Groups representing some of America’s top manufacturers are registering complaints publicly and with the Obama administration over the proposed federal loan guarantee to build two nuclear reactors in Georgia, the manufacturing of which they say will be sourced overseas.
American manufacturers claim that jobs created by taxpayer-backed loan guarantees should be domestic jobs. They also claim that the nuclear reactor components should be American-made due to safety concerns.
The Obama administration last week announced $8.33 billion in loan guarantees for the creation of two new nuclear reactors to be built near Augusta, Georgia, saying the project will create hundreds of American jobs.
But domestic manufacturers have claimed that many of the parts will be manufactured overseas, mainly in Asia. Because the U.S. has built no nuclear reactors in the past three decades, many of the components are designed and produced exclusively overseas.
“If we’re going to start shoveling a lot of money at nuclear, and nuclear is part of America’s plan to get less oil-dependent, then we need to build it ourselves,” Thomas M. Conway, vice president for the United Steelworkers union said in a statement.
Many leaders in the manufacturing industry fear that China could take a leading role in producing many of the essential parts that will go into the reactors.
Writing for the Huffington Post, Executive Director of the Alliance for American Manufacturing Scott Paul says that the components should be manufactured in America for the simple fact that regulators can better monitor the safety of the products.
“It just does not make sense to manufacture components overseas, where our regulators have less ability to monitor safety,” he writes. “More directly, it makes absolutely no sense to allow the manufacture of critical nuclear power components in China, which has a very spotty track record on product safety.”
Scott points out that in recent years Chinese-made products imported to the U.S. including steel, toys, tires, pet foods, blood thinner medication and toothpaste have all raised safety concerns for one reason or another.
“Combining outsourcing with nuclear safety is dangerous chemistry — and risky politics,” he writes.
USW President Leo Gerard, in a letter sent to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, said that the pursuit of free trade should not get in the way of good policy and product safety.
“Utilizing domestic capacity will not only help to spur economic growth and employment, but will ensure that we have the highest degree of confidence in the safety, security and integrity of the products being used in nuclear reactors,” he wrote. “Safety should not fall prey to free trade ideology nor simply be auctioned off to the lowest bidder. The safety and security of our citizens must be our paramount concern."
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