Document: NRC Regulatory Guide
Document ID: db0c5d18-2d27-4720-8935-40b402e52f9a
Document Type: regulatory_guide
Title: Guidance for a Technology-Inclusive, Risk-Informed, and Performance-Based Methodology to Inform the Licensing Basis and Content of Applications for Licenses, Certifications, and Approvals for Non-Light Water Reactors + HISTORY - HISTORY 05/2019 – Issued DG-1353 , Proposed Revision 0
Source: NRC Regulatory Guide Division 1
Source URL: https://www.nrc.gov/docs/ML1831/ML18312A242.pdf
Revision Date: 2023-06
Chapter: 
Section ID: RG-1.233
CFR Part: 
CFR Title: 

Content:
n key licensing issues influencing the design and content of applications for high-temperature, gas-cooled reactors. In 2013, the NRC, in coordination with DOE, began work on the initiative to develop guidance for principal design criteria (PDC) for non-LWRs. The NRC provided such guidance on PDCs following extensive interactions with stakeholders when it issued RG 1.232 in April 2018. The Licensing Modernization Project (LMP) was a cost-shared initiative led by nuclear utilities and supported by DOE. The LMP developed technology-inclusive, risk-informed, and performance-based non-LWR licensing methods. The LMP refined the Next Generation Nuclear Plant Program methodologies to reflect interactions with the NRC, feedback from industry, and broadening of the scope to ensure applicability to various non-LWR technologies. The LMP activities led to the publication and submittal of NEI 18-04. Intended Use of This Regulatory Guide This RG contains the NRC staff’s general guidance on using the methodology described in NEI 18-04 to select LBEs, classify SSCs, assess the adequacy of a design in terms of providing layers of DID, identify appropriate programmatic controls, and help determine the appropriate scope and level of detail for information provided in applications for licenses, permits, certifications, and approvals for DG-1353, Page 8 advanced non-LWR designs. The design and licensing of nuclear reactors are complicated processes that involve many technical and regulatory issues. This complexity is reflected in the hundreds of RGs and other documents issued to support the regulation and oversight of LWRs. Much of the guidance available for LWRs is prescriptive and not readily applicable to other reactor technologies. The design process and related development of licensing-basis information is iterative, involving assessments and decisions on key SSCs, operating parameters, and programmatic controls to ensure that a reactor can be deployed without posing undue risk