Digital Press Briefing: Carl Kress, USTDA

MODERATOR: Good morning from the State Department's European Regional Media Center, or the Brussels Hub. I would like to welcome everyone joining us for today's virtual press briefing. Today, we are very honored to be joined by Mr. Kress, who is the USTDA's Regional Director for Europe and Eurasia. With that, let's get started. Mr. Kress, thank you so much for joining us today. I'll turn it over to you for your opening remarks.

CARL KRESS: Thank you. Thank you all for joining us today. Thank you for your interest in the U.S. Trade and Development Agency, and in our workshop on nuclear power deployment in Europe and Eurasia. Before I talk in more detail about that, let me give you an overview of what USTDA does. USTDA is the U.S. government's first mover on critical infrastructure development abroad in emerging economies around the globe. We do this by funding grants for project preparation. This early-stage work is critical because it defines the technical requirements for infrastructure projects and attracts the financing that they need for implementation. Activities like our workshop tomorrow promote exclusive infrastructure partnerships with the United States and advance the use of American technology in critical infrastructure projects overseas. Nuclear is one of our top priorities at this time. Other areas of focus are critical minerals, digital infrastructure, including AI and data centers, and other energy, such as LNG and transportation. Under the Trump administration, USTDA's threshold consideration is whether an infrastructure project directly advances the strategic priorities of both the United States and our partner countries. We prioritize overseas infrastructure projects that generate U.S. exports and promote benefits for our partner countries.

For every dollar programmed, of high-quality U.S. infrastructure solutions to the projects we support. These exports represent a win-win with our partners. These exports are not tied. The public and private sector partners with whom we work select which infrastructure solutions they want to use in their projects. USTDA's work provides them with valuable planning information, to support them in making informed choices that bring the best possible results for their stakeholders. So, a few key examples in the nuclear power sector, and I'm happy to talk a little more later about these. USTDA assistance laid the groundwork for the deployment of AP1000 reactors for Poland's first nuclear power plant. We also supported the development of an SMR power plant in Romania, which is on track to be among the first SMRs deployed in Europe, using American technology. USTDA, in both cases, was the convener, bringing together financing, or engineering and design studies for both the AP1000 and the SMR projects. So we brought together the public and private sectors in the United States, as well as with our partner countries. We have also worked with our partners on project site and technology selection, waste storage, and regulatory development. We have a robust pipeline of new nuclear power sector projects in development, and look forward to identifying more opportunities over the course of the next two days. Our workshop has 150 participants from across Europe, Eurasia, and the United States registered. Our goal is to work with our European and Eurasian partners to bring our respective nuclear industries closer together, and support decision makers as they plan their priority civil nuclear energy projects. The workshop will include robust discussions and opportunities to make connections with U.S. companies, government representatives, and with each other. Some highlights include keynote speeches from USTDA, the Nuclear Energy Agency, the World Nuclear Association, and the U.S. Department of Energy. Also, keynote remarks from two strong advocates for civil nuclear power from the United States Congress, Senator Bill Haggerty and Congressman Chuck Fleischman. And we have multiple panels and breakout sessions made up of distinguished leaders of the public and private sectors in the United States and Europe, covering topics of keen interest to nuclear power development. That includes U.S. government project support programs, as well as best practices on how to structure, finance, and implement projects. In conclusion, USTDA is American foreign assistance with a clear strategic purpose, helping our partners succeed while advancing U.S. interests. USTDA is built on the idea that the best projects deliver lasting benefits for our partners and the United States in the nuclear sector and beyond. Thank you.

MODERATOR: Thank you. We will now turn to the question and answer portion of today's briefing. I will read our first question from the Q&A, and I'll join two questions in one. One is from Ioanna Iliadi, Managing Editor, Army voice Greece: Greek Prime Minister has publicly stated that Greece should examine whether small modular reactors could play a role in its future energy system, and that a high-level committee will assess this issue. In this context, can USTDA clarify on the record whether Greece is currently included in the active or early stages USTDA nuclear energy engagement in Europe and Eurasia, including government discussion, feasibility studies, regulatory support, project preparation or private sector outreach, and if not, what would be required for Greece to become part of such a US-backed cooperation pipeline in the future? Related to that, there's a question from Tomaž Klipšteter, Dnevnik newspaper, Slovenia: What innovative American nuclear energy solutions is the United States capable of offering to Slovenia? Mr. Kress…

CARL KRESS: Great, thank you, for those two sets of questions. And I'll sort of overall, as I mentioned at the very beginning, USTDA works in emerging economies in developing and middle-income countries, per the World Bank, income thresholds. So, both Slovakia and Greece are high-income countries, and we do not operate in those countries. For this workshop, we've invited delegates from high-income countries throughout the region to participate in the discussion, since everyone has very common, similar interests in developing nuclear power. But our remit is for developing and middle-income countries.

MODERATOR: Great. Thank you, so much. There is a question from Tanab Zaman, from CNBC-e in Turkey. Does USTDA operate in Turkey?

CARL KRESS: Yes, I can definitely say we operate in Turkey. We have a very robust program, we've had a robust program for 30 years, or 35 years now, in Turkey, including, at the moment, we are looking very closely at potential nuclear projects there, but we've been very active in the energy sector over many years, geothermal, smart grid, and then also in transportation and digital infrastructure.

MODERATOR: Great, thank you so much. I have a question from, Philip Chaffee. Would USTDA care if Romania switched its SMR technology from NuScale to GE Vernova, as it has publicly mulled doing so? Or is USTDA agnostic about the actual vendor as long as it's American?

