U.S. National Statement on the 69th IAEA General Conference

U.S. National Statement – As Delivered by U.S. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright

Vienna, Austria, September 15, 2025

I’m honored to signify the United States of America on the 69th IAEA General Conference. I need to thank Director General Grossi and the Secretariat in your management. The United States welcomes the Republic of Maldives as the most recent member of the IAEA. As each a lifelong vitality entrepreneur and now the U.S. Secretary of Energy, I’m uniquely conscious of the transformative energy of vitality, its skill to elevate billions out of poverty, drive financial progress and increase alternative throughout the globe.

I’m additionally aware of the problem our world faces immediately in assembly rising demand for reasonably priced, dependable and safe vitality – notably the necessity for baseload electrical energy to drive fast progress in Artificial Intelligence. AI is quickly rising as the following extremely energy-intensive manufacturing trade. AI manufactures intelligence out of electrical energy. The nations that lead on this area can even lead transformative progress in expertise, healthcare, nationwide safety and innovation throughout the board. The vitality required to energy this revolution is immense – and progress can be accelerated by quickly unlocking and deploying industrial nuclear energy.

The world wants extra vitality to satisfy the AI problem and drive human progress – and the United States is boldly main the way in which. With President Trump’s management, we’re advancing American vitality insurance policies that speed up progress, prioritize security and improve international safety.

Earlier this yr, President Trump issued 4 Executive Orders geared toward reinvigorating America’s nuclear vitality trade by modernizing regulation, streamlining reactor testing, deploying reactors for nationwide safety, and reinvigorating the nuclear industrial base. As a part of these Executive Orders, we established an expedited pathway to approve superior reactors, set requirements to guage new building
licenses inside 18 months, and designated AI information facilities as essential protection amenities to allow superior nuclear reactor deployments. These efforts help President Trump’s purpose of including 300 gigawatts of latest nuclear capability within the United States by 2050.

The United States is dedicated to supporting the deployment of Small Modular Reactors. With their streamlined design and modular manufacture, enhanced security options, and extra accessible financing, SMRs present a fantastic alternative for our companion nations to deploy reasonably priced baseload energy to the grid and improve the availability of course of warmth that’s central to manufacturing. The United States, by the Department of Energy, stands prepared to interact at each stage of nuclear program growth to ship essentially the most superior and progressive civilian nuclear expertise options.

Abroad, we’re additionally working with our allies to advance new Peaceful Nuclear Cooperation Agreements, or 123 Agreements. Since the final General Conference, the United States has efficiently introduced into drive new 123 Agreements with Thailand and Singapore.

We are additionally actively negotiating intergovernmental agreements on civil nuclear cooperation, or IGAs. Inaugurated throughout President Trump’s first time period with Poland, the Department of Energy now has 4 such IGAs in place and is pursuing extra as a part of the president’s Executive Orders. IGAs can give attention to massive builds or SMR deployments to boost the vitality safety of our companions. Through these agreements, the United States will proceed to help the mixing of nuclear safeguards, U.S. nuclear security tradition, and safety into nations’ nationwide authorized and regulatory frameworks.

As we quickly speed up the event of nuclear vitality within the U.S. and around the globe, we’ll take no shortcuts on security. We is not going to settle for something lower than absolutely secure nuclear design and operation. America’s dedication to peaceable nuclear energy is unwavering – and this dedication is underpinned by an equally sturdy dedication to nonproliferation.

We consider {that a} sturdy method to nonproliferation is sweet enterprise. We need the world to know that once you have interaction in civil nuclear cooperation with the United States, you’re getting U.S. expertise that meets first-class nonproliferation requirements and U.S. nuclear security tradition. U.S. Government management on this space is crucial in shaping the way forward for industrial nuclear vitality.

We resolutely help the IAEA’s independence and technical credibility in its mission to advertise the secure, safe, and peaceable makes use of of nuclear expertise and we’ll proceed to work throughout the IAEA to advance these efforts.

America’s nuclear management requires the strongest attainable security and safety basis, and we commend the IAEA for its help in advancing these priorities worldwide. As a part of that vital mission, we deeply admire the IAEA’s efforts to keep up nuclear security and safety in Ukraine – a precarious problem to which the Agency has risen to forestall a nuclear incident, and can stay steadfast on this view.

The United States strongly helps the IAEA’s safeguards system as a cornerstone of the nuclear nonproliferation regime. We stay dedicated to strengthening this method to detect and deter nuclear proliferation whereas driving common adoption of the weather in IAEA Additional Protocol.

Today, the Islamic Republic of Iran’s continued violations of its safeguards obligations signify essentially the most severe menace to the worldwide nonproliferation regime. Iran’s persistent lack of transparency with the IAEA – and notably Iran’s nuclear escalations – are unacceptable.

If it wasn’t already clear sufficient, I’ll restate the United States’ place on Iran. Iran’s nuclear weapons pathway, together with all enrichment and reprocessing capabilities, have to be fully dismantled. Iran should absolutely cooperate with the IAEA, abide by its safeguards obligations, and supply the IAEA with unhindered entry to all websites of concern. Then, and solely then, we’d stay up for working with Iran to rejoin the world in international commerce, bringing alternative and prosperity to the Iranian individuals.

The United States is dedicated to working with the IAEA and Member States to advertise peaceable nuclear expertise with the best requirements of security and safety.

Together, we will construct a future outlined by partnership and peace – fueled by the superior energy of the atom.

Thank you.

U.S. National Statement – 69th IAEA General Conference – September 2025