Golden Age of American Nuclear Energy (NPT Side Event)

All right.
Thank you.
We're going to get going now.
Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen.
My name is Tina Hernandez, and I am the president of the Institute of Nuclear Materials Management and also an R&D senior manager at Sandia National Laboratories.
It is my pleasure to welcome you to the USG sponsored side event.
The Golden Age of American nuclear energy.
To kick off this side event, I would like to warmly welcome the Honorable Michael Waltz, United States ambassador to the United Nations, Ambassador Waltz.
Thank you.
It's great to be with you.
Good afternoon.
I'm really honored and excited to be with you today on the Golden Age of American nuclear energy.
I really love that.
Everything coming has got to be a little golden.
Right.
But it's obviously on the sidelines of the NPT.
It's a really important conversation.
I think the decisions we make today, the decisions we make out of this conference and over the coming few years about nuclear cooperation will truly shape global energy policy and nonproliferation policy.
The US is experiencing a renaissance in nuclear energy, thankfully, with truly significant opportunities for international partnership and no better place to do that than here in New York at the at the UN.
Of course, under President Trump's leadership, this administration, we were just talking about it both as former members of Congress, has committed billions of dollars and launched a number of initiatives we're happy to talk to you about today to revitalize our domestic nuclear industry and of course, strengthening cooperation with our allies.
Look, as I was just saying at a and another conference about energy with Secretary Wright, this is about energy addition more so than it is transition.
With global energy needs, we need in all of the above strategy.
You can't power the future of AI on wind and solar.
I'm sorry, it's just not going to work.
As a number of our countries through our bilateral engagement, through this multilateral engagement with our partners, we truly are looking to build a network of like minded, committed to harnessing nuclear energy potential.
I do think I am confident saying we are committed to facilitating peaceful nuclear cooperation.
But at the same time, and you'll hear more from this team here, we truly do have an unwavering dedication to preventing proliferation and we'll reinforce both of those commitments by holding the most rigorous security and nonproliferation standards, especially with Under Secretary Williams and and his great team.
So I think today you're going to see the experts that can really get into the weeds on implementing this vision on the ground, much more so than a liberal arts major from a military school.
These are the officials leading our nuclear security or nonproliferation or energy programs.
I'm very pleased to also welcome Ambassador Viet.
Thank you for your partnership and your leadership over all of this that's going on over the course of this month, who's joining the panel in his national capacity.
We have to make those distinctions here in the UN world to present a view from one of our partner countries again in his national capacity.
But it's really excuse me, privilege to introduce Brandon Williams, my former colleague in Congress, Brandon don't know if I had to deal with the tribes of Africa and Afghanistan or the tribes of DC or the tribes of the UN or are tougher, but also a fellow veteran and now serving as the Under Secretary of Energy for nuclear Security and the administrator of the US National Nuclear Security Administration.
I think your presence here, your team's presence here really reinforces the importance of international cooperation, where you want them safe, secure, and safeguarded nuclear energy.
Thanks so much and it's really a pleasure to be with you.
I look forward to learning from you.
Thank you very much, Ambassador, and it's an honor to be here.
Good afternoon, distinguished delegates, colleagues, and partners.
I'm honored to be visiting the UN for the first time in my life and the fact that my wife Stephanie could be here with me and we could have this really historic experience together.
I do want to address your comment about tribes.
Just to make you all feel better about the state of the world, on a nuclear submarine, there are tribes.
It is divided between what are called the conners, the people up front, and the nuclear trained, which are the Nokes.
There's the nukes and the conners and that's how you live for many, many weeks at a time undersea.
Maybe that helps us get along a little better.
If you can do that in a steel tube never more than 150 feet away from a nuclear reactor, then you can probably do anything.
But before I, I want to begin, I want to take a moment again to thank my friend Ambassador Waltz.
We have served in the trenches of Congress, but I would not compare that to the challenges of being on this stage and in this environment.
Thank you for the distinguished panelists that are joining us today and particularly Ambassador Villette.
Honor to be here with you, sir.
I'm glad to be here at the 2026 NPT Review Conference during a time when nuclear energy and nuclear cooperation are once again central to global security, economic growth, and technological progress.
It's like it's the 1950s all over again with the beginning of Atoms for Peace.
It's an honor to serve as the administrator of the National Nuclear Security Administration.
I am grateful to Secretary Wright and President Trump for this amazing opportunity.
Both of these exceptional leaders are focused on America's national security and ensuring peace through atomic strength.
In the United States of America, we are entering, as was said, a golden age of American nuclear energy.
I began my career at the convergence of national security and nuclear energy.
I'm a veteran of Admiral Rickover's nuclear submarine program.
I have thousands of hours supervising the operation of nuclear power plants, and I'm qualified on two different reactor designs, what we would fondly now call SMRs.
Under the leadership of President Trump, United States has prioritized restoring American leadership in nuclear energy, accelerating innovation, strengthening domestic capacity, and expanding international cooperation, which of course is why we're here.
This direction is grounded in a simple understanding energy security is national security and nuclear energy must play a central role in meeting the world's growing demand for reliable power.
The framework of the NPT is critical to that growth and for its success.
At the Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration, our mission sits at the intersection of these priorities.
One of NSA's core national security missions is to maintain robust nonproliferation, counterproliferation, and counterterrorism capabilities designed to excuse me, designed to promote the peaceful use and adoption of nuclear power and technology while preventing materials and expertise from falling into the wrong hands.
These programs serve as the first and last line of defense for the United States, keeping the American people in our interests safe from nuclear or radiological terrorist attack.
