The nuclear safety authorities of six countries practiced assessing the safety of a SMR

In the project initiated by French authority, the nuclear safety authorities of six countries assessed the safety solutions of an SMR designed by NUWARD, a subsidiary of Eléctricité de France (EDF).

In addition to the Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority (STUK), participants included ASNR from France, SÚJB from the Czech Republic, ANVS from the Netherlands, SSM from Sweden and PAA from Poland.  The project was active between November 2023 and November 2025, and it was a continuation of the first phase of the assessment, involving French, Finnish and Czech authorities.

“The project has taught everyone involved how safety assessments can be carried out together in practice,” says Eero Virtanen, Principal Advisor for STUK, who was responsible for the assessment project. “During the project, we also saw how different interpretations of safety requirements can affect the final design of the nuclear reactor.”

The Nuclear Energy Act is being reformed in Finland simultaneously with the project, and STUK is drafting new regulations specifying the Act that nuclear power companies must comply with. The project has provided valuable lessons for this work.

The project did not aim to harmonise the requirements or licence practices valid in different countries. However, the final report states that considering safety issues together may streamline licensing processes. The safety of facilities may be assessed with less effort compared to each authority acting solely from their own standpoints.

Project manager Eero Virtanen deems that it was very good that more authorities participated in assessing the safety of an SMR in the second phase of the project. “This allowed us to familiarise ourselves with the requirements valid in various countries, especially with the background to these requirements and the practical applications of these requirements in different countries.”

After the first phase of the assessment project, NUWARD altered the design of the plant significantly. Eero Virtanen points out that the new design was not due to an assessment made by the authorities. He still finds it satisfying to see how well the company took the feedback received from the authorities into consideration.

Link to the report: NUWARD Joint Early Review – Closure Report Phase 2 : Main lessons learned from the phase 2 of the Nuward JER – Regulators’ perspectives