American Council on Global Nuclear Competitiveness

The American Council on Global Nuclear Competitiveness (ACGNC) "seeks the return of American nuclear leadership to the world through the emergence of an U.S.-led global nuclear enterprise," according to its website. ACGNC "encourages and supports nuclear initiatives," "educates elected officials, policy-makers, media and the public on the policy and technology aspects of an American nuclear renaissance," and encourages "private sector leadership" on nuclear issues.

History
ACGNC is "an outgrowth of an ad hoc working group that issued a white paper a year ago called 'Atoms for Peace and Prosperity in the 21st Century,'" according to Nucleonics Week. The Council's website says it was founded in 2005 and is structured as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit.

Activities and plans
In September 2008, ACGNC's John Kotek took part in a Heritage Foundation panel on "American Jobs and the Nuclear Renaissance," with Adam Sacks of Oxford Economics USA, Heritage research fellow Jack Spencer and Matt Bennett of Third Way. "The American Council on Global Nuclear Competitiveness has commissioned a study by Oxford Economics to examine the state-level occupational and economics of a revived nuclear endeavor in America," stated the event announcement.

In July 2008, ACGNC traveled to Tennessee, to "discuss the preliminary results of their study on the economic and human benefits, state by state, of a sustained push on developing US nuclear plants and a nuclear energy infrastructure." Scott Campbell, John Tuck and John Kotek represented ACGNC at the Tennessee events.

In March 2007, ACGNC "met with U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Secretary Samuel W. Bodman to discuss a series of recommendations that would restore America as a leader in nuclear energy design, manufacturing, service and supply," according to a press release from the group. "Companies represented at the meeting included ATK, ConverDyn, EnergySolutions, General Atomics, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman, USEC Inc. and Westinghouse." 

In February 2007, ACGNC director John Kotek told United Press International:
 * [A]s the U.S. gets back into the building of commercial nuclear power plants, which we think is an inevitability, we want to see that result in more than just new reactors being built. We want to see that result in the creation of American jobs, American factories, bring back some of the high paying construction and manufacturing jobs that accompanied the first wave of nuclear power plant construction in the U.S. We also believe that having U.S. companies more involved in the commercial nuclear industry globally, that's going to increase American influence in terms of impacting the behaviors of other countries toward nuclear safety and nuclear nonproliferation.

In January 2007, ACGNC released a statement "applaud[ing] the [Bush] administration for its continued commitment to strengthen America's energy security through the use of safe, environmentally friendly nuclear power." ACGNC President Scott Campbell was quoted as saying, "We support the vision embodied in the Advanced Energy Initiative and the Global Nuclear Energy Partnership which supports a role for nuclear energy in the future of U.S. energy production." 

In April 2006, Nucleonics Week reported that ACGNC planned "the release of technology, science and policy briefs this year and next," as well as "administration and congressional visits and briefings," and public events in New York, Houston and California. Also planned was "a corporate membership drive," with a goal of raising "on the order of $2 million to $3 million a year."

The same month, ACGNC's president, Scott Campbell, told Platt's Inside Energy that "hefty federal funding would be needed within a decade to ramp up U.S. manufacturing because there will be fierce foreign competition in about 10 years. He said in an interview that the council would push to get something concrete from the Bush administration out of concern its successor may not be as pro-nuclear." (Source: Michael Schmidt, "Ex-officials create council pressing U.S. lead on nuclear manufacturing," Platt's Inside Energy, April 24, 2006)

Personnel
According to their website:

Officers

 * John Kotek - Executive Director
 * Scott L. Campbell - President
 * Dr. Thomas L. Sanders, Vice President
 * Dr. Alvin W. Trivelpiece, Secretary and Treasurer

Co-Chairs

 * Ambassador Howard H. Baker, Jr.
 * Senator J. Bennett Johnston, Johnston & Associates
 * Ambassador C. Paul Robinson, Former Director, Sandia National Laboratories

Members

 * Scott L. Campbell, President and Chief Executive Officer, Washington Policy & Analysis Inc., Former Director, Office of Policy, Planning and Analysis, U.S. Department of Energy
 * Steve Creamer, President and Chief Executive Officer, EnergySolutions
 * Susan Eisenhower, President, The Eisenhower Group, Inc.
 * W. Proctor Jones, Johnston & Associates, Former Staff Director, Subcommittee on Energy and Water Development, U.S. Senate Committee on Appropriations
 * Andrew D. Lundquist, President, Lundquist Nethercutt and Griles, Former Director, National Energy Policy Development Group
 * William F. Martin, Chairman, Washington Policy & Analysis Inc., Former Deputy Secretary of Energy
 * Dr. David B. Prior, Executive Vice President and Provost, Texas A&M University
 * Darrel A. Rice, Partner, Haynes and Boone LLP
 * Dr. John I. Sackett, Former Associate Laboratory Director for Engineering Research, Argonne National Laboratory
 * Dr. Thomas L. Sanders, Manager, Global Nuclear Futures Program, Sandia National Laboratories
 * Dr. Les E. Shephard, Vice President, Energy and Infrastructure Assurance, Sandia National Laboratories
 * Dr. Alvin W. Trivelpiece, Former Director, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, Former President, Lockheed Martin Energy Research Corporation
 * John C. Tuck, Senior Public Policy Advisor, Baker Donelson, Former Under Secretary of Energy
 * John K. Welch, President and Chief Executive Officer, USEC Inc.

Counsel

 * Baker Botts

Contact information
Website: http://www.nuclearcompetitiveness.org/ Phone: 202-460-2308 (John Kotek, Executive Director)

Related SourceWatch articles

 * Nuclear Boosters
 * Nuclear Energy Institute

External articles

 * Press release, "Council Applauds Advanced Energy Initiatives," ACGNC via PR Newswire, January 24, 2007.
 * Press release, "USEC and EnergySolutions CEOs Join Nuclear Council," ACGNC via PR Newswire, February 1, 2007.
 * Ben Lando, "Interview: Nuke council takes aim for '07," UPI, February 2, 2007.
 * Press release, "Nuclear Council Presents Recommendations to DOE: Continued Commitment Required to Strengthen U.S. Nuclear Industry," ACGNC via PR Newswire, March 6, 2007.
 * "Y-12’s Uranium Center of Excellence and ETEC Host the American Council on Global Nuclear Competitiveness," East Tennessee Economic Council newsletter, July 17, 2008.
 * Press release, "Report Reveals Substantial State-Level Job Gains From New Nuclear Construction," American Council on Global Nuclear Competitiveness via PR Newswire, September 22, 2008.