Trump and Starmer sign much-anticipated tech deal

Last week saw a wave of U.S. and U.K. nuclear companies and organizations forging new transatlantic ties, with even the American Nuclear Society and the U.K.'s Nuclear Institute reaching a new agreement.

This activity during President Trump's state visit to the U.K. was brought about by the expectation that Trump and U.K. Prime Minister Keir Starmer would sign a tech deal that placed new nuclear cooperation front and center. On September 18, that deal-dubbed the Technology Prosperity Deal-was signed, officially kicking off a new era of collaboration between the countries as they enter what the U.K. government has called "the dawn of a golden nuclear age."

The deal: Aside from some minor stylistic differences, both governments published an identical memorandum of understanding online after the official signing ceremony at Chequers Court, the prime minister's country estate.

The MOU primarily plans for collaboration on three key fronts: artificial intelligence, quantum computing, and civil nuclear energy. On AI, the agreement establishes an AI for Science research program involving numerous U.S. and U.K. agencies that is geared towards new medical research. On quantum computing, the agreement establishes a joint benchmarking taskforce for the sector. For both sectors, the MOU also generally promises greater collaboration.

On nuclear, the MOU makes two concrete commitments: first, to support the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the U.K. Office for Nuclear Regulation to streamline licensing, setting a goal for design reviews to be completed within two years and site licensing to be completed within one year. This section also calls for the U.K. Environment Agency to accelerate site permitting, but it does not give a specific timeframe for that acceleration.

Second, the MOU sets a goal to achieve a secure and reliable supply chain for advanced nuclear fuels in both countries with the ultimate aim of achieving full independence from Russian nuclear fuel by the end of 2028.

Aside from these two commitments, the MOU also sets several nonspecific goals:

• Facilitating new commercial partnerships.
• Identifying and addressing current barriers to new deployment of advanced reactors.
• Advancing the global fission market, in part by bolstering technology exports to other countries.
• Coordinating new research, development, and legislation on fusion to "lay the path toward cost-competitive" power plants.
• Exploring novel application opportunities, especially in the civil maritime sector.

The path ahead: The MOU concludes by establishing a timeline to enact these goals. It plans for a "ministerial-level working group" to be established and convened by next March. This working group will serve as "a strategic forum to guide bilateral cooperation, set priorities, and oversee the implementation of joint initiatives."

The MOU also sets a precedent to convene a yearly formal discussion between the governments of the U.S. and U.K. to assess progress on these goals and determine the scope of subsequent collaboration.

Quotable: "To fuel this revolution, we've struck a new deal on civil nuclear power," Starmer said at the signing, promising that the groundbreaking agreement would generate "energy for millions of homes and businesses, driving down bills on both sides of the Atlantic, and driving up energy security."