We are so proud of our cooperation with our international partners.
So thank you all.
The United States is committed to the NPT across all three pillars.
Today, I will focus my remarks on Article 4, which affirms the inalienable right of all parties to develop nuclear energy for the for peaceful purposes and to facilitate the fullest possible exchange of equipment, materials, and scientific and technological information for the peaceful use of nuclear energy in conformity with the relevant nonproliferation obligations.
In May of last year, President Trump directed the US government to rapidly deploy advanced nuclear reactor technologies and to promote US nuclear technology exports to allies and commercial partners.
This is a direct mandate for agencies like ours to move faster, engage more broadly, and compete more aggressively in the global nuclear marketplace.
I have directed the leader of NNSA's Office of Defense Nuclear Non Proliferation, doctor Matt Napoli, who is here with me today.
We have directed him to say yes wherever and whenever possible to fulfill this new emphasis from President Trump.
NSA works hand in hand with our partners across the US government to shape the terms of this global expansion.
Through US negotiation of 123 agreements, the peaceful nuclear Cooperation Agreement authorized under the US Atomic Energy Act of 1954, we established the legal and technical frameworks that govern the responsible development of nuclear power in partner countries.
The United States has 26 peaceful nuclear cooperation agreements covering 50 countries and other entities, and President Trump has issued an executive order to pursue the negotiation of 20 new 123 agreements, alongside negotiation of existing agreements by the end of this year.
These agreements provide legally binding frameworks for the transfer of nuclear material and equipment under strong nonproliferation conditions, the best agreement of their kind in the world for safety, security, and prosperity of our peaceful partners.
Meeting the US nonproliferation standard is not a burden.
It's a credential.
Countries that meet our standard gain standing in the international community.
They also demonstrate to investors, insurers, and multilateral institutions that they are serious and responsible nuclear actors.
Vietnam is one of the many countries that have chosen to partner with the United States, and we would welcome more countries to join that community.
There are at least 40 countries that I'm aware of that are interested in or actively pursuing nuclear energy.
To meet this moment of nuclear renaissance with the highest nonproliferation standards, American companies, American technology, and American agreements are at the forefront of the expansion of civilian nuclear power worldwide.
Together, we are building an energy abundant future.
Let me be direct.
We are operating in an environment of global competition and complexity.
Maybe that's an understatement.
State actors are actively seeking to expand their nuclear influence abroad, offering deals that frequently come with fewer strings, but less transparency than US partnerships.
The United States has faced a choice lead the space or cede it to less reliable partners.
The United States chooses to lead.
The emerging nuclear renaissance will be led by American nuclear industry, which links exquisite technology with the strongest possible safeguard and security measures, pairing economic prosperity with national and global security.
NSSA's answer is to make good on that commitment with the best technology, the highest nonproliferation and safety standards, and genuine partnership with countries charting their own nuclear energy futures.
In closing, the golden age of American nuclear energy is not just about what we build at home.
It's about what we all build together with partners around the world.
The United States is proud to work with our international partners to advance the goals of the NPT and to make nuclear Renaissance a reality.
Thank you.
It's an honor to be here with you today.
Thank you, Administrator Williams.
Thank you to all for attending today's event.
The US government made clear that reinvigorating US nuclear industry is a top administration priority, including through the announcement of the series of executive orders and billions of dollars in investments already stated by both Investor Waltz and Administrator Williams.
The United States announced its intentions to strengthen the domestic nuclear fuel cycle Construct more nuclear reactors, invest in the development of advanced reactor technologies, expand the nuclear energy workforce, and promote American nuclear exports, just to name a few.
At the same time, the United States is reiterating its commitment to uphold the highest nuclear safety, security, and safeguards standards as these objectives are realized.
As an NPT nuclear weapon state, the United States has undertaken to facilitate the fullest possible exchange of nuclear technology for peaceful purposes with non nuclear weapon states while guarding against the proliferation of nuclear weapons.
We convened this expert panel in an in depth discussion on how the United States is initiating a golden age in American nuclear energy, including through perspectives from US negotiating partner country and the role of the NPT in facilitating these ambitions and the nuclear nonproliferation imperatives that come with it.
But before we begin this session, I would like to introduce our distinguished panelists.
First, we have His Excellency Ambassador Do Hung Viet.
He is the permanent representative of Vietnam to the United Nations and currently serves as the president of the 2026 Review Conference of the state parties of the Treaty on the nonproliferation of nuclear weapons.
But today he is serving in the capacity of ambassador to Vietnam.
Prior to his appointment in New York, he served as Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs of Vietnam, where he oversaw portfolios including multilateral affairs, relations with the UN and Aseum and bilateral relations with the United States and other countries in the Americas.
Next, we have doctor Matthew Napoli.
He serves as the Deputy Administrator for Defense nuclear nonproliferation at the National Nuclear Security Administration.
Say that ten times fast.
In this capacity, doctor Annapoli leads an organization dedicated to denying, detecting, and defeating efforts by proliferators and non state actors to acquire nuclear and radiological weapons.
Additionally, Defense Nuclear Non Proliferation works with DOE Office of Nuclear Energy, his counterpart to the left, Department of State, Commerce, War, and the Nuclear Regulatory Commission to assist in accelerating nuclear industry.
Next to doctor Napoli, we have doctor Ron Baron.
He serves as the Deputy Assistant Secretary for nuclear reactors, overseeing a comprehensive portfolio that includes research, development, demonstration, and deployment of advanced reactors, as well as cutting edge technologies that underpin the technical and economic sustainability of the nation's current commercial nuclear fleet.
