Should the US more tightly control the nuclear fuel it makes?

Science: According to United Nations trade data, Japanese nuclear energy operators import 73% of their fuel from manufacturers in the US. The crisis in Fukushima has led policy experts to ask whether the US should reexamine its legal obligations and add safety rules to the agreements countries sign when they purchase US fuel or reactors. Currently, the US has the power to act only to ensure that spent fuel is not vulnerable to theft or terrorism or used to make nuclear weapons; it does not have the power to act in response to environmental or safety concerns. Ted Jones of the Nuclear Energy Institute says that the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission is already involved in international safety efforts, and that the best way to engage with other nations to increase the safety of spent fuel management is through multilateral organizations such as the UN’s International Atomic Energy Agency. “The idea that U.S. regulations that aren’t shared by other supplier countries could be an effective influence on fuel risk is probably not a very good idea,” said Jones.