Deputy energy secretary says ‘huge strides’ for U.S. in civil nuclear

The U.S. made “huge strides” reinvigorating its civil nuclear industry, the deputy energy secretary said Monday at the International Atomic Energy Agency general conference.

“The U.S. civil nuclear industry is providing products and services to partner with countries to achieve their civil nuclear goals, while incorporating effective and efficient nuclear security, safety, and safeguards early in the design and deployment process,” David Turk, the U.S. deputy secretary of energy, said in prepared remarks — which included a message from President Joe Biden (D) on using nuclear energy to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius by 2050 — at the 68th International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) general conference.

Turk mentioned the Advanced Nuclear for Clean Energy (ADVANCE) Act, which Mr. Biden signed in July. Nuclear energy advocates told the Monitor this summer that while the U.S. was “losing on climate change,” the ADVANCE Act could get the country back on track to keep up with the “unprecedented” interest in nuclear energy, as one expert called it.

The ADVANCE Act directs the Department of Energy and its semi-autonomous National Nuclear Security Administration to find ways other than the gold-standard, civil-nuclear 1-2-3 agreement, to help get special nuclear materials to aspirant nuclear-power users abroad. A 1-2-3 agreement is essentially a promise that a country will not make weapons with imported U.S. nuclear technology or material.

In Vienna this week, Turk said the U.S.’s investments into nuclear energy after the ADVANCE Act would not be without safeguards.

”As we sprint to deploy today’s clean energy solutions as quickly as possible, we are also investing like never before in additional transformative options, including fusion energy,” Turk said, before adding, “And we’re doing so responsibly, as should all other IAEA Member States.”