November 2019 As seen in the November 2019 issue of Nuclear News Copyright © 2019 by the American Nuclear Society
The legacy of Richard Lugar and lessons for the nuclear sector
As the U.S. nuclear power industry approaches a crossroads, building bipartisan support for continued investment may hinge on national security interests.
By Vickram Singh tisanship and placing country over party tablished himself as one of the Republican deserves remembrance. Party’s leaders in foreign affairs, serving ormer U.S. senator Richard Lugar, Born in Indiana in 1932, Lugar graduat- as chairman of the Senate Committee on who passed away on April 28 of ed at the top of his class from an Indian Foreign Relations for six years. Respected Fthis year, left behind an impres- apolis high school and Denison Univer- on both sides of the political aisle, Lugar sive legacy of nonproliferation advocacy. sity in Granville, Ohio. After completing believed in a policy of out-innovating His educational background, military a bachelor’s degree in economics at Den- global competitors and negotiating effec- service, experience in running a family ison, Lugar earned additional bachelor’s tive foreign partnerships. He authored leg- business, and political career allowed and master’s degrees at Oxford University, islation aimed at addressing some of the him to develop a unique perspective where he studied politics, philosophy, and greatest challenges of his time: foreign en- on the nature of the United States’ role economics as a Rhodes Scholar. In 1957, ergy dependence, apartheid in South Af- in the world. Lugar strove to realize his shortly after graduating from Oxford, he rica, the integration of African economies vision of America as a global leader in joined the U. S. Navy and served as an in- into the global economy, nuclear stockpile post-secondary education, technological telligence briefer for three years, reporting management, and the enlargement of the innovation, and international security. directly to Adm. Arleigh Burke, chief of na- North Atlantic Treaty Organization. In the Senate, Lugar developed biparti- val operations. Upon returning to Indiana, These experiences in the Senate allowed san agendas focused on addressing the Lugar helped run his family’s food produc- Lugar to develop a political philosophy world’s most pressing problems. As we tion and farming businesses. He launched that resonated with both Republicans confront the issues of a declining do- his political career in 1964, when he was and Democrats and helped develop pro- mestic nuclear industry, the emergence elected to the Indianapolis Board of School grams crucial to international security. of Russia and China, and the spread of Commissioners. In 1967, Lugar successful- The Cooperative Threat Reduction (CTR) nuclear technologies to regions such as ly ran for mayor of Indianapolis, remaining program established under the auspices the Middle East, Lugar’s legacy of bipar- in that office until 1975. He became a U.S. of the Soviet Nuclear Threat Reduction senator in 1976 and served until 2013, be- Act of 1991, commonly referred to as the Vickram Singh (
28 • Nuclear News • November 2019 www.ans.org/nn The Lugar philosophy Lugar’s time in office coincided with a series of critical inflection points in world affairs, among them the 1979 oil crisis, the denuclearization of South Africa, the fall of the Soviet Union, arms control treaties with Russia, and the September 11 attacks. Coupled with his education and military service, these global events shaped Lugar’s political philosophy, which centered on bi- partisanship, national security, and foreign relations. Often considered a moderate or centrist, Lugar realized that governance must remain flexible, allowing legislators to adapt and respond to a shifting geopolitical landscape. He realized that partisan squab- bling paled in comparison to the potential consequences of national security threats such as nuclear terrorism. Lugar’s personal view of bipartisanship, a foundation of his political philosophy and the CTR program, is well illustrated by a statement of his from 2008: “Bipartisanship is not centrism, and it is more than compromise. It is a way of approaching one’s duties as a public ser- vant that requires self-reflection.” Photo: U.S. Senate To Lugar, self-reflection was essential Sens. Sam Nunn (left) and Richard Lugar leave the White House in 1991 after briefing to realizing that problems facing the na- President George H. W. Bush on their cooperative threat reduction legislation. tion and the world supersede partisan political commitments. For Lugar, self- tion under its jurisdiction. Bipartisan test tunnels, and 32 nuclear submarines. reflection was the act of understanding cooperation early in the program’s devel- In addition, nearly 1,395 metric tons of that one’s commitments to political par- opment was vital to its success. Both par- chemical weapons material was destroyed, ty–driven agendas can be outweighed ties recognized the need for investment and the countries of Ukraine, Kazakh- by commitments to public service that in WMD security, not because it would stan, and Belarus were certified to be free require compromise when serving the offer any financial return, but because of of nuclear weapons.