And last, we have Mr.
Christopher Sochum.
He is at the US Department of State G 20 and G seven, Sue Sherpa, and Senior Advisor for Economic Affairs Undersecretary Jacob Helberg.
In this capacity, Mr.
Sochum coordinates all State Department support of US participation in the G seven, as well as planning and policy support for the US Chair G 20 in 2026 and G seven that will be in 2027.
Just a reminder for the audience today, this session will be moderated for the panelists for the duration of this entire event.
With that, I'm going to get started with some questions to the panel.
The first question is for doctor Burn.
How is DOE NE fulfilling the US mandate to revitalize US nuclear industry, particularly in terms of international cooperations? What are the key opportunities and challenges in realizing these objectives? Thank you.
I want to start off by thanking the organizers.
I want to thank my fellow panelists.
It's a historic moment.
We have a historic panel and I'm really excited and honored to be in this position where I serve as the Deputy Assistant Secretary for nuclear reactors.
We have been at the tipping point for advanced nuclear deployment for a while, and we are finally tipping.
This is built on an ecosystem of innovation and R&D and testing and deployment the Department of Energy has really funded and established, but more importantly, the moment that we're in the demand for energy, for reliable, resilient energy partially driven by AI, the administration's four executive orders on May 23rd of last year that really laid out a plan to modernize nuclear regulation, to streamline reactor testing, and to reinvigorate the industrial base.
So an unequivocal all in administration.
And then, third, an industry, an industry that is willing to meet us more than halfway and do things differently and meet this moment.
Okay.
It is an exciting time.
The headlines that you see, many of them coming out of the Office of Nuclear Energy's portfolio, but many of them are just companies stepping up and doing what it takes to get through technical and regulatory milestones to show that US technology, that exquisite technology that Secretary mentioned is open for business and available for providing secure and resilient energy not just domestically in the United States, but internationally as well.
Today, I want to talk about some of our activities and to help you walk away from where the United States is as this renaissance is actually happening.
The executive orders last year really provided us a northern star of 400 gigawatts of new nuclear was the direction from the president by 2050.
And so that requires in all of the above, as the Secretary Wright mention, common sense approach.
You have to have nuclear technology and nuclear energy as a resource and as a source for that energy.
So 400 gigawatts, it means that I need to deploy gigawatt scale reactors.
I have to deploy SMR, small modular reactors, that's generation four, generation three plus light water reactors, and I need to deploy micro reactors anywhere between the tens of megawatts or just even a megawatts.
There is a use case for all of these technologies, and in the Department of Energy, we have been working to support all of them, and there's quite a lot of innovation again, built on years of R&D and innovation.
Let me start with microreactors.
The president directed us in May to establish a pilot program to turn on at least three reactors by July 4th.
I'm happy to report that we are on track This is really incredible.
It is a big deal for not just the United States, but for these companies.
Their ability to go through technical and regulatory milestones with the highest standards of safety and security under de reauthorization has allowed them to both unlock the private capital needed, to be able to continue to develop and commercialize their technologies.
It also provides them a fast track to a commercial license through the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.
NRC is a gold standard internationally.
We have the same safety and security standards in the Department of Energy, and so the work that we are doing is translating into an acceleration for a commercial license.
NRC is actually quite involved in our activities.
We have details from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission that are part of our reviews, and we have codified our cooperation through an addendum to our memorandum of understanding that says this is exactly how the NRC will take advantage of these reactors turning on by July, at least three by July 4th, but more to come by the end of the year.
Has been such a successful program that we've actually launched what we call launchpad.
This is now going to be an enduring capability.
If you want to turn and test on prototypical variants of not just reactors, but even fuel cycle facilities, enrichment reprocessing, we provide test beds and the ability to quickly go through these technical and regulatory milestones.
It's unlocked incredible capital.
It's provided support to our supply chain.
I'll give one example.
I oversee the reactor projects, but one of the challenges is the supply chain associated with To fuel, which is one of the advanced fuel forms that many of the microreactors use.
We provided DE authorization to a company that was able to now increase their throughput to support some of our tests.
So our tools that we're using is not just funding, and I'll talk about our funding programs.
It is the direction we're given.
Use every tool you can to advance this industry.
So look out for the headlines on criticality, but we need in all of the above solution.
So we are supporting within my office SMRs that are larger scale.
I'll talk about Gen three plus, the light water reactors.
We made $800 million of awards to two consortia for deployments of SMR, Gen three plus technologies in Michigan and Tennessee.
And today actually, we're announcing an additional award for parts of that supply chain.
The supply chain is just as important as the technology going through those milestones.
We continue to be committed to GenO technologies through our advanced reactor demonstration program, where we're working with companies like X Energy, Terpower and Kiros.
Those companies are also advancing through technical and regulatory milestones with a goal towards commercialization.
The NRC has provided the first ever Gen FOR license to Kiros for their test reactor and the first ever commercial license to Terpower.
X energy, we also fund their fuel fabrication facility.
They just received the first what we call category two.
This is a security and safety requirements, first license for the NRC and through our public private partnerships, we are supporting companies as they deploy reactors domestically in the United States.
Beyond the grants that we provide in the department, through my office, the president and the administration has put some powerful tools on the table that includes the ability to provide loans domestically through the Energy Dominance Financing Office.
And we're also funding other parts of the supply chain.
Tina, you mentioned enrichment.
The US Department of Energy put out 2.8 billion to strengthen our domestic enrichment capacity in the United States.
