Some advanced water cooled SMR designs incorporate novel technical features and components targeting a reduced design and operation and maintenance complexity. Some of these technical features and components, e. g., in-vessel steam generators or compact containment designs, may challenge the practices of periodical in-service inspections established for the current generation of water cooled reactors. The designers are likely to be requested to provide explicit justifications of the reduced periodicity and scope of the inspections and maintenance with respect to such novel components/features. Licensing may proceed more smoothly in those countries which have experience of the implementation of such novel features in the reactors for non-civil applications, e. g., marine propulsion reactors.

Non water cooled SMRs may face licensing challenges in those countries where national regulations are not technology neutral, based on rules and firmly rooted in the established water cooled reactor practice. Countries with certain experience in particular technologies of non water cooled reactors will have an advantage.

Some national regulatory authorities may face a deficit of the qualified staff with expertise in the areas relevant to the design and technology of non water cooled reactors. Staffing problems may arise even in countries that have mastered such technologies in the past but discontinued their development long ago.

Modifying national regulations to a technology neutral approach provides a natural solution to this issue. Some countries, e. g., the Russian Federation and the United Kingdom, have national regulations that are already technology neutral. Specifically, in addition to PWRs (VVER) the Russian Federation has an operating sodium cooled fast reactor (and is building another one) and a number of operating light water cooled graphite moderated reactors of the RBMK type. The United Kingdom has an operating PWR but still operates 19 older design gas cooled reactors and had operated a sodium cooled fast reactor in the past. The experience of these countries could be useful to others. Recently, the IAEA has started a number of activities to interpret the documents of its Safety Standards series for application to the non water cooled reactors.