Small Modular Reactors, National Security and Clean Energy: A U.S. National Strategy

Secretary Chu and President Obama have suggested that the United States’ Sputnik-to-Apollo program could be a strategic model for innovation and developing clean energy in the United States. I’ll use that model to analyze the presidentially driven, but unsuccessful Global Nuclear Energy Partnership and suggest how that model might be applied to a strategy for U.S. development and deployment of small nuclear modular reactors (SMR), starting from President Obama’s speech at Hankuk University (South Korea) last March. In that speech he said “When we enhance nuclear security we’re in a stronger position to harness safe, clean nuclear energy. When we develop new, safer approaches to nuclear energy, we reduce the risk of nuclear terrorism and proliferation.”