6 December 2023

The U.S.-U.A.E. Business Council hosted a panel discussion on 6 December 2023 at the Net Zero Nuclear Pavilion in the COP28 Blue Zone about the history, evolution, and future of the U.S.-U.A.E. nuclear partnership. Panelists discussed the 123 Agreement as a model for other countries, the Partnership for Accelerating Clean Energy (PACE), and the Net Zero Nuclear pledge made this week at COP28.

Mr. Dan Poneman, President and CEO of Centrus Energy, discussed the origins of the 123 Agreement for civil nuclear cooperation. The U.A.E. created a white paper that proposed foreswearing enrichment of uranium and reprocessing of plutonium, as well as establishing a rigorous safety program and first-rate physical security. This white paper formed the basis for the 123 Agreement that outlines the terms of peaceful nuclear cooperation between the U.S. and U.A.E. and is considered the gold standard in civil nuclear energy cooperation globally. He highlighted the importance of the U.A.E.’s development of its own strategy, which led to the 123 Agreement, as opposed to the United States imposing a strategy on the U.A.E.

The 123 Agreement jumpstarted U.S.-U.A.E. nuclear energy cooperation, according to Mr. Mohamed Al Braiki, Strategy & Planning Director at Emirates Nuclear Energy Corporation (ENEC). Over the years, the United States has provided technical expertise and supported the development of the U.A.E.’s Barakah Nuclear Energy Plant. To date, this has amounted to $2.7 billion in contracts. 

U.S. Undersecretary for International Trade Marisa Lago said she is heartened by the growing awareness that properly regulated nuclear energy must serve as a critical part of the solution to climate change.  She stressed that it has become clear that we “cannot get to net zero without nuclear energy.”  She recounted the long political, societal, and regulatory changes over the last several decades that have led to nuclear energy being recognized as a safe, reliable, and clean baseline source of energy to augment renewables, and noted it can be part of the solution for industries that are hard to decarbonize.

Mr. Roger Martella, Chief Sustainability Officer at GE Vernova, highlighted the role of the U.S.-U.A.E. Partnership for Accelerating Clean Energy (PACE) in facilitating and financing new nuclear energy partnerships.  Nuclear is one of the pillars of PACE, which aims to mobilize $100 billion in investment, financing, and other support across the globe to produce 100 GW of clean energy by 2035. Mr. Martella described PACE as a “historic game changer” that is, like the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), driving action and leading to results. Mr. Martella remarked that GE was honored to sign an MoU with ENEC on small modular reactors (SMRs) as part of PACE, noting that SMRs will be critically important to solving energy shortages in the developing world. Mr. Mohamed Al Braiki elaborated on the opportunities inherent in PACE for additional civil nuclear cooperation between the U.S. and the U.A.E. in third countries, highlighting the nuclear project in Romania as a shining example.

Panelists lauded the Net Zero Nuclear pledge as a game changer for the energy sector. Mr. Al Braiki hailed the significance of the U.A.E., United States, and 20 other countries pledging this week at COP28 to triple nuclear energy capacity by 2050. Underscoring this point, Mr. Poneman remarked, “You don’t get within a country mile of net zero without nuclear.” Panelists emphasized that these commitments can only be accomplished through the deployment of effective public private partnerships. Undersecretary Lago underscored that the private sector is playing a crucial role in accelerating the transition to clean energy. She remarked, “If we are going to achieve the promise of COP28, it has to be with private sector innovation and ability to build to scale.” 

Undersecretary Lago highlighted supply chain security as a critical lesson learned from the Covid pandemic and mentioned the Biden Administration recently constituted a Council on Supply Chain Resilience as an important outcome.  Mr. Martella noted the importance of the supply chain and noted much-needed improvements in grid infrastructure to improve efficiencies in energy supply and consumption.  The future of nuclear reactors will require High-Assay Low-Enriched Uranium (HALEU) that, until this year, was only produced in Russia. Now, his company, Centrus Energy, is producing HALEU in the United States as well. He stressed the need to diversify supply chains not just for HALEU but also for Low-Enriched Uranium (LEU), the majority of which is currently produced in Russia (44%) and China (10%). He emphasized that ensuring supply chain security and resiliency is a critical national security imperative, as reinforced by Covid and the Ukraine crisis.

The session concluded by looking at the legacy of this COP for the nuclear industry. Mr. Martella claimed this COP marks a historic moment for the nuclear industry and noted that this COP represents the first forum where nuclear energy is “embraced” as a critical piece of the clean energy mix and part of the solution to achieving net zero goals. Mr. Poneman emphasized that the key to success will be execution of pledges and agreements coming out of this COP. Mr. Al Braiki called SMRs a “game changer” for the future of nuclear energy, and he said that he hopes to see harmonization of regulations across different designs and different technologies. Undersecretary Lago envisioned the adoption of SMRs in the United States in the next five years, paving the way for broader adoption around the globe. 

For more information on this event or the Business Council’s COP28 programming, please contact Graham Reitman at greitman@usuaebusiness.org.