Dr. Kirsten Cutler, U.S. Department of State

For this episode of Gener8, we explored the perspectives and role of the US government around exporting nuclear technology with Dr. Kirsten Cutler, Senior Strategist for Nuclear Innovation, Bureau of International Security and Nonproliferation at the U.S. Department of State. Dr. Cutler sits at the crossroads of many of the conversations around deploying American nuclear technology abroad and she was kind enough to spend some time sharing her perspectives and explaining more about the government’s activities.

Kirsten first helped us understand the focus of some of the programs under her purview and how they interact and support each other. We then turned our discussion to the U.S. government’s pledges and activities at COP28 in relation to nuclear energy as well as some of the thinking around domestic deployments needing to serve as a precursor for exports or not. Kirsten shared a bit about how the war in Ukraine and Russian aggressive actions influence her, and the U.S. State Department’s activities in this space as well as what she sees as some of the major challenges and obstacles to deployment that are often brought up in her discussions with other nations. Before closing us out with some thoughts about the future, Kirsten was also nice enough to give us background on how a Radioisotope Geochemist by training ends up in her current role.

Exporting nuclear technology has long been lauded as a goal and aim of U.S. companies as well as the current and former Congresses and Administrations. We appreciate Kirsten spending time with us to help us better understand the gears at work here and we hope you find the conversation enlightening as well.