Harmonizing international regulatory processes for new reactor designs will be a significant focus for the licensing aspect of cooperation in nuclear technology exports. The US, Korea, and other developed nations each have their own regulatory body that may also have their own individual challenges. For example, in the United States, the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission (US NRC) has undergone a number of significant revisions to its process and modernization actions to be able to handle the innovative designs of the next generation of nuclear reactors. Similarly, other countries will have to adapt their processes for the new wave of SMRs and ARs as well. However, if a developer wishes to enter multiple markets with one technology, regulatory harmonization will be crucial in reducing the regulatory barriers to wide, global deployment of certain technologies. If each technology developer has to pay the same cost and time resources to license their design in every new market, the barriers will be too high. There have been examples of international regulatory cooperation in the past, and these examples can be learning lessons for how to harmonize regulations moving forward.
