Regulatory Modeling Enables Advanced Reactors

Sandia has extended its MELCOR multi‑physics accident modeling — used by the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission for decades — to cover advanced reactors and fuel‑cycle facilities. This capability aims to let regulators evaluate new designs quantitatively and to provide safety profiles intended to reduce public risk concerns and accelerate deployment. — If regulators lack credible tools to assess advanced designs, deployment and public trust stall; Sandia’s MELCOR extensions change that calculus by giving regulators the needed technical basis to approve and oversee them.