DEVELOPING OF NUCLEAR ENERGY SYSTEM ON A BASE OF TRANSPORTABLE NUCLEAR POWER PLANTS

DEVELOPING OF NUCLEAR ENERGY SYSTEM ON A BASE OF TRANSPORTABLE NUCLEAR POWER PLANTS Introduction E.P. Velikhov, V.P. Kuznetsov, V.F. Demin (NRC KI, Moscow, Russia) This paper presents the background, results, current status and next tasks for the Russian study of legal/institutional support issues with respect to transportable nuclear power plants. This study was performed in 2008-2010 in the framework of the IAEA International Project INPRO. Scientific supervisor of this study is Evgeny P. Velikhov, President of NRC Kurchatov Institute. Coordinator of this study is Vyacheslav P. Kuznetsov (NRC Kurchatov Institute ). The study was performed by a team of Russian specialists representing relevant enterprises and institutions of Rosatom State Corporation, Russian Academy of Sciences, nuclear shipbuilding industry, NRC Kurchatov Institute and other organizations in close cooperation with IAEA experts. The study is funded under state contracts Rosatom with NRC "Kurchatov Institute", and partly directly by NRC Kurchatov Institute. The principal point of this paper is to set the task of further investigation of small nuclear power system, including both small capacity nuclear power plants and all types and forms of legal/institutional/infrastructural support to their lifecycles. This vision of further prospects has developed in the course of the above study and in view of growing interest to small nuclear energy and respective identification of its specific features. Transportable Nuclear Power Plants (TNPPs) - a definition born in the IAEA in 2008 and adopted within the INPRO Project - is a special case of Small Modular Reactors (SMRs). The last term was defined by the French Party to the 6th INPRO Dialogue Forum in Vienna of Summer 2013 and realistically addressing the specific features of small nuclear energy considered in the above study. International project inpro and the issues of legal and institutional support of transportable nuclear energy In the end of 2000, the IAEA has launched its International Project on Innovative Nuclear Reactors and Fuel Cycles INPRO - as the global nuclear community s response to the UN Millennium Summit initiative of Russian President Vladimir Putin, who suggested innovative nuclear energy to be used as a basis for energy supplies for the sustainable development of mankind, cardinal solution of nuclear non-proliferation issues and environmental remediation of our planet. INPRO explores issues and conditions of efficient and safe development of innovative nuclear energy facilities and their respective lifecycles. The INPRO project attracted much attention and today has 40 members, including both developing economies, leading nuclear states and international organizations. It is recognized by the international community and highly appreciated in resolutions of IAEA General Conferences. Russia plays a key role in INPRO. The year 2007 has marked the completion of INPRO Phase I, which resulted in the development and testing of INPRO Methodology as a tool intended to assess the conformity of innovative nuclear energy systems (INPS) and relevant fuel cycles to contemporary conditions and requirements of sustainable development, as concerns their affordability, efficiency and safety. Tested by national expert authorities, approved by the IAEA Member States participating in INPRO and crystallizing 60 years of nuclear power experience, this Methodology today has become a standard IAEA tool for INPS assessment. INPRO Phase II started in 2007 and still continues. Phase II activities include joint studies of vital nuclear energy development issues being performed by common-interest groups

of INPRO members. One of these studies - initially suggested by Russia - is dedicated to Issues of legal and institutional support of a nuclear energy system based on TNPPs. Transportable nuclear power plants are SMRs with their lifecycles implemented on a single transportable platform, or SNPPs assembled onsite of transportable factory-built modules (and removed from this site in the same manner). Today the term transportable with respect to such facilities is in common use within INPRO. In 1950-70ies, at the first surge of interest towards such facilities, transportable SMRs with their lifecycles implemented on a single transport platform - SMRs assembled onsite of transportable factory-built modules and dismantled after operation were called portable. At the 6th INPRO Dialogue Forum (August 2013, Vienna), French participants from EDF suggested to treat the known abbreviation of SMR as Small Modular Reactor to define serial factory-built small nuclear power plants. Pilot TNPPs are well-known transportable facilities such as TES-3 and PAMIR (USSR), Sturgis (USA) and the floating nuclear power block Akademik Lomonosov, which is currently under construction in St. Petersburg (Fig. 1). Fig. 1. Launching of floating nuclear power block Akademik Lomonosov at the Baltic plant, St. Petersburg Pursuing the general line set by INPRO Action Plans of various years, the Russian team worked in accordance with its own plan [1], and regularly exchanged information with the IAEA expert community. Transportable nuclear power in the global cooperation framework TNPP-based nuclear energy development is considered in the global cooperation framework (Fig. 2): TNPP services User (INPRO terminology); TNPP services Holder (INPRO terminology); Third Party; IAEA.

