Get the latest as our experts share their insights on global energy policy.
Amid the surge in US gas demand coming from LNG exporters, there is a lack of equivalent new working gas storage capacity in the US.
Hear in-depth conversations with the world’s top energy and climate leaders from government, business, academia, and civil society.
It started last year as a pressure campaign at sea, with the United States seizing tankers as part of what President Trump called a “total and complete blockade”...
Find out more about our upcoming and past events.
Join industry leaders, innovators, employers, and emerging talent for an evening exploring the technologies, trends, and career opportunities shaping the future of climate tech.
Report by Matt Bowen • July 28, 2020
This report represents the research and views of the author. It does not necessarily represent the views of the Center on Global Energy Policy. The piece may be subject to further revision. Contributions to SIPA for the benefit of CGEP are general use gifts, which gives the Center discretion in how it allocates these funds. More information is available at Our Partners. Rare cases of sponsored projects are clearly indicated. For a full list of financial supporters of the Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University SIPA, please visit our website at Our Partners. See below a list of members that are currently in CGEP’s Visionary Annual Circle.
(This list is updated periodically)
Jay Bernstein
Breakthrough Energy LLC
Occidental Petroleum Corporation
Nuclear energy cooperation between the United States and its allies has been important for over a half century. Bilateral cooperation agreements with key countries date back to the 1950s, and the United States played a principal role in the development of several allied nuclear energy programs. Today, the international nuclear energy marketplace has changed, and the supply chain is globalized—the US program, for example, depends on working with allies for major safety-related components. However, limitations imposed by legacy US statutes and other obstacles are hampering greater collaboration in areas that would enhance the country’s nuclear program today. Developing advanced reactors to produce dispatchable zero-carbon electricity and heat as part of global efforts to address climate change would be aided by greater cooperation and utilization of resources and financing across countries.
Deeper cooperation with like-minded allies would also allow the United States to better compete against other supplier countries that have different commercial and geopolitical objectives. If the challenges facing the US nuclear program are not overcome, the country risks further ceding its role as a leading nuclear technology exporter to China and Russia. Already China and Russia are growing their domestic nuclear energy programs and offering attractive financing to prospective customers of this technology around the world. These nuclear competitors may place differing priorities on areas such as nonproliferation, and therefore maintaining a US role in the nuclear supplier regime is connected with national security considerations.
This paper, part of the Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University’s nuclear power program, examines part of what may be required for the United States to regain momentum in the nuclear power industry after an erosion of domestic capabilities stemming from a long hiatus in new reactor orders. The paper discusses the historical importance of nuclear cooperation between the United States and allies, some of the challenges that the US and some allied nuclear energy programs are facing, and how cooperation could be reinvigorated to the benefit of the United States and its allies.
In short, the paper finds:
India’s SHANTI Act opens the nuclear power sector to private participation while retaining state oversight of strategic assets. The move addresses limits of the state-led model and supports India’s goal of reaching 100 GW of nuclear capacity by 2047. Stronger regulation and private investment could accelerate nuclear expansion, strengthen energy security and aid decarbonisation.
On June 22, the United States announced that it had signed a nuclear cooperation agreement with Saudi Arabia. This type of agreement broadly authorizes
The Trump administration and Saudi leadership have reportedly agreed to a nuclear agreement that could enable US nuclear technology transfers to Saudi Arabia.
Full report
Report by Matt Bowen • July 28, 2020