R550.1 Survey of Design and Regulatory Requirements for New Small Reactors

1.0 Background

There is growing international interest and activity in the development of small nuclear reactor technology. The increased interest is due partly to the high capital cost of large power reactors generating electricity and partly due to the need to produce process heat and serve remote locations with small electricity grids. Some reactors may be built stand-alone or as modules in a larger complex, with capacity added incrementally as required.

Various types of small reactors are currently operating worldwide and there is continuing interest in the development and licensing application of new small reactors. Many countries are applying innovative concepts in the development of new small reactors, for example, passive, simpler and smaller design. Each reactor under the development and licensing process has different types of design features to accommodate various applications such as electricity generation, process heat or district heat.

A number of vendors are interested in building a small reactor in Canada. As a result, the pre-vendor design review in CNSC is being undertaken for mPower of Babcock &Wilcox while other potential vendors are expected.

2.0 Objectives

This research project is sought to identify various types of small reactor designs, the requirements of foreign regulators and a discussion of any technical or licensing issues for those reactors.

3.0 Scope of Work

The scope of work includes: - collecting high-level design information, including claimed safety innovations, for new small reactors specified in Task 4.1; - collecting and reviewing regulatory design requirement documents from Russia, Korea, Argentina, China and the United States to assess their approach and methodology used to review the design of new small reactors; and - identifying any potential technical and licensing challenges for new small reactors.

4.0 Tasks to be Performed

4.1 Assess the key safety features and claimed technological innovation for the following new small reactors: 1) UNITHERM (under development); 2) VEBR-300 (licensing stage); 3) SMART (licensed); 4) CAREM (licensing stage); 5) StarCore (under development); 6) NHR-200 (under development); and 7) mPower (under development).

4.2 Identify the regulatory approach and methodology used to review the design of new small reactors in the following countries: Russia, Korea, Argentina, China and the United States. This task requires a review of regulatory design requirement documents that are relevant to small reactors for the aforementioned countries. Exempt from this task is analysis for StarCore from Canada.

4.3 Based on the completion of Tasks 4.1 and 4.2, identify any potential technical or licensing challenges related to new small reactors in the aforementioned countries. Summarize the (regulatory/vendor) approach to address these technical or licensing challenges.

---- Bid Solicitation 87055-13-0160 Q&A #1 R550.1 Survey of Design and Regulatory Requirements for New Small Reactors Q1. In Attachment 1 to Part 4, Evaluation Procedures, section 3 Detailed Scoring Grid a) R5: ½ point for formal project management training: would an MBA degree count as formal project management training? A1a. Possession of an MBA degree or PMP certification would be graded equally, one point. b) R6.1: ‘The bidder has demonstrated access to current reliable information sources’: what qualifies as ‘current and reliable’ information? Also, what would be accepted as a ‘demonstration of access’ to information? A1b. Current and reliable information reflects information that is available, not out of date, and originating from a vendor, agency, nuclear organization, conference paper or peer reviewed journal. Q2. What kind of foreground information is available from the CNSC and how would a contractor have access to it? A2. The contractor should not expect any disclosure of foreground information from the CNSC. Q3. Are there any previous studies that can be referenced, or would this be the first CNSC survey on small reactors? A3. This is the first study of this nature. Q4. Does CNSC have a preferred contact list in other regulatory bodies in Russia, South Korea, Argentina, China and US? Would it be permissible to contact them with a CNSC referral upon the contract award? A4. Indeed the CNSC can provide a list of regulatory contacts as well as prepare a referral upon contract award. Q5. In ANNEX “A” STATEMENT OF WORK, Section 4.1, ‘2) VEBR-300 (licensing stage)

---- Bid Solicitation 87055-13-0160 Amendment #2 R550.1 Survey of Design and Regulatory Requirements for New Small Reactors 1) The closing date is changed as follows: Delete: October 4, 2013 Insert: October 16, 2013 2) The Statement of Work has been revised as follows: a) 3.0 Scope of Work as been updated (changes in bold): 3.0 Scope of Work The scope of work includes: - collecting high-level design information, including claimed safety innovations, for new small reactors specified in Task 4.1; - collecting and reviewing regulatory design requirement documents from Russia, Korea, Argentina, China and the United States to assess their approach and methodology used to review the design of new small reactors; - identifying research and development activities that support new small reactor design; - identifying new small reactor vendor response to Fukushima; and - identifying any potential technical and licensing challenges for new small reactors. b) 4.0 Tasks to be Performed as been updated (changes in bold): 4.0 Tasks to be Performed 4.1 Assess the key safety features and claimed technological innovation for the following new small reactors: 1) UNITHERM (under development); 2) VBER-300 (licensing stage); 3) SMART (licensed); 4) CAREM (licensing stage); 5) StarCore (under development); 6) NHR-200 (under development); and 7) mPower (under development). 4.2 Identify the regulatory approach and methodology used to review the design of new small reactors in the following countries: Russia, Korea, Argentina, China and the United States. This task requires a review of regulatory design requirement documents that are relevant to small reactors for the aforementioned countries. Exempt from this task is analysis for StarCore from Canada. 4.3 Respond to the following items: 1) Identify research and development activities that support new small reactor design, including claimed technological innovations and key safety features. 2) Identify new small reactor vendor responses to the event encountered at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear site. 4.4 Based on the completion of Tasks 4.1 through 4.3, identify any potential technical or licensing challenges related to new small reactors in the aforementioned countries. Summarize the (regulatory/vendor) approach to address these technical or licensing challenges