The regulation of energy innovation increasingly tests legal frameworks’ ability to adapt to unanticipated innovations. Nuclear law, where complex and safety-oriented regulatory frameworks combine with increased interest in novel technology like small modular reactors (SMRs), is a good case study for this tendency. SMRs are touted as a way to combine nuclear energy's reliability with modern energy systems' flexibility, scalability, and adaptability. At the same time, their implementation calls into question the legal frameworks, which were created for huge, traditional nuclear power facilities. The Czech Republic provides a valuable case study of this broader regulatory dilemma. This article examines whether exemption-based regulations can serve as an adequate and sustainable approach to governing SMRs and exposes the tensions that arise when a system of case-by-case exemptions is used as a substitute for detailed regulation.

Data usage and global internet traffic have experienced exponential growth since the mid-2000s, and the trend is expected to continue and even accelerate due to the wide adoption of artificial intelligence. The total global energy demand for data centres now exceeds the consumption of most economies, and they emit around 2% to 4% of global greenhouse gas emissions. To meet this demand, data centre planners must consider not only the affordability aspects but also sustainability, supply security, and social impact. In this respect, nuclear microreactors have been recently discussed as a comprehensive, emission-free and renewable-led solution for powering the data centres in smart cities, as in the future, they will be capable of supplying cost-effective, clean and reliable energy and creating skilled jobs. Nuclear microreactors, which will likely be deployed in the next decade, demonstrate several significant challenges that differentiate them from nuclear installations that have been in operation. From the authors’ perspective, their miniature character implies a considerable decrease in risks. Also, they may serve as a tool for the decentralisation of power supply and can be located right in the very centre of urban settlements. Lastly, microreactors will be very easily transportable by land, sea, or air. This article argues that the future deployment of microreactors does imply a considerable paradigm shift towards a modern nuclear law. This is very similar to the space sector, where space law has been needed to address the gradual deployment of small satellites and nanosatellites (CubeSats or NanoSats); also, nuclear law is currently being triggered to establish new rules, reflecting this paradigm shift arising from miniaturisation.