Resources & Stats

Compared to the nuclear export control regimes of Russia, Japan, ROK and France, the U.S. regime is, in many respects, more complex, restrictive and time-consuming to navigate and fulfill. Fundamental aspects of the U.S. export control regime were established over six decades ago – more than three decades prior to the creation of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG).

During this time, the U.S. regime has evolved into a patchwork of requirements with layers of modifications. By comparison, the Russian, Japanese and ROK regimes are relatively modern and, in the case of the Japanese and ROK regimes, were recently amended to address post-9/11 nonproliferation concerns. The French regime is based, in part, on the European Union (EU) Dual-Use Regulation of 2009, as amended.

Whereas most of these regimes provide for a single export licensing agency to handle exports of nuclear commodities and technology, U.S. control of such items is divided among the Department of Energy (DOE), Department of State (DOS), Department of Commerce (DOC) and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) – which administer four very different sets of regulations, coupled with a complex interagency review process. For U.S. exporters and their customers, navigating the bureaucratic maze for a U.S. export license presents a challenge in itself that has no parallel in the other countries surveyed in this study.