IAEA Nuclear technologies and law, nonproliferation, safety guidance recommendations and supervision HOLDER OF NUCLEAR POWER SERVICES MAX Outsourcing Scenario USER OF NUCLEAR POWER SERVICES.Pays for market product only.. THIRD PARTY No damage! Fig. 2. Transportable nuclear energy in the global cooperation framework According to the IAEA, the User is understood as the end user of nuclear energy products of a TNPP-based NES. Under the Maximum outsourcing scenario, minimal nuclear responsibility of the User is defined on the basis of general approaches to be established by the international nuclear legislation. The User s involvement in the production of nuclear energy services is to be determined individually for each specific project. In the accordance with the INPRO approaches, the Holder is responsible for all aspects of a TNPP-based NES, except the User liability areas to be determined in the framework of international conventions and also individually for each specific project. The Third Party represents the interests of environment and the public, not involved in the implementation of this nuclear energy project. International laws and conventions, national standards and rules, as well as intergovernmental agreements, protect the Third Party s interests from any undesirable consequences of nuclear energy project implementation. The IAEA, according to the established procedure, regulates the issues of nuclear energy application and issues of guideline recommendations for safe and efficient development of TNPPs on the basis of its global nuclear energy development experience. Small nuclear power plants in the developing economies The growing demand for SNPPs is confirmed by the following facts: According to the IAEA, some tens designs of small (up to 300 MWe) nuclear power units are now offered by leading international and national developers; As suggested by the US party of the Russia US working group on civil energy established following the commission of Russian and U.S. Presidents at St. Petersburg G8 Summit of 2006, a subgroup on Exportable reactors was organized in order to jointly assess the deployment of small and medium civil NPPs; The US Program Global Nuclear Energy Partnership (GNEP, 2006) has announced its intention to supply some hundreds moderate-capacity reactors to developing countries; American Nuclear Society and Nuclear Society of Russia have signed a joint statement on cooperation in the field of small and medium nuclear power reactors; Construction of the world s first floating nuclear power block Akademik Lomonosov with two KLT-40S icebreaker type reactors (total capacity 70 MWe)

