Senate Bill Could Improve US Nuclear Export Competitiveness, Industry Official Says
The American Nuclear Infrastructure Act of 2021 could help make U.S. nuclear exporters more competitive, especially when competing with China, said Maria Korsnick, CEO of the Nuclear Energy Institute, speaking during a Feb. 9 Senate Environment and Public Works Committee hearing. She said the bill would “empower” the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to “focus on nuclear energy export and innovation activities.”
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The legislation would establish an International Nuclear Reactor Export and Innovation Branch to improve the agency’s export licensing efforts, increase “regulatory cooperation” with other countries that operate nuclear reactors, support the development of technical standards for nuclear systems and more. Korsnick called the bill “a major step forward in leveling the playing field for U.S. companies competing with state-sponsored enterprises internationally.”
The bill would also increase NRC export license restrictions for certain nuclear products to countries that haven’t “ratified an Additional Protocol to its safeguards agreement” with the International Atomic Energy Agency or acceded to the Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Material. The export restrictions would specifically apply to certain “unirradiated nuclear fuel containing special nuclear material,” certain nuclear reactors, and certain plants or components involved in “reprocessing of irradiated nuclear reactor fuel elements,” the separation of plutonium or the separation of the uranium-233 isotope.