So all of the above solution, I want the main takeaway to be the United States is providing these exquisite technologies with a lot of versatility.
I'm not going to go into the different details between the high temperature gas reactors and the fast reactors, but there is a reactor for you of different sizes and scales.
Um, and we look forward to partnering.
This is not just a DOE Office of Nuclear Energy effort.
We work hand in hand with the National Nuclear Security Administration, especially to ensure that these technologies have the high standards of safety, security, and international safeguards as well.
We also work closely with the State Department.
We work with the entire US government, Department of Commerce, and others.
We're all aligned on deploying these technologies not just in the United States, but recognizing that an order book, a fast followers is right around the corner.
And so, I look forward to any additional questions, but that's the main groundwork that I wanted to provide.
Thank you.
Thank you, Ron.
Did you guys want to add anything more? I would like to talk about reactors.
Thank you.
I think we're going to make sure it says there's a reactor for you, something like that.
Thank you.
I'm going to turn my attention to doctor Napoli on NSA's role.
What do you believe NSA's role is in fulfilling this ambitious mandate as laid out by Ron and the US administration? How does the United States ensure that the expansion of civil nuclear cooperation and trade does not exacerbate proliferation risks? Thank you, Tina.
Again, before I get started, I just want to say thanks for allowing me the opportunity to speak in front of this panel today.
Ambassador, it's an honor to be here alongside you as well, Administrator Williams and my colleagues from the Department of Energy and the State Department.
I have the distinct privilege of having this discussion in front of my boss today, which is a unique position.
But it is my second time to speak at the review conference, so I'm very honored to do so.
As was mentioned in the opening remarks, my primary purpose is to prevent our adversaries from acquiring nuclear and radiological weapons.
That is my day to day job each day in Washington.
The priorities that I've established for the position are first and foremost, to support the National Nuclear Security Administration's deterrence mission, but more parochally that of the nonproliferation mission that I previously mentioned.
I've placed great emphasis on using this position to accelerate American energy dominance and the expansion of the US nuclear industrial base in the United States through the tools that we have in our nonproliferation toolboxes to execute that mission.
That's what I'd like to focus my time here on today.
First, I would start with what Administrator Williams referred to as our Section 123 agreements of the Atomic Energy Act.
That is effectively bridges between countries that allows the US industrial market to interact in commerce between countries on a nuclear scale.
We have many established agreements across the globe.
Those are pillars of nonproliferation, ensuring coherence with the IAEA, but also provide a direct conduit for our industry to engage and expand abroad.
We are moving in the direction of expanding those agreements.
We have agreements currently with the president awaiting his signature to move forward, and we will continue to expand those access to new and emerging markets.
So the 123 agreements is a major tool to promote a to promote industrial commerce and I'm happy to say that the National Nuclear Security Administration is accelerating those efforts to get more 123 agreements.
Linked to that is our export control program for nuclear technology.
We partner with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission on the export controls for nuclear hardware, but on the technology side of the house, that is done what's called our Part 810 licensing program and that enables along that bridge that has been established via the 123 agreements for US commercial nuclear industrial partners to coincide and cooperate with their foreign partners.
That is a system that has been in place for many years.
But what I can report to you is that we are actively working to streamline that process to move forward at a faster, more efficient pace.
Even since taking office this year under Administrator Williams' leadership, we have accelerated dramatically the pace at which we are executing our Part 810 license approvals to make sure that we're supporting American nuclear industry.
So a lot more to come on the export controls standpoint.
The next two pieces that I want to briefly mention are more technical.
They're called safeguards by design and security by design.
That is a major tool that we have in our repertoire to help expand and accelerate the commercial nuclear industry.
We have two programs that we use to do that.
There's actually some brochures located in front of you today.
One of them is called the Advanced Reactor International Nuclear Safeguards Engagement, also called ARIS Program.
The other one is the International Nuclear Security for Advanced Reactors, InStR.
So we have some nice pieces that the team has passed around.
If you didn't find a copy of that, we can help you get that after we conclude today.
But effectively, what we work to do there is all these new designs are coming online.
All these new companies are experimenting with new technologies and getting to market.
The National Nuclear Security Administration partners with these countries to make sure that we have embedded security and safeguards into the design from the get go so that we're not retrofitting those activities to new and advanced reactors.
They are built in from the ground level as they move forward.
Not only is that effective and important for deployment in the United States, but that is crucially important as we partner with new nations, even nascent nations to the nuclear energy market to know that when they buy that American reactor that it has the stamp of American approval on it from a security and a safeguards standpoint.
That is not only the advanced reactors that we're deploying, that also portrays to the entire fuel cycle activities that we have in the United States that Ron mentioned as well.
I'll echo what Administrator Williams said, this is not a burden.
It is a credential.
It is something that dramatically sets ourselves apart from our competitors around the world.
International markets know that when they buy an American reactor, like the AP 1,000 that has both of these products built into it, that they have American security and American safeguards by design, an incredibly important element of what nonproliferation brings to the industrial market.
Next, I would be remiss if I didn't mention some of our research reactor conversions that we have executed around the world.
So many of the world's research reactors, when they were first deployed, utilized highly enriched uranium, and the Office of Defense Nuclear Proliferation of the years has set on a global program to de convert those facilities from highly enriched uranium to high assay low enriched uranium to be able to execute the same mission.
We actually executed this program with the government of Vietnam and converted one of their reactors.
So it's a great example of the partnership between nations to be able to lower those global risks of highly enriched uranium while still being able to execute the needed science and research to further advance the nuclear industry.
