A Response to the Regulatory Safety Challenges for New Reactor Technologies

In addressing a main objective of the International Conference on Topical Issues in Nuclear Installation Safety, the paper present a response to the regulatory safety challenges for new reactor technologies, including evolutionary and innovative reactor designs, on the basis of the Argentine regulatory experience. It is now recognized that new reactor technologies and designs generate increased interest, as technologies are maturing and plans to deploy these technologies are being made. In Argentina this interest started many years ago: a prototype of this types of reactors was developed and it is in construction: the reactor CAREM. The challenge for the Argentine Nuclear Regulatory Authority (ARN), therefore, refers to a real present rather than to a supposed future.