For countries embarking on new nuclear power programmes, the development of a comprehensive legal and regulatory framework is an essential foundational step.
The development of the framework to establish the national nuclear regulatory body requires careful consideration and implementation, and the regulator requires sufficient legal authority to effectively carry out its mandate. Well informed legislators, including parliamentarians, greatly facilitate this process. To this end, capacity building for legislators through benchmarking missions to more advanced nuclear countries and technical or advisory support from the IAEA and other professional bodies is important.
A sustainable nuclear industry requires a pool of qualified human resources with the knowledge, skills, experience, and exposure to fill roles in both the implementing and regulatory entities. The attraction, development, and retention of talent is a major challenge for the nuclear sector. The IAEA supports its Member States at every stage of their capacity building efforts with a comprehensive programme of services and review or advisory missions dedicated to helping improve their capabilities in nuclear knowledge management, human resource development, and nuclear education. States can take advantage of this support but should also promote nuclear sector opportunities to students at secondary and tertiary institutions, and collaborate with these organisations, to develop market relevant academic programmes and modules, However, for workforce development to be sustainable, strong political commitment to nuclear power is essential to ensure that there are sufficient job opportunities for newly trained professionals.
In most countries, embarking on a nuclear power programme is an expensive and long-term aspiration, with the IAEA Milestones Approach noting that it may take at least fifteen years. Many countries tend to have more immediate developmental goals that must be delivered within shorter electoral windows. The promise of SMRs has the potential to accelerate the timeline for nuclear power adoption and is generating interest among developing countries. Participants highlighted the challenges related to the absence of political will in many countries due to either opposition or a lack of public support. While strong political commitment is required to prepare a country for nuclear power, SMRs will require substantial investment, and even with the necessary political will other sources of finance would be essential to ensure the successful deployment of SMRs.
Participants discussed different strategies to fund the development of the infrastructure needed for nuclear power. The private sector—particularly energy-intensive industries such as technology and manufacturing—could play a key role in driving nuclear power adoption in certain countries. Recent investments in nuclear power by companies such as Microsoft and Meta demonstrate this potential. Early engagement with these industries could lead to investment in infrastructure and workforce development, which would create an enabling environment to purchase and deploy SMRs. Engagement with multilateral financial institutions, including development banks, as well as with philanthropies to encourage investment in and support for nuclear power programmes, should also be prioritised. Participants agreed there was value in regularly convening multi-stakeholder dialogues to continue sharing knowledge on the potential of nuclear power to secure support for current and new nuclear power programmes.