MOSCOW (RT/TASS) –
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi said the U.S. is no longer the leader in the civilian nuclear energy industry, having lost its place to Russia and China.
Grossi made his comments while speaking at a conference held by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (CEIP) think tank. CEIP President Mariano-Florentino Cuellar asked him whether the U.S. civilian nuclear industry can regain prominence, considering that “the U.S. is not the same economic player in commercial nuclear technology” as Russia and China.
“I think this is a challenge for America. It has traditionally been the leader, it lost this leadership,” Grossi said.
“But I heard the [U.S.] secretary of energy say that we want to regain this leadership. Of course, you have to walk the walk,” he added. Grossi stated that Russia and China’s more “flexible” business models allow them to export nuclear technology abroad.
At the same time, he expressed confidence that the U.S. has the technological capacity to strengthen its domestic nuclear industry and expand into foreign markets.
“I see interesting decisions being taken to boost the domestic nuclear industry, which is, of course, indispensable internally because of the energy situation here but also internationally,” he said.
U.S. Secretary of Energy Jennifer Granholm said last month that the government under President Joe Biden is “committed to re-establishing the United States as a leader in nuclear energy, non-proliferation, and climate action”.
According to a July report by S&P Global Commodity Insights, the share of nuclear power generation output in the U.S. and Europe is expected to decrease from roughly 20% to 15% by 2035, while China plans to double its output to almost 10%.
In another development, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Moscow is alarmed by Warsaw’s desire to become a candidate for the placement of U.S. nuclear bombs.
“Poland is asking to be a ‘candidate’ for the Americans to place their nuclear bombs there as well. This situation is very disturbing,” the Russian top diplomat said in an interview for the film ‘A World on the Verge. Lessons of the Cuban Crisis’, which was aired on Sunday on Channel One.
A new generation of Western politicians is trying to irresponsibly ‘toy’ with the topic of nuclear weapons, Lavrov said.
“Figures have appeared in Europe who are trying to ‘toy’ with the topic of nuclear weapons in a rather irresponsible manner,” he added.
In particular, he recalled that a few months ago former French Foreign Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian urged Russia not to forget that NATO also had nuclear weapons.
“The commander of the German Air Force (Ingo Gerhartz) suddenly said that NATO should prepare for nuclear war, for the use of nuclear weapons, and what’s more, addressing our president, said: ‘Putin, don’t you dare compete with us’,” he added.