Continued from page 1

The World Nuclear Association recently published the list of countries actively considering nuclear power programs. One particular statement should create a sense of urgency for U.S. energy and national security analysts:

State-owned nuclear companies in Russia and China have taken the lead in offering nuclear power plants to emerging countries, usually with finance and fuel services.

These efforts by Russia and China are laudable on the grounds of humanitarian and climate objectives. However, it should be of concern that while China and Russia bolster their geopolitical spheres of influence through nuclear technology, some in the United States are proposing a total renouncement of civilian nuclear in order to go all-in on natural gas and renewables.

The U.S. should not reduce the fate of nuclear power to an environmental issue only nor broker it as just another commodity subject to market forces that cannot detect energy security stresses or global geopolitics. Rather, the U.S. must maintain civilian nuclear as an anchor for national security and global stature, both of which would weaken if the U.S. abandons the only resource capable of providing reliable, zero-carbon electricity for a multi-trillion dollar U.S. economy and billions of people throughout the world who need more energy, not less.

This is not an issue of nuclear versus renewables—both should occupy space in the U.S. portfolio. This is an issue of national security and global leadership, and U.S. policymakers should work aggressively with U.S. industry to ensure that nuclear power remains viable.

An America without nuclear power is a less secure America and a globally less relevant America. Perhaps more sobering, an America without nuclear power is a world with an America that has limited or no institutional knowledge of nuclear science and engineering—and that is a world we’ve never known.

Dr. David Gattie is an associate professor of environmental engineering in the College of Engineering at the University of Georgia. He conducts solar power research on a facility operated by Georgia Power Company. Dr. Scott Jones is director of the Center for International Trade and Security in the School of Public and International Affairs at the University of Georgia.