† nation’s interests. Lugar’s enduring pri- its inherent value to international security, oritization of concrete, substantive prog- including that of the United States. After Today’s nuclear industry ress against pressing global crises over all, any loss of WMD material could result The United States’ domestic nuclear lofty rhetoric informed his preference for in catastrophic consequences for Russia or energy industry has experienced a sharp strengthening existing international pro- the United States. decline in activity over the past 15 years. The CTR program A number of factors have contributed to “Bipartisanship is not centrism, would prove resilient this decline: advances in renewable energy and remained in place technologies, high capital costs of nuclear and it is more than compromise. through changes in reactor projects, decreased domestic en- It is a way of approaching administration and ergy needs, concerns about spent nuclear geopolitical events fuel and radioactive waste disposal, and one’s duties as a public servant such as the 2008 inconsistent domestic energy policies. Russo- Georgian War, Renewable energy technologies, mainly that requires self-reflection.” during which the pro- solar and wind energy, have undergone gram was responsible improvements in fabrication and gener- grams rather than creating them anew. for the destruction of 10 SS-25 missiles.* ation methods, allowing them to become And he tirelessly strove to ensure the lon- Rather than proposing new foreign policy, financially attractive options for power gevity of programs by focusing on shared the CTR program bolstered arms control utilities. Furthermore, the need for power- interests among erstwhile opponents, agreements already in place, such as arms dense energy systems such as nuclear has whether they be Democrats and Republi- control treaties and chemical weapons con- decreased in the United States. The energy cans or Russians and Americans. The re- ventions. It provided a verification mecha- needs of Americans have lessened as the spect of his fellow legislators was earned nism for international commitments, elim- nation’s economy becomes less industri- through his commitment to excellence in inating threats to national security and al and improvements in energy efficiency governance, which he saw as achievable creating a platform for scientific dialogue have been made. Domestic politics have only through political self-reflection and between the United States and Russia. made addressing the question of spent fuel compromise. The CTR program eventually result- disposition challenging and obtaining fi- The CTR program was a clear mani- ed in the deactivation of approximately nancing opportunities for nuclear power festation of Lugar’s political philosophy. 7,600 nuclear warheads, 791 interconti- projects in the United States and overseas Beginning with a small bipartisan group nental ballistic missiles, 669 submarine- extremely difficult. of senators led by Lugar and Nunn, a uni- launched ballistic missiles, 194 nuclear Continued fying solution was developed to address a Soviet Union on the brink of collapse and * 2009 interview with Richard Lugar, pub- † Sen. Mitch McConnell’s remarks to the U.S. the unsecured weapons of mass destruc- lished by the Georgetown University Press. Congress on December 11, 2012.
November 2019 • Nuclear News • 29 Nevertheless, there are some promis- ing aspects to nuclear energy’s future. The United States remains in possession of the world’s largest operating reactor fleet and is a leader in the development of advanced reactor technologies—small modular reac- tors and Generation IV designs.* Further- more, emerging energy markets—mainly in Asia, the Middle East, and Eastern Eu- rope—are growing their nuclear energy capacities at promising rates. Advanced reactor development has also commenced around the world, with Russia, China, In- dia, and Canada emerging as leaders in the field, alongside the United States. Throughout all of these shifts in nucle- ar landscapes, a historically active Rus- sia has remained a steadfast builder of nuclear power plants, both domestically and internationally. The fastest growing nuclear reactor fleet in the world is that of China’s, whose nuclear ambitions are now beginning to result in exports of in- digenous reactor technology and financ- ing of foreign nuclear reactor projects. While Russia and China have strength- ened their domestic and international Statistics compiled from the International Atomic Energy Agency's Power Reactor programs, the decrease in the United Information System and the World Nuclear Association's Reactor Database. States’ domestic nuclear energy invest- ment has translated to a lack of involve- Applying Lugar’s lessons ground. Lugar committed a large portion ment on the global stage. Once consid- In the spirit of Lugar’s comments on of his political career to nonproliferation ered a top choice for nuclear infrastruc- bipartisanship, political self-reflection by efforts, with the ultimate goal of making ture purchase and program development, both Democrats and Republicans may the world a safer place. In today’s nuclear the United States is now unable to com- change the current political lethargy re- energy export markets, Russia and Chi- pete with Russia’s and China’s attractive garding nuclear power. First, there will al- na pose what many argue is a substantial financing options and Russia’s ability to ways be a need for carbon-free and power- threat to global nonproliferation efforts. repatriate spent fuel for reprocessing and dense baseload generating capacity when Secretary of Energy Rick Perry communi- minimize the volume of waste products considering the United States’ diverse cated these concerns to the Senate Armed imposed on the host nation. energy portfolio. Although energy storage Services Committee earlier this year. He Among other factors, such as the 2011 may shift this argument slightly in the fu- argued that the United States must engage Fukushima Daiichi accident, domestic ture, most experts agree that relying solely in emerging nuclear reactor export mar- politics in the United States has slowed on renewable energy sources has the po- kets, specifically the Middle East, because any realistic attempts at reinvigorating tential