Nuclear Energy

Lack of a long-term, reliable source of high-assay low-enriched uranium (HALEU) fuel represents a critical risk to the deployment of advanced reactors, which could be a key source of carbon-free electricity in the future. However, a HALEU fuel bank could resolve the conundrum facing advanced reactor developers and potential HALEU fuel suppliers by supporting the production of HALEU for advanced reactors and resolving the uncertainty faced by reactor developers and their potential customers and sources of financing.

Over the past five years, the United States has made meaningful progress in the development of advanced nuclear reactor designs critical to keeping the country on the cutting edge of nuclear technology. These positive trends signal a growing need for the Department of Energy to address a key challenge that many reactor developers face as they move toward deployment: the lack of a reliable source of high-assay low-enriched uranium fuel.

The American Nuclear Infrastructure Act serves as an encouraging step towards greater US nuclear competitiveness on the global stage. This piece of legislation bolsters the current fleet of nuclear plants, saves and creates US jobs, promotes the development of advanced nuclear technologies, and rebuilds the US high-tech export economy. Forward-thinking and bipartisan, the law has garnered support from both Democrats and Republicans and aligns with the incoming Biden-Harris Administration’s climate policy goals.

Although nuclear power is a key component in US and South Korean electricity generation, the nuclear energy industry in both countries is struggling. Research and development, bilateral trade, and the sale of nuclear energy technologies to third countries represent opportunities for bilateral cooperation that will strengthen both country’s nuclear energy industries.

Atlantic Council Global Energy Center senior fellow Dr. Phyllis Yoshida discusses the unintended consequences of Japan’s decision to decommission part of its nuclear reactor fleet in her new report.

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.

The Western Hemisphere is full of potential and we have the opportunity to galvanize it into an energy powerhouse. This new US energy strategy for the Western Hemisphere will help raise the global competitiveness of the hemisphere, advance its shared prosperity, and improve national and energy security as a result.

The United States and its allies in civil nuclear cooperation have struggled in recent years to compete against state-owned nuclear enterprise exports. Since nuclear energy agreements establish decades’ long relationships between the vendor and purchasing countries, and the United States and its allies wish to export their high safety and nonproliferation standards along with technologies, it is vital that the United States regains its position of global leadership on nuclear energy exports. As Russia and China seek out third-party countries with demand for nuclear energy, can the United States and its allies determine how to cooperate on co-financing agreements and become greater than the sum of their parts?

Based on conservative estimates of the value it provides due to human capital, dependability of the energy supply, vibrancy of the supply chain, and contributions to green power—the civilian nuclear energy industry contributes at least $42.4 billion annually to the pursuit of US national security priorities.