The Global Nuclear Economy Impact on the U.S. Nuclear Industry

Over the past fifty years, all five of the Nuclear Weapons States (NWS) (United States, France, Russian Federation, Peoples Republic of China and the United Kingdom) have shared various aspects of their civilian nuclear programs with other countries to support the development and use of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes. The nuclear power industry has evolved from an industry located at relative few countries into a global nuclear industry during that time period. Today, the civilian nuclear fuel cycle is a global activity with no single country providing the majority of the world’s civilian uranium mining, milling, conversion, enrichment, fuel fabrication, or reactor design and construction services. As part of the expansion of the civilian global nuclear industry, a concern over the possible proliferation of civilian nuclear technology for use as a non-peaceful nuclear technology has been a constant concern. The United States Government established its first national law for the use of nuclear energy in 1946, and has subsequently replaced the 1946 law with the Atomic Energy Act in 1954, as amended (AEA). Among other things, the AEA allows private ownership of uranium and establishes requirements that allow for the United States to enter into Agreements for Peaceful Nuclear Cooperation with other countries. Most other countries have also established similar country-to-country agreements to allow for the trade of civilian nuclear activities to help prevent the proliferation of non-peaceful nuclear programs. This paper provides an overview of the additional requirements these government-to-government commitments, contained in U.S. Agreements for Peaceful Nuclear Cooperation with other countries, place on the U. S. civilian nuclear industry. These commitments on the United States civilian nuclear industry are representative of the commitments that many of the Governments have both accepted and placed on other Governments to demonstrate their commitments for limiting the development and use of nuclear energy to peaceful civilian nuclear programs.