While the U.S. nuclear industry is still working to revive its capabilities after years of trying to appease the environmentalist lobby, they are bending over backwards to undercut the lead that Russia has in the technology, where the zero-growth environmentalists have had a tougher time in gaining influence. Russia has arguably the most advanced nuclear program in the world. Nevertheless, the first initiatives that the Trump Administration has taken in its attempt to regain influence in Russia’s neighborhood have been to use the capabilities it has to produce—or acquire—small nuclear reactors.
President Trump’s intervention into the Armenia-Azerbaijan situation, with his own somewhat sketchy, alternative to China’s Belt and Road Initiative, TRIPP or Trump Route For Peace and International Prosperity, connecting Armenia and Azerbaijan on the border with Iran, has also offered to build SMRs for Armenia, in a clear bid to undercut plans for a Russian reactor (no doubt at a much lower price than the US would be asking for). During the Munich Security Conference, Secretary of State Marco Rubio also signed an agreement with Hungary to provide them with nuclear fuel and to establish an international hub there for the production of SMRs using American technology.
