Greetings!
In this issue, we highlight the recent decision from Hitachi to shelve the UK nuclear project, Rolls Royce's talks with China to provide control systems for the Chinese nuclear plant in Essex, UK, and the signing of the Nuclear Energy Innovation and Modernization Act (NEIMA). We also continue to feature PGS's recent paper on the four policy pillars that support the value of nuclear power in the 21
st century.
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The newly released National Intelligence
Strategy
identifying the top threats to the U.S. and the Department of Defense’s (DoD)
report
on the military impact of climate change are a stinging and sobering one-two punch from the 21st Century. But, our national leaders in the White House and on Capitol Hill are too busy engaging in futile political trench warfare to notice or act.
The intelligence assessment explicitly states that, “the strategic environment is changing rapidly, and the United States faces an increasingly complex and uncertain world in which threats are becoming ever more diverse and interconnected.” The challenges to the established international order are coming from Russia and China but also from the “increasingly isolationist tendencies in the West”.
Emerging technologies and cyber threats are identified as a dagger threatening the heart of American life, “critical infrastructure, public health and safety, economic prosperity, and stability.” Climate change, migration and increasing urbanization are straining the capacity of all governments to operate effectively and fracturing societies.
DoD’s report is a detailed litany of the challenges climate change is posing for military bases and operations. It references but does not project how much worse the impacts will be as the climate crisis intensifies in coming decades.
The Pentagon is
examining
how it can reduce its carbon footprint and is considering small scale next generation nuclear reactors as one response. That could offer the added value of using military reservations as test beds for advanced reactors. And both the Congress and the president have approved legislation that can spur the development and deployment of these reactors. But that only addressed a part of the problem. What’s missing is a “whole of government” approach.
PGS is proposing a Next Generation Nuclear Alliance with countries that support strong global security and non-proliferation standards and that are prepared to respond to the challenges of emerging disruptive technologies on nuclear infrastructure and operations. The diverse, multidisciplinary partners of the
Global Nexus Initiative
also are assessing and making recommendations for how smaller advanced nuclear reactors can be effectively safeguarded and secured in the face of rapidly evolving global changes and challenges. It is these new “break the mold” partnerships and approaches that are necessary to manage the threats of this century.
The Balkanization of Washington’s policymakers and its policymaking apparatus – both official and non-governmental – is a significant impediment to effectively managing this new fused-threat environment. And that leaves many who are trying to push the system to wake up and adapt to these new realities unfortunately left to continue to search for signs of national intelligence in America.
Ken Luongo, President of Partnership for Global Security
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There is a strong case to be made for the societal value of nuclear power in the 21st century that is compelling and globally important.
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NuScale Power has
signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the
Jordan Atomic Energy Commission (JAEC) to evaluate the use of Small Modular Reactors (SMRs) in the country, since the Jordan committee for Nuclear Strategy plans for nuclear power to
provide 30% of the county’s electricity by 2030.
Russia and Serbia have
signed a cooperation agreement on civil nuclear energy, which is a follow-up to the joint statement signed last year in May between the two countries.
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Nuclear Policy, Governance, and Geopolitics
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Hitachi has
shelved plans for its nuclear power plant in the UK, which will adversely
affect nuclear policy in the UK and its goal for creating a more diverse low carbon energy mix.
China is
building more reactors in its southern Guangdong province, increasing the total number of reactors in the area to 26.
China Nuclear Power Corporation said that it has plans to boost the number to 46 in the near future.
The Turkish Energy and Natural Resources Ministry is
sending 32 students to Russia and China to attend training and study energy engineering and management.
Rosatom, Russia’s nuclear energy corporation, is
providing fully funded tuition to support interest in nuclear research and capabilities among young African scientists and engineers.
Rosatom has officially
outlined the project schedule for Uzbekistan's first nuclear power plant (NPP). The two countries plan to
start construction in 2022 and bring the first reactors online by 2028.
South Korea's Industry, Trade, and Energy Minister
met with the United Arab Emirate's (UAE) Executive Affairs Authority Chairman on a four-day visit to the UAE, in order to discuss ways of enhancing bilateral cooperation in industry and investment, including nuclear power plants.
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Nuclear Security and Emerging Technologies
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Oakridge National Laboratory has built a high-resolution modeling program, called VERA (Virtual Environment for Reactor Applications), which will
allow utilities and energy companies to extend the lives of their aging reactors.
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Domestic Civil Nuclear Developments
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President Trump
signed the Nuclear Energy Innovation and Modernization Act into law last Monday. The bill is meant to streamline the regulatory process for commercial NPPs.
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Noteworthy Research
In this article, Jessica Lovering, Director of Energy at
Breakthrough Institute,
analyzes Africa’s future with nuclear power and documents the growing interest and progress towards commercial nuclear power in newcomer countries. She discusses the large barriers that these countries face and how U.S. nuclear improvements can help lower those barriers.
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Third Way, Jan. 18, 2019
New York Times, Jan. 17, 2019
Imperial College London, Jan. 16 2019
Forbes, Jan. 16, 2019
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For more than a decade, the Partnership for Global Security (PGS) has developed actionable responses to global security challenges by engaging international, private sector, and multidisciplinary expert partners to assess policy needs, identify effective strategies, and drive demonstrable results.
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1400 I (Eye) St. NW, Suite 440
Washington, DC 20005
202-332-1412
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