Antiquated export controls are constraining US exporters, according to Nuclear Energy Institute

The U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) antiquated export controls are constraining U.S. exporters and undermining American influence on global nuclear safety, security, and nonproliferation, according to recent DOE testimony from the Nuclear Energy Institute’s (NEI) VP of Suppliers, New Reactors, and International Programs Dan Lipman.

The export control in question, titled 10 CFR Part 810, was originally established during the Cold War as a means of preventing commercial nuclear technology from being obtained by non-U.S. allies. However, light water reactor technology has become more widely available through a number of international suppliers in recent decades, which has led to a weakening of U.S. influence on global nuclear energy policy.

Lipman’s comments were made in response to a May 30 call by DOE officials for interested parties to identify regulations that were “obsolete, unnecessary, unjustified, ineffective or nonsensical.”

“A comparative study of export control regimes concluded that Part 810 is more complex, more restrictive and less efficient than the equivalent export authorization regimes of other leading nuclear supplier nations and represents a significant competitive disadvantage for U.S. suppliers relative to foreign vendors,” Lipman said.

Lipman continued, stating that burdensome restrictions on U.S. exports no longer control the spread of those technologies. Rather, he said, those restrictions have diverted foreign customers to non-U.S. suppliers and have reduced U.S. influence on nuclear safety.

In a release, NEI issued a series of recommendations for modernizing the Part 810 regulations, which include creating a 45-day fast track general authorization process for exports of light water reactor technologies using low-enriched uranium fuel and exports to countries of low-proliferation risk.

Additional recommendations include enabling operational safety assistance to all countries and fully implementing an electronic tracking and filing system.

“Reinvigorating U.S. global supply of nuclear energy, a technology invented by us, must be a key component of U.S. energy dominance,” Lipman said. “Allowing U.S. nuclear leadership to decline against competition from state-owned companies in Russia and China would inflict tremendous harm on American economic and national security interests.”