The Multinational Design Evaluation Programme (MDEP) organised its first brainstorming workshop dedicated to light-water small, medium and modular reactors (LW-SMMR) on 10-11 June 2024. Held in a hybrid format in Ankara, Türkiye, the event brought together regulators, designers and researchers to tackle current challenges and regulatory expectations surrounding LW-SMMR designs.
Nearly 80 attendees representing 23 countries and international organisations engaged in the workshop sessions on a range of topics. Discussions covered the application of the first principle of the Vienna Declaration, materials selection, the future of SMMR recycling, validation and verification of codes, fuel safety, research needs, the implementation of Probabilistic Safety Assessment (PSA), and defense-in-depth strategies.
This event highlighted MDEP's dedication to promoting the highest standards of safety in the deployment of nuclear technologies. The insights and outcomes from this workshop will be instrumental in establishing a new working group within MDEP.