247 



investment, costs of operation, and demand for electricity. It also 

 appears to have the most far-reaching implications for foreign policy. 



Provision of uranium enriching services by the United States to 

 domestic and to foreign customers has gone hand in hand with the 

 development and marketing of U.S. nuclear power technology by 

 the private nuclear power industry. Through 1970 more than 40 nuclear 

 power reactors of U.S. design and technology were in foreign operation, 

 being built or on order from abroad. 275 While other major industrial 

 nations, particularly in Europe, are competing with the U.S. in the 

 world market for nuclear power plants, the U.S. nuclear industry 

 appears to hold a dominant position. United States nuclear reactor 

 sale** abroad; already have totaled more than $1 billion, mostly financed 

 by the Export-Import Bank. These sales are expected to increase 

 several fold in the future * 76 Adding to these sales of nuclear power 

 plants will be sales of U.S. enriching services. 



The cost of enrichment of uranium accounts for about a third of the 

 cost Of nuclear fuel, which makes enrichment the single largest item of 

 cost in the whole fuel cycle and an important determinant of the 

 ultimate cost of nuclear power. In the eyes of the AEC, the importance 

 of having an adequate supply of enriching capacity available when 

 needed and at a reasonable cost, coupled with the high cost of process 

 development and construction for enrichment facilities justifies the 

 closest possible cooperation and communications among the users and 

 suppliers of enrichment services. 277 



At present, the three enrichment plants owned by the AEC constitute 

 virtually the sole source of enrichment services to non-Communist 

 countries. 278 A similar facility exists in the Soviet Union, a compara- 

 tively small plant at Capenhurst in England, a small facility at Pierre- 

 latte, France, and one of unknown size in China. The Union of South 

 Africa is reported to be building an enrichment plant based upon a 

 secret process. The facilities in the U.S.S.R., England, and France 

 were built to manufacture highly enriched uranium for military 

 purposes. 



Requirements for Enriched Uranium and Enrichment Services 



To remain the major supplier of uranium enrichment service for 

 commercial nuclear power in the non-Communist world, the United 

 States must be prepared to supply this service for domestic and foreign 

 orders. For the foreign market, U.S. readiness and ability to supply 

 this service must be credible to foreign officials who are responsible for 

 their countries' nuclear power programs. 



The demand for enrichment services is expected to grow substan- 

 tially over the next few decades as commercial use of nuclear power 

 expands. For the United States alone, nuclear power plants are ex- 

 pected to increase in total electrical generating capacity from 5,000 

 megawatts in 1970 to 15,000 megawatts in 1980 and to 300,000 mega- 

 watts by 1985. The AEC estimates that by 1980, 29 percent of the 



875 Kratzer, op. cit., p. 335. 



276 Loc. cit. 



277 Remarks of ABC Commissioner Wilfrid E. Johnson in U.S. Papers for the Fourth 

 United Nations International Conference on the Peaceful Uses of Atomic Energy (Wash- 

 ington, D.C : U.S. Atomic Energy Commission, 1971), vol. I, p. 2.5-2. 



278 These production plants for enriched uranium are located at Oak Ridge, Tennessee ; 

 Paducah, Kentucky ; and Portsmouth, Ohio. Together they represent a U.S. capital invest- 

 ment of over $2.3 billion. 