and of the pilot onshore nuclear unit based on lead-bismuth-cooled SVBR reactors (total capacity 100 MWe) is currently underway in Russia. Many developing countries have expressed their intention to rely on nuclear energy in developing their industry and social sphere. NPPs with moderate capacities are considered to be the best suited for such countries in view of their economic and geographical features. In the United States, the NRC is currently considering the licensing of new two SMR designs: mpower (150 МW(el.)), and NuScale (45 МW(el.)). On the development and licensing of these projects funds were allocated from the budget of the U.S. government. Public/private companies were established for future fabrication of these SMRs, which, according to reports, are to be used directly in the US territory. In 2013/2014 years a number of national and international events (conferences, symposia, meetings, etc.) on the prospects and problems of nuclear energy, based on SMRs, took place. 6th INPRO Dialogue Forum on Sustainable Development of the global nuclear energy industry: licensing and reactor safety of low and medium power, 29.07-02.0-8.2013, IAEA, Vienna, Austria. International Conference "Nuclear power plants of low power are the actual direction of the development of nuclear energy," 03-05 December, 2013, Nuclear Safety Institute, Moscow. 4th Annual Conference of the United States on SMRs, Charlotte, United States, March 31 - April 1, 2014. International Symposium on small modular reactors (SMR2014), 15-17 April 2014, Washington, DC, United States (symposium was organized by the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME)). Consulting meeting of the IAEA "Technology trends of small modular reactors", 22.04.2014-04.24.2014, Corvallis, USA. These and some other objective circumstances make it important to study the issues of TNPPs development under the IAEA auspices. Initial assumptions for the study Initial assumptions for the Russian study were regularly updated and currently look as follows: Due to transportability condition, the capacity range below 100 MWe is considered. The User of TNPP services is interested in receiving energy only, claims no ownership of nuclear technology/material, doesn t own/operate the TNPP, and, thus, incurs only a small liability in connection with nuclear energy use. The IAEA defines this scenario as Maximum outsourcing. The User uses the TNPP on a temporary basis, with the plant supposed to repeatedly undergo normal shutdown, cooldown, delivery to a new site and (multiple) restart(s) of operation. In contrast to traditional large NPPs, which use construction technologies, TNPPs use serial industrial production technologies. TNPP sitting, commissioning/decommissioning, operation and removal from operating site reduce onsite works to installation, assembling and startup only. All operations with nuclear fuel take place either at the TNPPs manufacturer plant or in a regional TNPPs service center. Throughout the whole TNPP lifecycle, the Holder incurs ultimate liability for all process operations with the plant itself. TNPP lifecycle Either the User can buy a TNPP together with all its nuclear liability implications, or the Holder can assume liability for the complete TNPP lifecycle with the User paying for nothing except nuclear power and incurring minimal liability in connection with its use. The latter

scenario defined by the IAEA as Maximum outsourcing was selected as a basis for the Russian study hereof. Between these two extremities, other scenarios are possible for TNPPs: they may be taken on rent or lease by the User or an intermediate party, respective liabilities as concerns nuclear fuel cycle may be shared, etc. Relevant definitions will be finalized, when it comes to practical collaboration between the User the Holder in the framework of specific projects. Fig. 3 shows a general layout of TNPP lifecycle. It also highlights TNPP lifecycle liability areas for both the Holder and the User of TNPP energy services. Fig. 3. TNPP lifecycle In this study, TNPPs are understood as serial factory-built facilities. In market conditions, the User will select a serial facility from the list offered by the Holder. The Holder country will deploy and develop its industrial process on the basis of direct orders, as well as of forecasted market demand. Cooperation between the Holder and the User will start with the final TNPP product appearing on the market (in general in competition with other similar facilities). Reference TNPPs will play an important role on the market as its integral feature. The Holder country will produce these reference TNPPs at its commercial risk, on the basis of its own idea of future TNPP markets. The User country intending to use TNPP services will create its national nuclear legislation, national regulatory authority and the essential infrastructure for TNPP deployment, as well as make other relevant decisions. When authorized to use nuclear energy by the IAEA, the User will launch a respective Investment Project, which will specify the TNPP type, select and settle the TNPP site, solve project financing and product marketing issues and identify the TNPP operation option. Fig. 3 shows two options: A with TNPP operated by its Holder and B with TNPP operated by its User. The A-scenario implies minimal User liability for the use of nuclear energy services.

Russian expert community This study was performed with participation of over 40 experts from the following companies and institutions: OKBM, NIKIET, Gidropress, VNIINM, IPPE, Directorate of Floating NPPs under Construction, Iceberg Design Bureau, Atomstroyexport, Atomic Insurance Broker, Nuclear Industry and Business Union, MEPhI, Krylov Shipbuilding Research Institute, State & Law Institute of the RAS, NRC Kurchatov Institute and others. In 2008 2010, the participating experts have completed a series of individual studies dedicated to legal and institutional support of TNPP-based nuclear energy. Results were subject to independent expert analysis (Fig. 4), followed by discussions at expert working meetings in the Kurchatov Institute. Results of Russian studies were regularly presented and discussed at international meetings of Russian and INPRO experts in the IAEA. Fig. 4. Working meeting of experts in Russian Research Center "Kurchatov Institute"; December 2010 Fig. 5. Experts meeting at IAEA, October 2009. Left to right: R.Sirimello (Argentina), M.V.Khoroshev, V.N.Lysakov (IAEA), V.M.Shmelev (Russia), Jankovich (IAEA).

