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Elections 2020

Sep 17, 2020

Five big questions as America votes: Energy

By Global Energy Center

As the US presidential election looms, the oil and gas industry has suffered from demand shocks during the COVID-19 pandemic, climate change is increasingly in the list of top concerns of US citizens, and there is little overlap between the likely policies of the two presidential candidates.

Climate Change & Climate Action
Coronavirus

In-Depth Research & Reports

Sep 14, 2020

Innovation in Nuclear Energy Technologies: Implications for US National Defense

By Dr. Robert F. Ichord, Jr. and Dr. Jennifer T. Gordon

The US Department of Defense (DOD) has the potential to play a significant role bringing advanced reactor technology to demonstration and, ultimately, commercialization. Possible US military applications of advanced reactors—especially micro nuclear reactors (MNRs)—include deployment to remote bases that are challenging to supply with fuel; power systems for directed-energy weapons; and nuclear energy systems for space flight and off-world bases. This issue brief explores the challenges and opportunities inherent in DOD’s procurement of MNRs.

Defense Technologies
Energy & Environment

Report

May 26, 2020

European energy security and the critical role of transatlantic energy cooperation

By Richard L. Morningstar, András Simonyi, Olga Khakova, Jennifer T. Gordon

Transatlantic cooperation is essential to European energy security, which is and should remain a key national security priority for the United States. European energy security is crucial for the maintenance of a strong European economy and for European political stability, both of which are in the best interests of the United States. This report recommends that the United States and the EU focus their energy cooperation in several areas that will benefit the EU’s efforts to meet climate targets and that, at the same time, will also bolster energy security.

Energy & Environment
Europe & Eurasia

Jennifer T. Gordon is the director of the Nuclear Energy Policy Initiative and the Daniel B. Poneman chair for nuclear energy policy at the Atlantic Council’s Global Energy Center. She is the recipient of a Presidential Citation from the American Nuclear Society in 2025 for her leadership in aligning international nuclear energy policy with broader geopolitical and environmental goals. Gordon was a co-director of the Atlantic Council Task Force on US Nuclear Energy Leadership in 2019.

From 2016 to 2018, Gordon was a senior energy policy analyst at National Journal’s Network Science Initiative. She served as a Central Intelligence Agency political analyst from 2005 to 2008, and she has also worked as a freelance writer and TV commentator. Gordon earned her PhD from Harvard University’s History Department and Center for Middle Eastern Studies, and she graduated from Wellesley College with a major in Middle Eastern studies and a minor in English.

The Poneman chair was established through a generous contribution from Susan and Dan Poneman.