Lastly, I would mention the work that we're doing in partnership with the Office of Nuclear Energy to provide material to the American industry through our collaboration with international partnerships.
Just these past few days, there was a press release that the Department of Energy issued that highlighted some of our collaboration with the government of Japan, whereby we took 1.7 metric tons of high assay low enriched uranium and repciated that to the United States, where we are refreshing that material to make available for advanced reactors.
Again, material production is not my precise business, but where we can use the Office of nuclear nonproliferation to advance the American industrial base in this capacity, I'm the first person that's going to be in line to execute that mission and we're producing tangible results.
So In conclusion, what I would like to say is with our primary mission being to prevent the spread of nuclear and radiological weapons, we are hyper fixated on advancing the American nuclear industry at the same time and building our tools and our tool sets into those American designs so that they are more attractive and more effective in their global deployments.
I'm confident that the American industrial base and our American reactors will be able to go toe to toe and far beyond any of our competitors.
I'm happy to partner with the Office of Nuclear Energy, our State Department colleagues, international partners as we continue to endeavor down this path.
Thank you.
Thank you, doctor Napoli.
Next, I have a question for Ambassador Viet.
What are the key factors that Vietnam is considering in the pursuit of civil nuclear energy? How could the US support Vietnam in that vision? Thank you very much, Tina and thanks to the US government for organizing this and for inviting me to be part of this incredible panel.
I'm really honored and feel humbled with all that I've heard.
And as you know, as a diplomat, I don't really have the kind of expert knowledge on this topic.
So it's really an honor for me to be here today.
Um, on my way here and especially sitting here right now, being the only non American speaker, I cannot help but really reflect on the journey that our two countries have crossed over the past 50 years.
We have gone from bitter enemies to today, comprehensive strategic partners who are talking, but also working together on this extremely strategically important sector and to really see the convergence of our vision and of our strategic interests.
I think it's really humbling to see all the great work that we have done together over the past few decades.
Now, on your question, Tina, I have to first emphasize that civil nuclear energy is of strategic importance for Vietnam.
We are taking a clear, but also prudent approach.
In terms of our collaboration, we have already done some good work in this area.
You mentioned the conversion of our reactor in Dalt from high enriched uranium to low enriched uranium.
And I should also mention perhaps the fact that it was a tripartid corporation with our Russian partners as well, the good old days where we could all work together.
Well, directly to your questions about the factors that we consider important, first of all, of course, is our ability to access the technology, the advanced, proven, safe, and safeguarded technologies.
And here, of course, the US is the world leader.
An example is our potential cooperation in SMRs um, including through the State Department First initiative, the Foundational Infrastructure for responsible use of SMR technology project, which is really helping us with the in depth understanding of SMR design, production, licensing, application, et cetera and we are also interested in particular SMR models at the moment.
You mentioned Terra Power, X energy, as well as new scale SMR models, which our agencies are looking into right now.
There is a lot of potential cooperation when it comes to the specific technologies.
I should perhaps also mention other applications apart from power generation when it comes to healthcare, to agriculture, to water management, which are also extremely important for a developing country like Vietnam.
The second important factor for Vietnam would be to develop the strong regulatory framework and regulatory authority and the human resource that we need for this sector.
Again, here we are already working with the DOE, with the NMSA as well as with the RNC in building the capacity for VRA, the Vietnam Agency for Radiation and nuclear safety.
We are working very closely in helping Vietnam to implement the IA safeguards agreement, the additional protocols.
We have the 123 agreement in place and also working together through the export Control, the AXBS program for many years now.
And last but not least important, the incredibly important F word that I want to refer to financing.
Here, I'm glad that you mentioned the billions of dollars that the US is now investing in this area and we would, of course, need to get access to the preferential credits, loans, the public and private financing, as well as the role of the development finance corporation, which Again, has been working with us, but I believe that there is still a lot of potential for us to tap.
Those are the few key factors and areas where I believe we can strengthen our cooperation.
Thank you.
Thank you.
That was great.
The last question in this round is for Mr.
Socha.
How does the United States build nonproliferation capacity in partner countries to pave the safe, secure, and safeguarded civil nuclear cooperation? Yeah, sure.
Again, like the rest of my colleagues, appreciate the opportunity to be here.
I appreciate being on the panel with you, Mr.
Ambassador, as part of this.
I think this is an important conversation for everyone to be having.
I think it's important also to take a step back when it comes to nonproliferation in all of this.
A lot of what is foundational to what my colleagues have already discussed here is the Atomic Energy Act that was passed in the 1950s.
The corner and crux of the 123 agreements that have been referenced and being negotiated is built around nonproliferation.
The nine benchmarks that sit in that are all about stopping the proliferation of something that may wind its way into being a weapon.
It is that specific language in those goals that were in the 1950s US legislation that in part became foundational to the nonproliferation treaty itself when it was negotiated in the 1960s.
One of the fundamental things to understand here is that when you're working with the United States in a 123 agreement or through other technology sharing arrangements in the nuke space, that nonproliferation has been built in from the beginning.
It's how America engages.
It's how we think it's how we operate at our core because of how important it is to ensure nonproliferation throughout all of this.
I think that again, just further embodies what we're all trying to do here in this golden age of nuclear renaissance here is to help share with the world the advancement of US technology and the renaissance that we're having here domestically, internationally.
And part of that, certainly, everyone's focused on the large reactors over the years.
But microactors, small module reactors, they're all about scaling whatever your country's needs are in a way that gets you what you want and what you need without the burden sometimes of the very large costs associated with, again, very large reactors and all of this.