Program of studies The Russian study dedicated to the issues of legal and institutional support of TNPPs has been performed in two phases: PHASE 1 (2008 2010) has solved the following tasks: Task 1: Expert analysis of TNPP lifecycle compliance with nuclear legislation. Task 2: Identifying actual issues of transportable nuclear energy development. This report presents the materials and results of Phase I. Phase I. Task 1. Expert analysis of TNPP lifecycle compliance with nuclear legislation For studies under Task 1 Phase I the issues of legal and institutional support of TNPP lifecycle, which are regulated by international conventions and agreements, were selected. The following issues were analyzed: safety, non-proliferation, nuclear materials monitoring, accounting and control, civil liability for nuclear damage, physical protection, transportation. The following aspects were analyzed respective to each of the above issues: existing legislative frameworks and differences between TNPP-based nuclear energy and traditional nuclear energy with large NPPs. It was also identified, whether the available legal and institutional framework is sufficient for TNPP coverage, or requires additional development. Summary: 1. A traditional approach with onsite refueling is assumed TNPP lifecycle would be basically assured by the existing legal and institutional provisions and the world nuclear energy experience available. 2. Assurance of optimal TNPP-based nuclear energy system (NPS) outlook from the standpoint of its safety, efficiency and access would require TNPPs to be adapted for the new specific conditions and updates/amendments to be introduced into the international legislative and institutional bases. Phase I. Task 2. Identifying actual issues of transportable nuclear energy development Along with the task to update the approaches to legal and institutional support of TNPP lifecycle (which are subject to international regulation), some other legal/institutional/infrastructural issues specific for TNPP-based NPS turned out to be vital to investigate, since they determine the outlook of NPS as both a subject of further study and a future commercial product. Summary: 1. As a result of Task 2 of Phase 1 of the study hereof, the following key issues for further development intended to identify the advisable outlook of TNPP-based NES were identified: Safety; Non-proliferation; Transportations; Physical protection; Civil liability for nuclear damage; Remote monitoring, control, operating; Economics; Minimized TNPP User nuclear liability; Serial industrial fabrication; International cooperation; Licensing and certification; International personnel training; TNPP financial lifecycle organizing;

IAEA role. 2. Further studies should be focused on small nuclear energy systems, including both smallcapacity nuclear power plants and all types and forms of legal/institutional/infrastructural support to their lifecycles. Materials and results of international and Russian studies performed under Phase 1 were published in the IAEA [2] and in Russia [3]. On the PHASE 2 (from 2011 to now) individual experts studies of actual TNPP development issues have been carried out, identified within Task 2 of Phase 1. Key issues for TNPPs based nuclear energy system analysis. comments and task setting Safety It is known that power reduction of nuclear energy source capacity progressively increases its safety. From nuclear safety standpoint, nuclear safety requirements for TNPPs would be especially stringent, with a focus on the best possible implementation and concentration of intrinsic and passive reactor safety features. Ways to achieve this intrinsic & passive safety are determined by design practice. Achieving the highest level of concentration and implementation of these intrinsic & passive safety features would require this task to be stated at the very start of TNPP design process. Purpose: to confine the core within the reactor vessel in case of a designbasis LOCA. INPRO methodology is an important tool for integrated safety assessment of innovative nuclear energy technologies. Non-proliferation In an actually deployed TNPP-based NPS, lifecycle concept without onsite refueling would potentially waive the proliferation issue; however, at first it should be subjected to multifactor legal/process verification and validation. To implement this lifecycle, it would be necessary to: develop a TNPP reactor core capable to operate for 8 10 years (a period corresponding to the time-between-overhauls of basic plant components); reconsider the TNPP investment cycle with account of inevitable core cost increase; identify the possibility to reprocess nuclear fuels with higher burnup using available capacities or to create new capacities, if necessary; and assess the possibility to transport and store TNPP spent nuclear fuel (SNF) with higher burnup using available equipment and capacities or to create new ones, if necessary. Particular attention should be paid to the legal provision of transportation TNPP with fresh and spent nuclear fuel in the reactors. Transport operations In accordance with the international rules of transportation of nuclear materials is carried out in special containers. Thus, assuming nuclear fuel overload at the site the regulatory framework issue of separate transport TNPP and nuclear fuel is not relevant. Currently no international legal/institutional support is available relative to transportation operations involving onshore TNPPs with nuclear fuel inside. The task of international legal/institutional support respective to transportation of floating NPPs with fuel inside is partially solved, but requires updating. A floating NPP can be considered as a nuclear ship, i.e. subject to IMO Code safety requirements. It is necessary to explore the feasibility and advisability of TNPP (including floating NPP) transportation on board having as an example the ship DOCKWISE type (Fig. 5).