to endanger national energy securi- our commitment to nonproliferation is far its domestic nuclear industry. The leader- ty. Without robust storage technology, the greater than that of Russia and China. In ship in this arena is minimal, with many nation could be forced to rely on foreign these uncertain times, Lugar’s commit- historic proponents of nuclear power, in- electricity imports to meet its baseload ments to nonproliferation, bipartisanship, cluding Sen. Lamar Alexander (R., Tenn.), generation needs at peak consumption and program resiliency should be taken approaching retirement. In fact, the pol- hours as it phases out nuclear and fossil under consideration. icies garnering public excitement today fuel power plants—an issue already facing Framing the argument for increased often call for a complete phaseout of nu- countries such as Germany and Italy. Nu- investment in both domestic and export- clear power in the United States—see Al- clear power, apart from coal and natural ed nuclear energy around the security exandria Ocasio Cortez’s proposed Green gas, is the only power source capable of concerns associated with a global com- New Deal. Moreover, there has been no meeting those baseload needs. Therefore, petition with Russia and China may help contextualization of the argument in ways it is important to both maintain domestic establish early bipartisan support for in- that spur interest across the political aisle. excellence in nuclear technology expertise vestment. If legislators are to truly live Perhaps in the face of all of these challeng- for the foreseeable future and incentivize up to Lugar’s prioritization of global se- es, lessons from Lugar’s political career students to pursue education in the nu- curity concerns over domestic partisan- and the CTR program can inspire a resur- clear arena. Lugar believed that America’s ship, they should strongly consider how gence in nuclear power investment here in fundamentals in education, innovation, nuclear technology export translates to the United States. and global competitiveness must be nur- geopolitical influence, and whether Rus- tured to ensure a leadership role in today’s sian and Chinese export models strength- * Generation IV International Forum reactor geopolitical climate. en nuclear nonproliferation and security designs defined by the International Atom- International security and geopoliti- governance. If Russia and China’s geopo- ic Energy Agency include the gas-cooled fast cal influence are often unifying concepts litical influence continues to increase and reactor, lead-cooled fast reactor, molten salt in U.S. politics. In the context of today’s nuclear governance strength decreases, reactor, sodium-cooled fast reactor, super- global competition with Russia and Chi- the international security consequences critical water-cooled reactor, and very high- na, the innovation and export of nuclear could prove far-reaching and catastroph- temperature gas reactor. technology may be yet another battle- ic. In response, the United States’ domes-
30 • Nuclear News • November 2019 www.ans.org/nn The Legacy of Richard Lugar and Lessons for the Nuclear Sector tic and foreign nuclear energy policies deserve reevaluation. The CTR program was built upon exist- ing bilateral and multilateral frameworks, such as the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START). Although slightly differ- ent in scope, bilateral frameworks under Section 123 of the U.S. Atomic Energy Act may provide a platform for developing more concrete nuclear investment pro- grams. Agreements are already in place with emerging nuclear nations such as India, Turkey, and the United Arab Emir- ates. Shared domestic interests centered on national security and geopolitical influence must be emphasized to foster bipartisanship, followed by the establish- ment of investment strategies that target the concerns of partner nations. Program- matic shared interests was the platform upon which the CTR program ensured the longevity of initiatives and will be nec- essary for any proposed programs to last the full life cycle of nuclear infrastructure development. A path forward In an age of decreased domestic support for nuclear, new challenges in global com- petition from Russia and China, and asso- ciated nonproliferation concerns, Lugar’s political legacy offers useful perspectives worth revisiting. First, bipartisan support for nuclear energy investment will emerge from the development of new arguments for nuclear investment centered on nation- al and international security. These argu- ments must focus on geopolitical influ- ence, competition with Russia and China, and international security. Second, exist- ing bilateral frameworks, such as the 123 Agreements, must be built upon with part- ner nations. The United States has a histo- ry of promoting strong nuclear governance when engaging in foreign nuclear projects, while Russia’s and China’s commitment to these ideals is uncertain. Commitment to international nuclear nonproliferation and security will allow bilateral agreements to remain resilient during the prolonged timelines associated with nuclear infra- structure development. Third, although government investment in nuclear may not necessarily result in an economic re- turn on investment, it will strengthen na- tional security. However, if we as a nation can foster the innovative culture Richard Lugar valued, the United States could very well reemerge as a leader in the nuclear in- dustry, especially in advanced reactor de- velopment and export. NN Disclaimer The views and opinions of the author expressed herein do not necessarily state or reflect those of the U. S. government or Lawrence Livermore National Securi- ty LLC.
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