3 Jun (NucNet): The global market for nuclear power technology will total $740 billion (€675bn) over the next 10 years, but the US, which boasts advanced technology and the most stringent and effective nuclear safety regulations, is increasingly stymied in those markets, Republican politician and former administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency Christine Todd Whitman said.
Ms Whitman said nuclear energy exports advance US national interests, but other countries are playing an active role in squeezing out US competition.
Russia, for example, is expanding its nuclear energy projects across Eastern Europe, and recently announced a partnership with Egypt to build that nation's first nuclear power plant — a partnership that has alarmed US national security officials given the fact that Russia’s Lukoil [the oil company] already produces more than one-sixth of Egypt’s energy, giving them “a significant foothold in the Middle East”.
“If there is anything we’ve learned about the global economy, it is that competition works,” Ms Whitman said.
By supporting US nuclear energy exports and providing essential export credit tools, Congress and the Obama administration can ensure national security in the vital areas of nonproliferation, diplomacy and the environment, she said.
Exporting American nuclear technology and expertise will also strengthen the US role in setting international industry standards for nuclear power safety and security.
To address issues such as climate change, energy diversity, nonproliferation and economic security, Congress and the administration “must do all they can to maintain and grow our nuclear energy capabilities”, Ms Whitman said.
Last year US Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) president and chief executive officer Marvin Fertel said continued US government and commercial engagement in other countries’ new and expanding nuclear power programmes are vital tools to advance global nuclear safety, security and non-proliferation.
Mr Fertel said that while the US may have entered the post-war era as “the largest supplier of nuclear technology and expertise abroad”, other nations such as France and Russia have steadily increased their share of the global commercial nuclear market.
In addition, South Korea and China are beginning to enter the technology export business, Mr Fertel said. Over the past 20 years, economically attractive supplies of nuclear fuel have become available from an increasing number of supplier nations such as Kazakhstan and Australia.
Ms Whitman made her comments in a piece written as part of America's Nuclear Energy Future series, sponsored by the NEI. For more information visit http://futureofenergy.nei.org/futureofenergy
Ms Whitman served as the 50th governor of New Jersey from 1994 to 2001, and was the administrator of the EPA in the administration of President George W. Bush from 2001 to 2003. She is co-chair of the Clean and Safe Energy Coalition (http://casenergy.org), or Case, and runs the Whitman Strategy Group (www.whitmanstrategygroup.com).
Appearing on behalf of Case at the Nuclear Energy Agency in Paris last week, Ms Whitman said businesses, academics, environmentalists and legislative leaders need to commit to “”stronger conversations around the safety and reliability of nuclear energy”.
She said: “You can’t take a clean source of energy off the table.” She noted that these discussions help dispel pervasive and untrue myths, paving the way for a wider acceptance of nuclear energy as part of an “all-of-the-above” energy strategy.