With respect to TNPP transportation interstate agreements would have particular importance. They are now an important form of legal provision of marine transportation of nuclear facilities and materials. Cooldown conditions after reactor shutdown before or during TNPP transportation should also be identified. As concerns TNPP transportation, intergovernmental agreements which currently are an important form of legal support of nuclear equipment/materials shipping by sea will become yet more important. The issue of legal and technological support of transportation of fueled TNPPs (reactor modules) requires validation in the framework of lifecycle concept without refueling on the site. Fig. 6. Large-marine transporter Dockwise Civil liability for nuclear damage If all stages of TNPP lifecycle take place in the same country, it would be expedient to impose civil liability for possible nuclear damage on the TNPP operator. In the case of an external operator (scenario "Maximum outsourcing"), civil liability for nuclear damage should be preferably shared between the plant operator and the country hosting/benefiting from nuclear energy generation. Due to small TNPP capacity, the realistic chance to be indemnified for nuclear damage could turn the insurance factor into a key competitive feature of a TNPP project. Physical protection Methods and tools to be used to assure the physical protection of TNPPs are well known in nuclear industry. Physical protection is assured by complying with all existing standards and rules at all TNPP lifecycle stages. Assurance of TNPP physical protection against terrorist attacks requires special attention and further development in terms of minimizing personnel and the remote control. With further development of TNPP-based nuclear energy, the issue of concluding an international convention may arise for non-aggression against civil nuclear facilities functioning under IAEA guaranties. Remote monitoring, control and operation Efficient and safe operation of TNPP-based NPS would also require a proper (optionally remote-controllable) remote monitoring system of accounting, control, reporting and operation for nuclear materials, radiation substances and for the plant in whole. Remote monitoring and control of TNPP and its physical protection is also determined by the need to limit the number of onsite staff as much as possible, since this would reduce the site s vulnerability to terrorist attacks and raising the price of the respective TNPP system components. With the exclusion of overloads on the site requirement of non-exceeding 20% enrichment of uranium-235 in nuclear fuel of civilian reactors is not relevant.