So a lot of this is again about maintaining that nonproliferation piece through those one, two, three agreements that we continue to negotiate.
But then it's also about understanding the crawl, walk, run part of getting to a robust nuclear capacity for a country if they so choose it.
How do you build your regulatory framework? How do you build your workforce? This is an advanced scientific endeavor, and we understand that.
The United States through a bunch of programs that State Department and others are doing, are now trying to figure out how do we help you all develop those capacities, the regulatory understanding, but more importantly, the workforce, the welders you need to be able to maintain some of these things, the technicians to operate the reactors, building regional centers for training on small modular reactors, be it in Ghana or in Poland or other places.
These are all efforts that we're doing to figure out how do we help improve everyone's knowledge and understanding and the more you do that, the more you also improve nonproliferation.
Because the more experience and understanding, the better knowledge you have on how to manage the materials, how to maintain their safety, how to maintain its security, so that you can control diversion or other things as well.
So all of these things are actually packaged together in concept even though people don't understand sometimes how they all connect.
I think part of this to understand is that the US government, certainly, because of President Trump's leadership, is driving this through the executive order that has already been referenced, but even through legislation in the last roughly six to nine months.
There's two important pieces of legislation that Congress passed last year, the president signed, in part that Ambassador yet referenced.
One is the International Nuclear Energy Act, which is an effort to promote US nuclear technology with our partners, create some streamlined ways for partners to engage with US government and be able to get information more quickly, get what you need through that.
But then more importantly is the Development Finance Corporation.
We reauthorized that in December.
And as someone who helped negotiate that reauthorization, we very explicitly included nuclear energy as a mechanism or a focus of it so that the funding that was there could be used to help do the types of things that the ambassador referenced.
This is an incredibly important piece.
In America, we talk about putting money where your mouth is.
Well, We dramatically increased the size of the DFC.
We dramatically increased what it could do in terms of liabilities and insurance and feasibility studies and other things specifically to help transition from not just the United States benefiting from all of this technology, but then being able to help the rest of the world also benefit from this technology so that we were all sharing in it together and that everyone was able to experience the benefit, whether it was a small African country trying to get enough base load to start industrializing or a country needing something for medical purposes.
The whole idea of the United States here is to help provide those kinds of access to be able to move to the next level in terms of our prosperity.
Thank you, Mr.
Socho.
We're going to start with the second round of questions and this first question goes to Ambassador Vietnam.
What role will the adoption of nuclear energy play in advancing Vietnam's national interests? Thanks again for that question.
I can tell you that the adoption of nuclear energy will play a vital role in advancing our national interest, both in terms of our long term sustainable development and in terms of our national security.
Now, we have set a vision for ourselves of becoming a high income developed country by 2045, which is the hundredth anniversary of our independence.
In order to reach that goal, we have to have a growth rate of about 10% per year, which in today's circumstances will be extremely difficult, but not impossible because our growth rate last year was about 8% and we're striving for about the same this and next years.
Now, in order to have that economic growth rate, the growth of our energy sector will be I mean, 14, 15%.
Again, this is very difficult to achieve, but that is what we have set up for ourselves.
And at the same time, we also have a sustainability target, a target to achieve net zero emission by 2050.
And in order for that to be achieved, we also have to not only, you know, introduce new energy, but also transition from the old sources of energy to more renewable and, of course, also to nuclear.
Nuclear is expected to become an important part of our base load source in our overall energy mix and to really help ensure the stable and affordable energy supply for our economy and for our people.
But we understand also that, of course, it's not only about power generation, it also provides us with the energy security that we need, with the long term national capabilities in this very high tech sector and to strengthen our regulatory and safety culture, which is the basis for really important, uh, development of other sectors as well, not only this particular nuclear sector.
But again, we understand that it's not easy.
We are like a newcomer to this sector, and we will have to rely on the cooperation and the support of others and other international partners.
Of course, the United States is one of the most important in that aspect, and we will continue to work with the United States, and I'm very pleased that we have this as one of the key areas of cooperation as part of our comprehensive strategic partnership.
And I'm pleased to hear that the DFC has been, what do you call it recommission reauthorized with additional capabilities to provide funding for these areas or these projects.
So we do look forward to much stronger cooperation with the US on this sector.
Thanks.
Thank you, Ambassador.
I'm going to turn my attention over to Mr.
Socha and a question very relevant to this conference.
What is the role of the NPT in US implementation of international nuclear energy initiatives? Yeah, well, as it was referenced, I think you have the starting point again is the nonproliferation side for 123 agreements.
I'd also be remiss if I didn't add that the 123 agreement that we do have with Vietnam is considered one of the gold standards for all of this.
It is that level of cooperation with the Vietnamese government to put in such a high level of acknowledgment for how we manage nonproliferation risks and what we do to make sure that we're honoring the goals of the NPT in that regard.
And I think that again, highlights that we can all work together on the peaceful use side of nuclear energy, which obviously is a key component of the NPT as well.
But it's the combined.
It's the nonproliferation side as well as the civilian nuclear side of this.
That really gets to the fundamental issue.
I mean, we've all heard just in between Vietnam and the United States, this need to bring gigawatts of amount of electricity onto the grids in order to meet the demands of society and where we're headed.
Whether it's manufacturing and industrialization, whether it's tech sectors, whatever, the energy demand is so high, the need for substantial base load generation, if it's not on the table, you will never meet the energy demand that you have.
And so we must figure out ways to be able to move energy forward using nuclear energy as a way to be able to do that.
