The United States must increase its share of the global market for nuclear energy technologies if it wants to ensure that customer nations are securing sensitive materials and equipment against illicit uses, the head of the nuclear industry’s lobbying arm and a prominent nonproliferation advocate said Tuesday.
Maria Korsnick, president and CEO of the Nuclear Energy Institute, and Kenneth Luongo, president of the Partnership for Global Security, spoke at the release of the report of a new report, “Nuclear Power for the Next Generation,” which was prepared by a panel of experts formed by their organizations.
One of the report’s primary recommendations is strengthening the system of global nuclear governance, which encompasses national regulations, international agreements, and other measures to ensure safety and security of nuclear operations.
“To increase its market share and thereby preserve its ability to shape the global use of nuclear technology, the United States must have both a strong domestic nuclear power program and an aggressive nuclear trade and export program,” Korsnick told the audience at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C.
As an example, she cited the Atoms for Peace program established in the 1950s by President Dwight Eisenhower, under which U.S. companies licensed nuclear technology to other nations and the United States could set the safeguards for the non-military use of that technology.
That idea could apply to future exports of advanced reactors that could prove popular in other nations because they would be more modest in both size and output than today’s light-water reactors, Luongo said. It is by no means certain that exporters China and Russia would demand the same security and nonproliferation requirements for use of their systems as the United States, he added.
“That is what sets the tone for the future,” he said. “I think the United States has been a very responsible supplier and I think it needs to remain an active participant in this process.”