Economic issues for TNPP-based NPS These issues are among the most relevant in the development of nuclear energy based on SMRs. One can note first attempts of studies on this subject [4]. Small nuclear energy is characterized by some specific factors and conditions reflecting on TNPP installed capacity and energy production costs. These factors are: lower TNPP cost due to its lower capacity; serial industrial fabrication of TNPPs; onsite installation by means of delivery or assembling (not construction!); real insurance of nuclear risks; minimized onsite personnel; TNPP-specific solution of physical protection issues; and other factors, including some to emerge only in future. Due to a variety of application conditions, TNPP acceptability for local conditions may become a decisive economic factor. Minimized nuclear liability for TNPP user The IAEA has well-known regulations pertinent to the content, form and stages of a country s preparation to nuclear technology deployment. The Russian study considers the case, when the User is interested in receiving nuclear energy services only, pays for end products (electricity, heat, desalinated water) and claims no ownership of nuclear materials and technologies. Minimal nuclear liability updating is required for such Users on the basis of acceptability and safety conditions. Serial industrial fabrication Today nuclear energy stays an exclusive technology with all its designs being individual and site-specific. Whether it could be converted into a serial industry is not evident, due to factors such as non-proliferation, physics of nuclear processes and other specific features of nuclear energy. The analysis of legal and institutional support issues for a NPS based on serial factorybuilt TNPPs naturally develops into the analysis of possibilities for innovative nuclear energy based on SMRs to be converted from an exclusive technology (as the case for nuclear energy with almost 60 years of its existence) into a mass commercial energy technology, as aircraft or car industry. International cooperation Nuclear energy (particularly the TNPP-based NPS) can develop safely and efficiently only in the framework of international cooperation. The joint report of the Kurchatov Institute and the Harvard University Promoting Safe, Secure and Peaceful Growth of Nuclear Energy: Next Steps for Russia and the United States, submitted to the US Congress in the autumn of 2010 (when the 123 Agreement was discussed there), suggests the idea of an international consortium to be established to supply factory-built reactors with high levels of intrinsic safety, security and proliferation resistance. Such a consortium could become a central element of the future NES. This project could be implemented on the basis of large-scale international cooperation allowing its participating countries to contribute their best scientific, technological and industrial achievements, as well as natural or financial resources, into it. Previously this idea had been voiced by Evgeny P. Velikhov and included in the report of the IAEA Commission of Eminent Persons Reinforcing the Global Nuclear Order for Peace and Prosperity: The Role of the IAEA to 2020 and Beyond (2008). Establishment of international consortia for TNPP development would reduce the manifestations of unfair competition, which are possible because of moderate TNPP deployment costs affordable for much more investors. There are convincing examples of successful international cooperation on high-tech projects such as ITER, Airbus, Telecom, etc.

Licensing and certification With regard to TNPP lifecycle, licensing and standardization determine the quality standards necessary for multiple TNPP-specific conditions, including supposed operation in the developing countries. Nuclear energy globalization raises the issue of international licensing and certification of nuclear plants. For Russia, it is particularly urgent to create conditions for use of the experience of the Russian transportable nuclear energy as a reference base in relation to projects of civil nuclear energy of low capacity, based almost exclusively on the ship prototypes. International Personnel Training It seems that TNPP-based NPS will develop as a part of nuclear energy globalization process. The Maximum outsourcing concept supposes the TNPPs to be operated by external (respective to the User country) operators. Internationalized TNPP operation system would involve international operating personnel moreover that TNPPs may allow remote control. Examples of this practice are civil fleet sailors and personnel working on offshore oil/gas platforms. TNPP User country would also require specialized personnel in order to establish the minimal nuclear infrastructure it would be needed. The preference would likely be given to specialists possessing international certificates to confirm their professional qualification. Organizational and financial support of TNNP lifecycle Since TNPPs are cheaper than traditional large plants, and due to a great variety of TNPP operating conditions, the issue of developing and optimizing the approaches to organizing and financial support of TNPP-based NPS lifecycle is becoming increasingly important. Involvement of private investors, extension of commercial risks space, nuclear liability increasing with new developing User countries all these factors make the system of public-private partnership and lifecycle contracts an expedient solution capable of assuring the most efficient, safe and affordable development and use of TNPPs. IAEA Role in the Development of a TNPP-Based NPS TNPP-based NPS will be subject to IAEA standards and rules assuring nuclear safety, control and non-proliferation. It seems appropriate for the IAEA, in view of its long experience in the field of global nuclear energy, to develop relevant guidelines to advise TNPP Holders and Users on the preferable/optimal/ideal outlook of TNPPs and TNPP-based NPS. TNPP-based Nuclear Energy System The global nuclear energy is now approaching a new stage of its development to be based on small and medium nuclear facilities, including transportable ones. Medium-sized plants are obviously likely to develop on the basis of large ones. With their variety of specific features, small plants in some countries (Russia, France, partially USA) have been transportable (i.e. fit for ship applications) since their very origin. Hence, they are unrelated to large-npp traditions and require additional study in order to assure their highest possible efficiency, acceptability and safety. Performed within the INPRO framework and under the Maximum outsourcing approach, the study of legal and institutional support of TNPP-based NPS yields a particular result of understanding that its subject should be this NPS in its integrity. The commercial product of this new small nuclear energy branch would be not an individual power plant, but a TNPP or SMR together with all relevant kinds of legal and institutional support applicable. It is

