9 Apr (NucNet): A think-tank report which concluded the US nuclear industry is facing a crisis shows the need for the administration and Congress to support American commercial nuclear exports through concrete action, the Washington-based Nuclear Energy Industry said.
Reacting to the report by the Atlantic Council, the NEI said it is critical for the US nuclear industry that, given aggressive overseas, state-owned competitors, particularly from China and Russia, the nuclear sector works with the White House and Congress to give American companies the tools they need to compete and win abroad.
“That means reestablishing a quorum at Export-Import Bank, ensuring the nuclear export controls are made more efficient, ensuring Section 123 bilateral nuclear cooperation agreements are concluded, and fully funding commercial nuclear energy research and development in the federal budget,” NEI vice-president Dan Lipman said.
“It is not only American jobs that are at stake, but our influence on safety, security and nonproliferation norms across the world.”
The Atlantic Council report said the decline of the nuclear power industry is “an important policy problem” that is not receiving the attention it deserves.
The report said nuclear power should be elevated in the Trump administration’s national security strategy because nuclear is an important strategic sector, and US global leadership and engagement in nuclear power are “vital to US national security and foreign-policy interests”.
Since 2015, the Ex-Im bank has been without a quorum on its board, which prohibits the agency from making deals of more than $10m. During that time more than $30bn worth of business has been stuck in the pipeline, a Bloomberg export said.
