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WASHINGTON - Export-Import Bank of the United States (EXIM) President and Chairman Kimberly A. Reed yesterday addressed 70 participants during a U.S.-Japan working group meeting of the Atlantic Council Global Energy Center and the Howard Baker Forum on opportunities for civil nuclear cooperation and co-financing between the United States and Japan.

The meeting convened key stakeholders to focus on how the United States and Japanese governments can enable financial cooperation on advanced nuclear energy technologies. Chairman Reed was joined by her counterpart from Japan's export credit agency, Governor Tadashi Maeda of the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC).

In her keynote remarks, Chairman Reed outlined the critical role EXIM plays in supporting the competitiveness of the U.S. nuclear energy industry in markets around the world. She also highlighted EXIM's new Program on China and Transformational Exports, which directs EXIM to provide export financing to directly neutralize export subsidies offered by the People's Republic of China, helping ensure a more level playing field for U.S. businesses and workers as they compete globally.

"Over 95 percent of construction projects for new nuclear power facilities are being built outside the United States. Without the backing of an export credit agency, it is nearly impossible for any company to make a successful bid on a nuclear construction project," said Chairman Reed. "U.S. companies have been crowded out of this market for years, but now that EXIM is fully reopened, U.S. exporters in the nuclear energy sector can better compete with state-backed rivals in China, Russia, and other countries that aggressively utilize export financing to seek dominance in the global nuclear energy market. But we will be able to take on Beijing much more effectively working together with our trusted allies, especially an ally like Japan."

"Nuclear power is the most important critical source of power; consistent with our obligation of sustainable development goals and reducing the emissions of greenhouse gas, which is a goal of the Paris Agreement," JBIC Governor Maeda said during his remarks. "We need to accelerate our support for small nuclear reactors."

EXIM and JBIC signed a co-financing agreement in 2012 to facilitate export transactions involving companies in both the United States and Japan. JBIC is a policy-based financial institution of Japan, which conducts lending, investment, and guarantee operations while complementing private-sector financial institutions.

Yesterday's virtual event brought together key stakeholders from the public and private sectors in the United States and Japan to discuss opportunities to finance nuclear innovation.

"As the U.S. and Japan strive to meet the dual challenges of meeting energy demand while also decarbonizing the global energy system, we can work together to implement the policy, technical, and regulatory requirements necessary to drive the energy transition. Energy cooperation has long been a cornerstone of our bilateral relationship with Japan, and the U.S. partnership with Japan is our longest-standing civil nuclear agreement," said Ambassador Richard L. Morningstar, Founding Chairman of the Atlantic Council Global Energy Center.

"The U.S. and Japan have long been partners, and we both recognize the growing need for advanced civil nuclear energy. By supporting test reactors and export cooperation, this partnership can help supply the next generation of nuclear power and create positive climate, economic, and development outcomes for both countries and the world," said Richard Powell, Executive Director of ClearPath and a member of EXIM's Advisory Committee, who participated in a panel discussion during the event.

Chairman Reed and other participants discussed opportunities to finance nuclear innovation, such as Advanced Small Modular Reactors (SMRs).

"Small modular reactors can provide carbon free, safe, secure, affordable, baseload electric power to the developing world and emerging markets exactly where it is needed. As a distributed power source with a small footprint, SMRs can provide much-needed electricity to remote regions without the expense of building a giant power grid or a pipeline system. Importantly, they can work in tandem with renewable power systems providing non-interrupted power. SMRs provide technology solutions to address global poverty and global warming and are vital new tools to mitigate climate change and to lift people out of poverty. This important workshop examines what the United States and Japan, longtime partners and collaborators in nuclear energy, are doing to bring SMRs to market," said Scott Campbell, President of the Howard Baker Forum.

Also taking part in the panel discussion were:

• Christopher Gadomski, Head of Nuclear Research at Bloomberg New Energy Finance.
• Dr. Jennifer Gordon, Managing Editor and Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council Global Energy Center.
• Wells Griffith, Managing Director and Senior Advisor to the CEO for Energy at the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation.
• Dr. Joseph Lassiter, Senator John Heinz Professor of Management Practice in Environmental Management, Retired, at Harvard Business School.
• Dr. Lara Pierpoint, Director of Technology Strategy for Exelon Corporation and Board Co-Chair for the Nuclear Innovation Alliance.

EXIM Chairman Kimberly Reed and JBIC Governor Tadashi Maeda

ABOUT EXIM:

EXIM is an independent federal agency that promotes and supports American jobs by providing competitive and necessary export credit to support sales of U.S. goods and services to international buyers. A robust EXIM can level the global playing field for U.S. exporters when they compete against foreign companies that receive support from their governments. EXIM also contributes to U.S. economic growth by helping to create and sustain hundreds of thousands of jobs in exporting businesses and their supply chains across the United States. In recent years, approximately 90 percent of the total number of the agency's authorizations has directly supported small businesses. Since 1992, EXIM has generated more than $9 billion for the U.S. Treasury for repayment of U.S. debt. 

For more information about EXIM, please visit www.exim.gov.