in this form that the Holder is to offer and provide TMPP services to the User under the Maximum outsourcing approach. These services are to include: highly reliable factory-made serial TNPPs/SMRs meeting the requirements of maximum safety, acceptability and efficiency; TNPP-tailored control and physical protection; technological and legal support of the concept eliminating onsite refueling; realistic insurance of civil liability for nuclear damage; efficient systems of licensing, certification and training; assistance to User countries in establishing the minimal national legal and institutional infrastructures required; organizing and financial support of TNPP/SMR lifecycle; international systematic support; assurance of User interactions with the IAEA; and other services. Conclusion In all above-mentioned forums features and benefits of energy production at SMRs in some form and fullness were observed and analyzed: Enhanced safety and reliability (improved performance of passive safety features, etc.); Design simplicity; Suitability for non-electrical applications (heat generation, desalination, etc.); Replacement of aging fossil fuel plants and reduce greenhouse gas emissions; Their increased flexibility in choosing a place; Ability to meet the growing demand for energy by construction of additional modules; Reducing the size of the sanitary protection zone; Lower upfront capital costs; Lightly built financing scheme; Ability to organize multimodular siting; Serial industrial production; The possibility of transportation of nuclear power plants with SMRs in finished form; Ability to site NPP in remote areas with poor infrastructure and others. These features and benefits can expect to achieve economic attractiveness of SMRs, at least in some of their offerings and applications. Energy practice shows that the smaller the unit capacity of power plants, the greater the need for them. World industry produces annually 60 million vehicles, engines, which together constitute the capacity 6,000 GW, with installed capacity of power generation in the world at 4500 GW(e). Most consumers in the world is provided with local and regional energy systems of limited capasity. Nuclear energy of large 1 GW (e) and more capacity took its place in the global energy supply. Nuclear energy of middle capacity will naturally develop primarily on the basis of large NPPs. World nuclear energy is coming to a new stage of development, based on NPPs of small and medium capacities, including TNPPs. Nuclear energy of small capacity differs diverse characteristics, has in some countries (Russia, France, partly U.S.) was originally transportable, including vehicular and marine origin, not associated with the traditions of large NPPs and requires further study in order to achieve maximum effectiveness, acceptability and safety. The aim of further research and development should be a system based on NP with TNPPs, including the definition of purposeful TNPPs appearance and consideration of all aspects of legal, institutional and infrastructural supporting their life cycle.

The specific objective of the next research phase is definition of shape and composition of the system based on NP TNPPs, preparing materials for the formation of technical specifications for the development of TNPPs optimal configuration and necessary forms of legal, institutional and infrastructural supporting their life cycle. References 1. International INPRO project. Task statement, initial assumptions and research program on legal and institutional issues of nuclear energy on the basis of transportable nuclear energy installations. RRC Kurchatov Institute, Moscow, 2009. 2. Legal and Institutional Issues of Transportable Nuclear Power Plants: A Preliminary Study. IAEA Nuclear Energy Series N 0 NG-T-3.5; IEAF, Vienna, 2003. 3. Materials and results of the research of transportable nuclear energy, legal and institutional issues. NRC Kurchatov Institute, Moscow, 2013. 4. Alexey Lokhov, Ron Cameron, Vladislav Sozoniuk. OECD/NEA Study on the Economics and Market of Small Modular Reactors. Report at INPRO Dialogue Forum on Global Nuclear Energy Sustainability: Licensing and Safety Issues for Small- and Medium-sized reactors (SMRs) 29 July 2 August 2013 IAEA Headquarters, Vienna, Austria.