NEI and PGS Launch Global Nexus Initiative

Project Explores Linkages Among Climate Change, Nuclear Power and Global Security Issues


WASHINGTON, Aug. 12, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Nuclear Energy Institute and the Partnership for Global Security today launched the Global Nexus Initiative (GNI), a new joint project to explore the linkages among climate change, nuclear power and global security issues. The GNI will convene a highly accomplished, multidisciplinary working group to craft realistic and actionable policy solutions for policymakers to implement.

"The Global Nexus Initiative represents a new level of real world collaboration between non-traditional partners committed to breaking new ground to address complex global challenges," said PGS President Kenneth Luongo, a former senior adviser to the secretary of energy for nonproliferation policy. "These aren't issues that can wait. We need experienced people, thinking through credible solutions today."

The GNI working group is composed of more than a dozen international policy experts who will convene for a series of meetings and results-focused workshops during the next two years. The GNI will produce a series of policy memos that identify challenges and offer recommendations that will feed into a cumulative report of the group's findings at the conclusion of the project.

"If nuclear power is going to be a significant contributor to successfully addressing the threat of climate change, it must be managed in a way that builds international confidence," said Dr. Everett Redmond, senior director of fuel cycle and technology policy at NEI. "The Global Nexus Initiative will send a powerful message about the need to develop creative and innovative solutions to ensure the safe and secure use of existing and new nuclear energy sources to support economic vitality, and protect people and the environment."

Worldwide, 438 reactors operate in 30 countries, including 99 reactors in the United States. Sixty-seven reactors are under construction globally, including five in the United States.

PGS is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization focused on strengthening global nuclear governance and promoting practical policies to ensure the security of all nuclear materials and facilities. NEI is the U.S. nuclear energy industry's policy organization responsible for establishing unified industry policy on matters affecting the nuclear industry, including regulatory, financial, technical and legislative.

For additional details, please visit: www.globalnexusinitiative.org.

Contact NEI's media relations staff at media@nei.org, 202.739.8000 during business hours or 703.644.8805 after hours and weekends.