CARL KRESS: So, USTDA's program is designed to support our local partners in pursuing their objectives, and ideally, as you note, using U.S. technology. They make the decisions, as I had indicated about what they, you know, what technologies they select. So that is really a question that is entirely up to the Romanians in terms and their potential U.S. partners as to what direction they want to take.

MODERATOR: Thank you. The next question comes from Beril Akman from Bloomberg News. Would you be able to discuss the SMR developments in Turkey? I know officials have been talking for a long time. Would you be able to discuss which companies are involved in the SMR discussions?

CARL KRESS: So, I think the way I would answer that is that we have definitely been in conversations with the Ministry of Energy and Natural Resources, as well as TÜNAŞ about their plans for nuclear power deployment, or SMRs, in Turkey. And we have also been in conversations with multiple industrial companies in Turkey that are interested in potentially deploying U.S. SMR technologies. A number of companies have been in those discussions or been raised, and again, that will be… that will be up to the local partners as to what direction they might want to take.

MODERATOR: Thank you. The next, question is from Philip Chaffee again. Armenia's nuclear program has long been tied to Rosatom. Has the electoral victory of Prime Minister Nikol Pacino changed that? Is the USDA in talks over SMR supply to Armenia?

CARL KRESS: So, we've been, are actually working with Armenia for developing some project ideas in Armenia for some time, and those are continuing, now after the elections, just as they were going before. So I'm, at this point, I'm not… we're not seeing at TDA, we're not seeing any change of direction or, on that. Again, we've been engaged with them on some project development for some time, and are looking forward to hopefully some announcements shortly.

MODERATOR: Thank you. This might have already been answered… There's another question from Philip Chaffee. How much of the interest in nuclear that you're seeing in the emerging markets you cover is for power as opposed to heat for industry?

CARL KRESS: It's a mix. I think we've mostly been seeing interest in power, but absolutely, as I mentioned with Turkey, for example, with the, large, industrial concerns who are interested in SMRs, they are very interested also in other uses, such as process heat, and working with their, with, various, you know, manufacturing processes.

MODERATOR: Thank you so much. This might have already come up before, Tomaž Klipšteter from Dnevnik Newspaper in Slovenia. Do you have any updated information regarding the signing of a binding intergovernmental agreement between Slovenia and the United States concerning the JEK2 project? Would such a binding intergovernmental agreement be necessary?

CARL KRESS: So, USTDA is not operating in Slovenia, so I don't have any comment on the process right now, with that, that agreement.

MODERATOR: Thank you so much. I see no further questions, unless one jumps by while I talk. Which happened. There's a question from Natalija Dojčinović, Serbia has recently moved towards lifting its long-standing moratorium on nuclear energy, and there's a growing public and policy discussion about introducing nuclear power into the country's energy mix. From USTDA's perspective, what role could the United States play in supporting Serbia's nuclear ambitions?

CARL KRESS: So, we are… our job is to try and help support countries such as this, in, you know, pursuing nuclear power. The types of activities that USTDA offers are, for example, we have workshops such as this one, where we bring delegates together to learn about technologies and meet companies and government officials. We also bring delegations to the United States, such as reverse trade missions. A few years ago, we brought a delegation to the United States from Romania to look at nuclear power options, visiting Washington, D.C, as well as Idaho National Lab in Idaho. We also then have grant funding for project preparation, projects, or activities, such as I had alluded to earlier. Such as feed studies, feasibility studies, technical assistance, and pilot projects. For example, we have a project right now in Bulgaria that's ongoing, that is helping the Bulgarian energy holding as they're looking at comparing different types of technologies, to determine what is most appropriate for their particular needs. We also have… we're doing similar type projects in some other countries around the globe. So, for Serbia, we're open-minded at this point, we would be happy to discuss with, Serbian representatives about what they might be trying to achieve. I would note that we had a Serbian delegate to our last technical workshop, and look forward to working with more people there.

MODERATOR: Thank you so much. Philip Chaffee from Energy Intelligence in the USA asked the question, which new entrant, currently non-nuclear countries most intrigue you by the intensity of their interest in nuclear? Are there countries that haven't been mentioned yet on this call that seem very serious about launching a nuclear program?

CARL KRESS: It's, I don't have any specific countries that I would, mention at this point. We've been in… well, I mean, we've been… there's been interest in Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, and…I think are the two that come to mind where we've had some conversations initially. But we're seeing interest from across the region, and again, we're open-minded, to, you know, finding out who is most serious and wants to work with us.

MODERATOR: Thank you, There's a question for me. There will be a transcript available for, for journalists, so that's, that's the question for me answered. Then, another question for you, Mr. Kress, from Philip Chaffee, from, Energy Intelligence in the U.S. You mentioned Uzbekistan, which seems to be proceeding with Rosatom for both SMRs and large nuclear. Did you lose out there? What happened?

CARL KRESS: I don't have any specifics on what's happening there, other than that there has been interest in, you know, potential conversations on the nuclear sector.

MODERATOR: Okay, Great, and unless there's another question that comes in while I'm talking. You've answered all the questions the journalists have, so thank you very much. Before we close the call, I'd like to hand it back over to you for any final remarks for the group.

CARL KRESS: Thank you, and thank you all for your interest in USTDA. Again, our role is to support economic development projects, infrastructure projects in developing and middle-income countries, and we look forward to our workshop over the next two days to meeting with representatives from across the region and defining more projects that we're able to support.

MODERATOR:Thank you so much. That brings us to the end of the call.