US firms at ‘serious competitive disadvantage’ in global nuclear energy market

5 October 2012


“The US export control regime places US companies at a serious disadvantage next to their competitors in the international export market,” is the conclusion of a new report from US law firm Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman.

The report identifies three factors that make the US commercial nuclear exports regime less favourable than in four other leading supplier nations (France, Japan, Russia and South Korea). They are:

• The US regime is more complex and difficult to navigate, evidenced by the division of export licensing and authorisation powers among four agencies, versus one or two at the most in the other nations.

• The US regime contains added restrictions and legal and bureaucratic hurdles that exceed international norms.

• The United States is significantly less efficient in processing export licences, often taking nearly a year or more to process applications completed far faster in other nations.

Speaking at a news conference when the report was released Richard Myers, the Nuclear Energy Institute’s vice president for policy development, planning and supplier programmes said that billions of dollars in exports and tens of thousands of jobs are at risk.

“The US Department of Commerce estimates the global commercial nuclear market at $500 billion to $740 billion over the next decade. US exporters could create or sustain up to 180 000 American jobs if they were able to capture just 25 percent of the global market,” Myers said.

Ross Eisenberg, vice president of energy and resources policy at the National Association of Manufacturers, expressed concern that the Obama administration has not applied the same principles to the licensing of commercial nuclear exports as the principles embodied in its larger Export Control Reform Initiative aimed at modernising export controls for certain non-nuclear items and technologies.

James Glasgow, partner at Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman, said his firm’s comparison of the US export control regime with those of France, Japan, Russia and South Korea “shows clearly that the US regime is more complex, restrictive and time-consuming than the other regimes examined in the study.”

The complex export regimes are likely to deter international customers from using US suppliers, warned Bradley Fewell, Exelon vice president and deputy general counsel. “International customers avoid export regimes that are difficult or unreliable,” Fewell said. “For most countries, energy security is a primary driver for developing new nuclear energy. Reliable supply and predictable tech transfer – including the transfer of skilled professionals – are therefore critical factors in procurement decisions.”




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