nucleareurope talks SMR licensing at INLA congress

On 20 October 2026, nucleareurope Legal Advisor Ursula Caturla Rodríguez participated in the 2026 International Nuclear Law Association Inter Jura Congress, held in Newport, Wales, from 18 to 22 October.

In the framework of the event, Ursula participated in a panel discussion entitled “Nuclear law in practice: Safety, Security and Safeguards”, and delivered a presentation on the Euratom Treaty and the deployment of SMRs in the EU. In her speech, Ursula explored the potential of the Euratom treaty to accelerate SMR licensing, without taking the decision away from Member States.

“Reactivating the Euratom treaty would help minimise unnecessary duplication, rather than reach maximum harmonisation” highlighted Ursula, adding that many bottlenecks facing SMR developers at the moment are legal and institutional, rather than technological.

Ursula then noted that harmonisation, mutual recognition and mutual reliance are models which should be considered and explored, in line with the ‘coalition of the willing’ concept put forward in the European Commission’s SMR Communication. She however added that this concept now needs a legal footing.

Concluding her intervention, Ursula stressed that the realistic path is to move in incremental stages: with mutual reliance between Member States as a core principal, mutual recognition where Member States are willing, and Treaty amendment used only as a secondary option.