In response to anthropogenic climate change, new policies and investments in alternative clean energy sources are being pursued globally, including emerging technologies for nuclear energy and fusion (White House 2023a). The largely unexplored intersections with nuclear nonproliferation and effects on international security are the subject of an ongoing research project (Kosal and Whitlark Reference Kosal and Whitlarkn.d.). The relationships among nuclear nonproliferation, climate change, and emerging technologies are interconnected.

The emerging nexus between renewed interest in nuclear power for clean energy and responding to nonproliferation challenges is a new space that will both benefit from new voices but may also offer opportunities that more traditional disciplinary domains and narrow policy endeavors may not (Kosal Reference Kosal2024). This is a gap that new voices can address and illuminate with novel solutions. This spotlight essay focuses on new voices in emerging technologies related to nuclear energy and nonproliferation policy.

Analyses from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and the International Energy Agency (IEA) show that nuclear energy plays a major role in achieving global net-zero goals (IAEA 2021; IEA 2022). At COP28, the United States announced initiatives to triple nuclear energy capacity globally by accelerating deployments of advanced reactors, including small modular reactors (SMR) globally; securing the nuclear fuel supply chain; and fusion energy research and development (White House 2023b).

Emerging technologies at this nexus that are often cited include “advanced reactors,” which is a term used to describe non-light water reactor designs using technologies that differ from those of existing operating reactors, such as passive safety features, or incorporate different fuel or coolants, such as molten salt reactor technologies. Fusion-based reactors are another example of truly nascent technology. Fundamental issues involving advanced reactors range from the appropriate role of federal governments in developing and deploying advanced nuclear power technologies to international regimes and safeguards. New voices leading in this area at the intersection of engineering and nonproliferation include Brenda Garcia-Diaz, who leads Savannah River National Laboratory’s Fusion Fuel Cycle Research and Development efforts, which seek to address the technical challenges of developing fusion-based energy and new proliferation challenges of the emerging technology (SRNL n.d.).

The technology that has gotten the most attention recently is SMRs. Although there are successes, they are finding mixed success globally. Employing two SMRs, Russia’s Akademik Lomonosov—the world’s first floating nuclear power plant—began operating commercially in 2020 (Kuznetsov Reference Kuznetsov, Ingersoll and Carelli2021). At least one land-based SMR in Russia has been licensed (World Nuclear News 2023). China’s first SMR began producing energy in 2023 (Howe Reference Howe2023). Both Russia and China are selling and operating their nuclear technology abroad (World Nuclear Association 2023). While receiving significant initial interest and federal investment, private development of SMRs in the US has met with setbacks. The first attempt to deploy an SMR in the US was canceled because too few corporate customers signed up to receive its power amid rising costs (Duckett Reference Duckett2023). Another major US-led SMR project abroad is waiting for approval (Reuters 2024). Developing and deploying new SMR concepts commercially requires significant innovation.

There are multiple places where new voices are beneficial, from basic research through entrepreneurial endeavors to international policy. More women are needed in nuclear- and energy-related science and technology fields: engineers and entrepreneurs from underrepresented groups can have a positive influence on the development of new technology. In the United States, only 17% of nuclear engineers are female (Townsend et al. Reference Townsend, Brady, Lindegard, Hall, McAndrew-Benavides and Poston2022). Globally, women were found to comprise 24% of the workforce in the nuclear sector in 2019 (Nuclear Energy Agency 2023). This trend has held for decades. In the United States, nuclear engineering demographics do not resemble the wider population: 73% are White (Townsend et al. Reference Townsend, Brady, Lindegard, Hall, McAndrew-Benavides and Poston2022). In context of transitioning applied research to commercial technology, only about 11% of energy sector founders are female versus 20% across all sectors (Johnstone and Silva Reference Johnstone and Silva2020). New voices are needed from laboratory science and engineering through small, high-tech start-ups.

The publics’ willingness to support nuclear energy also needs new voices, especially women. A meta-analysis of the scholarly literature documenting how the general public views nuclear energy reveals a strong negative correlation between concern over climate change and support for nuclear energy (Kosal and Whitlark Reference Kosal and Whitlarkn.d.). A lower level of support for nuclear power by women than by men has been repeatedly documented (Aegerter Reference Aegerter1989; Sundström and McCright Reference Sundström and McCright2016). The lack of women in the nuclear sector is causally attributed to be a factor driving the “gaps [that] raise persistent barriers to the application of nuclear technology despite its attributes and benefits” (Nuclear Energy Agency 2023). This is important because opposition to nuclear energy, especially among young people and those most concerned about climate change, could limit its usefulness as an alternative to fossil fuel. This is an area that may be ripe for policy attention and new voices. The organization, Women in Nuclear Canada, is trying to have that influence on the general public through their “SMR Action Plan” (Women in Nuclear Canada, n.d.). As more women, women of color, and other underrepresented groups’ voices are heard, they may bring forward ideas that challenge dominant policy thinking globally, nationally, and locally. A detailed discussion about the ways and effects of such is beyond the scope of this short piece.

In international security and nuclear safety policy, there are tremendous opportunities for new voices, especially critical are scholars who are able to bridge across the technical, engineering, geopolitical, and policy realms. For example, advanced reactors are often designed to be more resistant to proliferation than light water reactors through a variety of means including closed systems making the fissile material inaccessible. Being “proliferation resistant” does not necessarily mean that verification and safeguards are no longer needed. In some cases, nuclear accountancy safeguards are made more difficult by advanced reactor designs, which is counter to nonproliferation goals (IAEA 2017). Another area that is ripe for scholarship and new policy approaches is how to integrate fusion-based technologies into nonproliferation regimes (Kalinowski and Colschen Reference Kalinowski and Colschen1995), what safeguards are needed technically and politically (Sievert and Johnson Reference Sievert and Johnson2010), and effects on strategic stability. Women like IAEA Deputy Director General and Head of the Department of Nuclear Safety and Security Lydie Evrard (IAEA 2023), Country Leader for GE Hitachi Small Modular Reactors in Canada Lisa McBride (Innovating Canada, n.d.), and outgoing US National Nuclear Security Agency Administrator Jill Hruby (Arms Control Today 2023) epitomize the bridging of the technical with policy at the intersection of nonproliferation and emerging technologies.

Another area for new voices is exploring the connections (or lack thereof ) among climate change, geopolitical stability, and nuclear proliferation. Climate change is expected to create instability and increase the potential for conflict, which may increase the risks of a nuclear exchange, whereas at the same time, states may desire nuclear weapons as a deterrent. The most noticeable gap in the existing literature is the relative lack of work explicitly linking nuclear weapons/nuclear proliferation to climate change. In the rare case that they are mentioned, it is to point out the similarities between these issues in terms of their scale, complexity, and effects. Indeed, both nuclear proliferation and climate change can be considered collective action problems in which critical decisions are made at the national and subnational levels but the effects of such decisions are felt globally.

In conclusion, improving our understanding of the nexus among nuclear weapons, nuclear energy, and climate change will be necessary for developing policies that meet the world’s growing energy needs while limiting both fossil fuel emissions and nuclear proliferation. To do this, new voices are needed. Women and underrepresented minorities are untapped talent, and new voices and teams that bridge deep expertise in social sciences and the technical realms are also essential.