The benefit to this is, again, if your country is small and just starting out on trying to be industrialized, we'll scale a reactor to your size to meet that energy demand.
But if your demand is enormous, then we can scale up and get you a reactor to the size that you need to be able to do that.
That's the benefit of where the American technology is headed here is that we can now scale up and down.
Based on the needs that individual countries, that individual companies and economies have to doing this.
As long as we continue to work and use the science and the technology to guarantee the nonproliferation aspects of this, then we will be able to help meet the needs and demands that any society has.
I think American technology where it sits, will maintain the leadership, the safety, the other types of standards that are incredibly important to being able to deploy this type of technology.
Thank you.
I'm going to turn my attention over to doctor Barn.
Advanced technologies is really important, and I don't think we can have any session without mentioning AI as part of this session.
It is in our daily life now.
What do you believe the role of artificial intelligence is in advancing nuclear renaissance we're facing right now? Thank you for that question.
I'll start by saying that in the Office of Nuclear Energy, we certainly have a lot of work where we combine the technical expertise from the different program offices with a focus on the international message.
I have a counterpart that helps with capacity building and a lot of the different partnerships across the interagency.
But one of the things I wanted to provide today was a preview of some of the important and incredible artificial intelligence related work in the department and specifically within the Office of Nuclear Energy.
So let me start off by talking about a virtuous cycle, but I think most of us understand it, but it's worth saying out loud, which is, we believe in the United States that nuclear energy will help accelerate artificial intelligence.
But we also at the same time, believe that artificial intelligence that this specifically means frontier models will help accelerate nuclear technology deployment.
And that kind of hypothesis has been catalyzed by direction from the president last November, an executive order that directed the Department of Energy to stand up what is called the genesis mission.
The goal of the Genesis mission is, if I had one sentence, it's to double the productivity of science and engineering in the United States within a decade by taking advantage of AI.
The way the department is approaching this challenge is really twofold.
Number one, develop a platform that takes advantage of high performance computing, AI supercomputers, quantum systems, take advantage of AI frontier capabilities.
And train these models on the singular scientific datasets that the Department of Energy, including through its multidisciplinary national laboratories, including NSA, Office of Science, and industry's partnership, both their participation in developing the platform, but their scientific datasets as well.
And let's take this platform and let's try to tackle at least 20, and I think we came up with 26 high impact technical problems that we're calling the national portfolio of science and technology challenges.
So let's belittle platform, and let's try to be serious about tackling some major challenges that are important and cut across the Department of Energy's mission spaces, and that includes under the Secretary, through the NNSA for Discovery Science and on the applied energy side of the house.
So when that direction was given to us in the Office of Nuclear Energy, we were ready because we had been thinking about this virtuous cycle, and what we had at least realized is everybody says they're doing AI, but it's a little bit of a shotgun approach.
It's a little bit of an uplift.
I use co pilot and maybe I can send an email a little bit faster, some people are a little bit more advanced, and what we wanted to do was transformational.
We wanted to take advantage of these capabilities of this mission to really transform how we do nuclear technology deployment, not just reactors, but the entire fuel cycle.
And that transformation requires focus, and we came up with five pillars.
How do we take advantage of AI to transform and revolutionize how we do design, licensing, manufacturing, construction, and operation of nuclear reactors with humans in the loop.
Across that, we are continuing to focus on the R&D, including autonomous R&D to help that entire ecosystem.
And think about the prospect of having agentic AI workflows.
If you're an AI power user, you might have a sense of how powerful these models are and imagine if you're actually able to train them to truly revolutionize how we do those different pillars, and then think of a world where those agents are also talking to each other.
It's a transformational, not uplift, but step change within those pillars and then across the board.
And so our hope was let's lay out a vision, and let's also provide some opportunities for partnerships.
So the Department just put out $293 million for partnerships with industry to tackle those challenges, including the nuclear challenge.
And let's try to see if we can set ambitious targets.
So if we're talking about transformational, can we reduce the operational costs of nuclear by 50%? Can we accelerate the construction and the development of soups and nuts of a reactor by two X? These are the goals that we have, and we actually think that within a decade, if we're successful or if we're able to focus, that we can at least get close to these goals.
I'll end by saying that these are not just hypothetical ambitions.
We have already started to make progress within the department.
I'll give you a few examples of success.
We've demonstrated an AI driven loop from design to manufacturing for an actual nuclear reactor component, not a safety significant component, but an adjacent component that will go into one of our test reactors in July.
From AI to manufacturing in weeks, not months.
We've demonstrated on the licensing side of the house, how AI can take a 200 page NRC license application equivalent, something that typically requires four to six weeks and multiple experts and was able to generate a high quality output within a single day.
We have quite a few other examples that are just showing us where the potential is, and we're quite excited to partner with our industry, with our universities and with our national laboratories to make that acceleration happen.
I mention this because at the end of the day, if we're able to accelerate the ability to deploy reactors domestically, those same technical advancements will also benefit the international community and our partners that are looking to deploy this technology.
Thank you.
That's amazing.
I'm going to approach we're almost at the end of the session, and I wanted to turn my attention to doctor Napoli.
What do you think is the key message that you would like to leave with this audience on the US Golden Age of nuclear American American nuclear energy and the role of the NPT.
What are those key takeaways you want to make sure that this audience takes with them as they leave? Thanks, Tina.
As I to wind down the conversation we had here, I do want to say thanks to you for moderating the panel.
Tina is doing amazing work at Sandia National Laboratory and the Institute of Nuclear Materials Management.
Thanks for all of the work that you're doing there.
