National Security as a Value-Added Proposition for Advanced Nuclear Reactors: A U.S. Focus

David Gattie () and Michael Hewitt
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David Gattie: College of Engineering, Center for International Trade & Security, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602, USA
Michael Hewitt: IP3 Corporation, Allied Nuclear Partners, 7900 Tysons One Place, Suite 400, McLean, VA 22182, USA

Energies, 2023, vol. 16, issue 17, 1-26

Abstract: The U.S. has transitioned from being the 20th-century global leader in civilian nuclear power to a nation searching for ways to revive its once-dominant nuclear enterprise. The future of U.S. civilian nuclear power transcends that of a science and technology issue and, fundamentally, is a policy issue. This is a policy paper that uses a nuclear power policy framework to analyze current and historical U.S. civilian nuclear power policy and to identify weaknesses and deficiencies that need to be overcome in order for the U.S. to (1) leverage advanced nuclear reactors as a domestic technology to meet energy security and reliability objectives under carbon constraints, (2) operationalize national security as a priority objective and (3) restore the U.S. as a major global exporter of nuclear technology. The results of this analysis indicate that the national security implications of U.S. nuclear power have been marginalized in general due to the domestic market challenges of competing with less expensive and oftentimes more socially acceptable technologies, as well as the international challenges of competing with state-owned nuclear enterprises. The results are then discussed and used for making three following policy recommendations: (1) conduct a U.S. nuclear industrial base review; (2) create a demand signal using U.S. military installations; and (3) shift away from a sell-side nuclear vendor model for global exports to a buy-side model brokered by a third-party integrator that can work with multiple U.S. nuclear partners.

Keywords: advanced nuclear reactors; U.S. national security; U.S. nuclear power policy; nuclear industrial base review (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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