A former Nuclear Regulatory Commissioner says a step-by-step licensing process for advanced nuclear reactors would be better than the commission’s current “all or nothing” approach that leaves developers in the dark before getting answers on whether they can move forward with their design.

At an House Energy and Commerce subcommittee hearing Friday, legislators discussed H.R. 4979, introduced by Rep. Bob Latta (R-Ohio), a measure to help the NRC develop new framework for advanced reactor licensing and promote civilian research and development of advanced nuclear energy technologies.

“I think right now, one of the disadvantages of the current system is it’s sort of all or nothing,” Jeffrey S. Merrifield, chairman of the Nuclear Infrastructure Council’s Advanced Reactors Task Force and former NRC commissioner. “You have to put in your license application and wait a very long period of time to determine whether the NRC is going to find that to be acceptable. For the advanced reactor community, having a step-wise process that is envisioned by your bill, would allow early interaction with the NRC and an early indication of whether that design may be licensable.”

The new process would allow developers to find additional areas of funding to move forward with projects if the NRC decides to move in the direction of granting a license, and allows them to make informed business decisions if NRC decides the project would be too difficult or not able to receive a license, Merrifield said.

In his written testimony, Merrifield said NRC’s current process is not cost- or time-transparent and requires large up-front costs. He pointed to the Canadian Nuclear Safety Commission’s licensing conceptual design review process of advanced reactor designs as a model for NRC’s updated process.

“The CNSC process is robust and graduated. It requires vendors to reach discrete milestones that allow investors to assess the technology’s licensablity and identify any potentially significant issues,” Merrifield wrote. “It features an upfront Vendor Design Review to provide an early regulatory signal on the licensing feasibility of potential designs for less than $5 million. The early phases of this program would provide interim indications to allow the investment community to understand the licensablity of the design without having to wait until the end of the licensing process, which can take eight to ten years.”