Licensing the First Nuclear Power Plant

A robust national nuclear safety infrastructure is essential for the deployment of a country’s first nuclear power plant. A major challenge in this process is the development of an effective legal and governmental framework for safety, including an independent regulatory body. This publication supplements existing guidance in the IAEA safety standards on the development of an effective safety infrastructure and provides further assistance to new entrant regulatory bodies on the key challenges they will face throughout the life cycle of the first nuclear power plant. The publication focuses on the phases of a nuclear power deployment programme from the granting of a licence for construction to granting the licence for commissioning and operation.