Trump wants to beat China and Russia in the race for the export of nuclear energy

The United States dominated nuclear energy exports decades ago, but faces stiff competition from allies such as France and South Korea. But it is the growing dominance of opponents in Beijing and Moscow that worries the Trump administration and non-proliferation experts.

China is building more reactors at home than any other country and its state-owned nuclear companies are beginning to penetrate the international market in Pakistan, Argentina and the United Kingdom. The Russian company Rosatom, already an established exporter, supplies reactors for plants in Eastern Europe, India, Bangladesh and Turkey.

Russia is also changing the rules of the game by providing generous funding that makes nuclear energy affordable for more countries. Moscow is targeting the non-nuclear states of the Middle East and Africa with a model to build, own and operate power plants.

The State Department intends to actively dissuade its partners from working with China and Russia, said Christopher Ford, Assistant Secretary for International Security and Non-Proliferation.

Last month, Ford previewed this message to the Hudson Institute in Washington: "Russia and China are also using reactor sales from their heavily backed nuclear industries as a geopolitical tool to strengthen political relations with the US. partner countries and sometimes even use predatory financing to lure foreign political leaders into "debt traps" that give Beijing or Moscow a leverage that it can exploit later to gain a geopolitical advantage. "