National security experts agree that leading in nuclear energy means leading in the world. More than 100 leaders in this field—including more than a dozen retired admirals, former top-ranking officials at the CIA and in military intelligence, professors and deans of engineering at prominent universities, heads of major defense technology firms, and others with long experience in national security—have formed a new organization, the Nuclear Energy and National Security Coalition, urging policymakers to act to regain that leadership.
On May 21, former Ambassador Thomas Graham Jr.—who is a prominent expert on arms control—and retired U.S. Navy Adm. Richard Mies—a former nuclear submariner and commander of the U.S. Strategic Command—launched the new coalition, which is under the aegis of the Atlantic Council, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank with a specialty in energy and security. At the event, the Atlantic Council also released a report from its Task Force on U.S. Nuclear Energy Leadership—on which Sens. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.) and Mike Crapo (R-Idaho) served as honorary co-chairs.
The new coalition sees a strong nuclear energy sector as a cornerstone of national security. They believe that the United States’ role as the global leader in nonproliferation efforts is “under strain” because of the decline of the industry domestically and in exports.
Domestically, many nuclear reactors face challenges because of a decline in the wholesale price of electricity, brought on by a flood of inexpensive natural gas, created by fracking. The electricity markets do not compensate nuclear reactors for their around-the-clock availability or their contributions to clean air and climate stability.
Internationally, the export market is now dominated by Russia—with China quickly emerging as a contender. Both nations have leveraged their domestic nuclear industries to expand internationally. With this expansion, they have begun to displace U.S. influence in the establishment of global nuclear norms and standards.
When it comes to competing with these countries, the U.S. has fallen behind because of our own ineffective trade policies. Until a few days ago, for example, American companies were at a commercial disadvantage because they could not even get financing from the Export-Import Bank. Such financing is a staple of trade policy for countries around the world, but the U.S. Ex-Im Bank was without a quorum and unable to authorize transactions exceeding $10 million.
Nuclear energy bolsters our national security. The experts who are a part of the Nuclear Energy and National Security Coalition recognize that our geopolitical leadership abroad depends on the fate of our nuclear energy industry. Policymakers must do the same.
