Best NPP Operating Experience Worldwide

“A complex maze of export laws and regulations must be successfully navigated by American companies that seek to win and perform contracts for the design, construction and operation of nuclear power stations outside the United States. They must confront the export controls of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) with respect to technology transfer, as well as the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission's (NRC) rules regarding export of nuclear material and components of power reactors. The Commerce Department's Export Administration Rules (EAR) are also applicable to exports of some nuclear power plant items (generally for the so-called "balance of plant")," said Glasgow.

As to the utilization of innovative financing in nuclear power plant construction, Silberg said, “Financing construction in the U.S. is obviously key. The DOE loan guarantees have been a significant issue because the authorized amounts would only be sufficient for a few reactors. Another issue is the size of the credit subsidy imposed by the Office of Management and Budget. In some cases, these costs have made the loan guarantee process uneconomic. On the other hand, foreign countries such as France and Japan have financing that is available if you are using their technology. I'm not sure the U.S. government has kept pace. 

President [Obama]'s announcement that he will seek to increase the amount of loan guarantees is a positive sign, though Congressional action is far from certain. Some of the U.S. policymakers normally thought supportive have budget issues on their mind more than nuclear power construction. There is going to be a tradeoff in terms of getting the budgetary authority for more loan guarantees and concerns with the budget deficit.”

O'Neill added to the discussion:

“There are parties in Asia and the Middle East who are interested in investing in the U.S. nuclear market. There have been investments by Japanese companies in U.S. plants that are in the planning and licensing stages. Mitsubishi Heavy Industries (MHI) has acquired a 12% interest in Comache Peak 3 and 4. But there are other foreign companies that are interested in investing for a number of reasons in the U.S. nuclear market. Sovereign wealth funds, for example, are looking for projects that will be a good return on investment for a long period of time.

Once nuclear power plants are built, they are "cash cows." The question is whether they can be built at a cost that will get the return on investment over a reasonable period of time. I think we will see investments from other countries who will view U.S. nuclear as a good investment for multiple reasons. The Chinese, for example, might invest not only for the return on investment, but also to understand how to structure commercial nuclear projects in the capitalistic country that invented civilian nuclear power; and to understand and export back to China the best operating practices of U.S. nuclear utilities.

America's experience in running nuclear plants, across utilities and the broader industry here is the best in the world, even though we have arguably lagged behind Japan and Korea when it comes to designing and building state-of -the-art plants. Experience is still invaluable, however. The U.S. has the know-how to operate plants safely at the highest capacity levels. In the last 20 years, for example, we've gone from U.S. plants running at 65% of their energy output capacity to 95%."