Thank you, Administrator Williams, for all your kind remarks to kick us off here and being so patient as you watch all of us have a discussion on a variety of topics.
U Look, the main message that I would like to take away from this is the concert between accelerating American nuclear industrial capacity and that of nonproliferation.
That is why we are here is the nonproliferation conference.
Those two things coexist and I would argue are force multipliers of one another.
How do we leverage the nonproliferation tools in the toolbox to further advance the nuclear industry at the same time.
One example of that I would give is back to export controls.
Export controls are a vibrant nonproliferation tool, and they can be viewed on a spectrum, is the ability for commerce to cooperate with international partners.
It can be viewed on a spectrum.
On one end of the spectrum, there is no export controls.
Commerce is allowed to do what they will, how they want when they want.
That does not achieve the nonproliferation goals that we're setting out here with this body.
On the other end of the spectrum, the nonproliferation tools can wind things so tight that commerce is not allowed to breathe.
Also not an acceptable measure as we move forward.
Where is that right balance? I think personally, we have aired a little too hard on some of the nonproliferation elements being an impediment towards commercial industry moving forward.
But the point is that they can work in harmony, and they can work in harmony in the sense that we can promote American commerce while also upholding the highest nonproliferation standards.
We too are using AI to parlay into Ron's comment, using AI to accelerate our export control license approval processes to single out and more expedite looking people who are bad actors in trying to take advantage of the system versus those who we can accelerate approvals for to make sure that commerce is more streamlined.
In the end, again, the last message that I want to take away is that these two areas can work in concert and that we are doing everything that we can in the United States government to promote the American industry in a safe and efficient manner, advancing the commercial nuclear industry to provide energy abundance not only to the United States, but to the global market, and then use our nonproliferation tools to advance that mission as well.
Thank you, doctor Napoli.
I know I said that was the last question, but I actually have one more.
I'm going to ask this to Ron because doctor Napoli highlighted the importance of nonproliferation, export control.
But I want to bring it back to the civil nuclear part.
Maybe we can say, let's say a country is interested in laying the groundwork for incorporating civil nuclear energy in their future.
What are the ways they can partner with the US or US companies and really what steps would they need to take in order to make that happen? I think that's a great question to end on.
I would just say, number one, reach out and ask for a meeting.
We have the entire US government represented here.
We all have different tools and tool sets depending on what your need is.
You certainly don't need a one, two, three agreement for engaging with the US government to understand what we can help provide, whether it's early capacity building, whether it's just familiarity with the work that we are doing.
I think at one point we built a flow diagram of, if you want this, here's what you get.
So instead of walking through a flow diagram, I would just say, reach out.
We have the State Department, the Department of Energy, and we will make sure that you will get connected to the right program, to the right experts that allow you to start your journey, to continue to your journey, to accelerate your journey.
Wherever you are, not only is there a technology for you, but there's certainly a pathway for engagement.
The United States is open for business.
Our companies are really excited, and of course, they can't be everywhere all the time all at once.
And so we are certainly happy to take the technical expertise, to take the programs to ensure that not only are we able to provide this technology with the high standards of safety and security, but do it at the pace that you need, which for many countries seems to be similar to the pace that we are looking at here in the United States.
Go ahead.
If I can just to further add on to that, I think it's important for people to understand that when you're working with US companies in the US government in the nuclear space, you're talking about very long commitments.
If you have reactors, you're talking things that are 20, 30, 40, 50 year terms, contracts.
Those are US commitments to countries.
To economic partnership, to business.
And so I think it's very, very important to understand that you haven't just bought a car that you can do whatever you want with, you're entering into a contract and into a relationship with the United States that is going to span decades.
And that is an important component of how we view nuclear energy on the civilian side, but also ensuring the nonproliferation standards are adhered to as well.
But again, to just stress that these are long term partnerships you're entering into in the United States itself when you pursue this.
Ambassador.
Thank you.
If I may just take 1 minute, put my NPT Rev Co president's hat on because I cannot refrain from doing so because we have been talking about the NPT for so much.
Now, just to echo what have been said about the importance of the nonproliferation and the peaceful uses pillars of the NPT and all these issues of strengthening the nonproliferation pillar has been extremely important for the health and the credibility of the NPT itself and I mean, I see a successful NPT review conference with the adoption of a consensus outcome document covering all the three pillars from disarmament, nonproliferation and peaceful uses will serve this, the golden age of American nuclear energy, will create a good foundation, a proper foundation for expanding international cooperation in advancing this renaissance of nuclear energy.
Well, in the countries where you already have the capacity, but the introduction of nuclear energy to the majority of countries in the developing world to get access to nuclear energy and really contribute to this golden age that we are so much looking forward to.
Just to leave you with that one message, thank you very much again.
Anybody else? Any other comments? Okay.
All right.
Well, thank you so much.
What an amazing dialogue today.
I just heard so many great nuggets, everything from workforce development to safe, secure, safeguarded, and all of the amazing a reactor for anyone for everything.
Thank you so much and I know Ambassador Waltz had to leave early, but I wanted to thank him giving the welcome remarks and also Administrator Williams and this distinguished panel from across the US government and also from Vietnam.
Thank you.
This is just the beginning, as we start the golden age of American nuclear energy, and I know we're very excited and there's more to come in this area.
Thank you all for attending and I hope everybody has a great day and the rest of your time at the NPT Rev Co.
Thank you.
And I would like to give one special thank you to Jillian Gaynor and to Joanna Kar.
They were instrumental in organizing this panel.
So thank you so much.
Yeah.
And thank you.