Standards at Sea: A Strategy for U.S. and Allied Leadership in Civil Maritime Nuclear Energy
The United States cannot win the maritime nuclear competition on construction volume, where China holds a structural advantage and Russia already operates commercial systems. In the near term, America’s more durable advantage lies in shaping the standards, licensing, and certification that will govern reactors, fuels, and port access in this market—and in doing so on terms that favor U.S. and allied technologies.
The brief argues that the United States should work with allies to define global maritime nuclear standards and build ships and reactors together as domestic capacity is restored—allowing America to lead on the terms of deployment now, and on production as its industrial base expands.
About the Authors:
Paul Saunders is President and CEO of the Center for the National Interest, publisher of The National Interest, and a senior advisor at Energy Innovation Reform Project. He was a State Department senior advisor during the George W. Bush administration, where he worked on energy and climate change, among other issues.
Dr. Sanggil Park is Senior Fellow for Nuclear Energy and Director of the U.S.-Korea Energy Forum at the Center for the National Interest. Prior to joining the Center, Dr. Park served as an advisor in the energy practice at Lee & Ko, one of South Korea’s largest law firms. As nuclear engineer with deep private-sector experience, he has provided strategic guidance to government agencies, state-owned enterprises, and private entities on overseas nuclear projects, advanced nuclear reactor technology development, licensing, supply chains, fuel cycles, project development, export controls, and nonproliferation issues. Earlier in his career, Dr. Park worked as a researcher in nuclear safety at the Korea Institute of Nuclear Safety, an expert body supporting Korea’s nuclear regulatory authority, the Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, and Switzerland’s Paul Scherrer Institute. He also served as a research fellow at Samsung Global Research. Dr. Park completed his Ph.D. at ETH Zurich in collaboration with the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology.