Nuclear Energy Institute calls for new US-Mexico 123 agreement
The Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI) recently called for a new 123 agreement between the United States and Mexico for nuclear energy trade.
According to NEI, recent changes to the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Part 810 nuclear export control regulations make a bilateral Section 123 agreement more favorable than the current trilateral project supply agreement with the International Atomic Energy Agency.
“A 123 agreement helps to open the door to make information flow faster,” David Sledzik, GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy senior vice president of sales and commercial operations, said. “We still have to acknowledge to DOE the information that we’re sending and discussing, but it makes it a lot easier to do business.”
General Electric Co. built and commissioned two nuclear reactors at Laguna Verde Nuclear Power Plant in Mexico in the 1990s. GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy fuels and services those two reactors, and the Mexican national electric company, Comisión Federal de Electricidad (CFE), owns the reactors. Various U.S. companies deeper in the nuclear supply chain provide equipment, design and engineering services to Laguna Verde.
The Mexican government is currently considering constructing two new nuclear plants that could begin operating in the late 2020s. U.S. companies will face stiff competition from companies from South Korea, France, Russia and elsewhere for work constructing, maintaining and fueling the plant.
“If we have this 123 agreement in place, it makes it much easier to be in the competition to sell a new plant to Mexico,” Sledzik said. “And if we win, it can create thousands of jobs, not just initially for the construction—but for maintenance and refueling for the next 80 years. These are large infrastructure projects that are going to be around for a long time.”
The United States and Mexico are working on a Section 123 agreement, which the nuclear industry has urged the administration to submit for congressional review.
“This is an important agreement that we need in place to continue the relationship with Mexico,” Sledzik said. “The opportunity to create jobs in the U.S. is there—it can create thousands of additional jobs in support of exports.”
