Regulatory Challenges and Licensing Efforts for Innovative Molten Salt Reactors

Molten salt reactors (MSRs) by nature and by good design have highly desirable safety features. The successful commercial deployment of MSRs depends largely on defining their safety characteristics in a well-coordinated licensing requirements programme and how they can build on previous efforts and experience in licensing conventional solid fuel reactors. The paper is intended to highlight the many challenges facing commercialization of molten liquid reactors, as well as the many perceptions and insights of the licensing and safety activities needed to provide that pathway.