and recommendations of international organizations. The third phase involves a detailed review of the submittals in the technical areas where potential issues were identified in the previous phases. These may require significant changes to the nuclear facility design, methodology, and safety justifications. They can lead to significant complications in the licensing process or even make it impossible to obtain a construction license for the nuclear facility based on this design”, noted Oleg Zhabin, Head of SSTC NRS Thermal Hydraulic and Probabilistic Safety Analysis Department.