The timing of the next generation of reactors will be critical to the nuclear industry’s ability to deliver
climate change solutions. The next generation of reactors requires a new source of fuel, but the fuel may be
ready before the reactors are regulated, built and commercialized. It has been suggested that utilizing
existing Gen-II designs integrated into a modern power plant could be a more timely solution for nuclear
power. Regulatory harmonization is a significant barrier to the wide global deployment of advanced nuclear
technologies such as SMRs. Standardizing designs and regulations for the SMR fleet would significantly
improve the time to market, and lessons can be learned from other industry regulation sectors such as the
aviation sector for mass producing airplanes safely, or the space sector for adapting regulations of new re-
entry rockets rapidly.
