Competing Against Labor Rates
Technology has many benefits, potentially the most significant of which is that technology is a strong competitor to low cost labor. In the small, flat world that we live in there will always be a region with lower cost labor than another. As long as labor rates drive manufacturing costs and fabrication vendor selection, another region will be giving up business in competitive bid scenarios. New technology brings with it the ability to build high quality components without altering the design basis and simultaneously reduces the implications of labors rates on the final component cost. This compounding benefit is attributed to the fact that in many applications new technological advancements enable higher productivity and higher performing components.
If North America is truly positioning itself for a Nuclear Renaissance, now is the time to bring all parties to the table and start knocking down the pedantic roadblocks that bind industry. We have an opportunity to make the domestic nuclear industry stronger, safer and more internationally competitive by investing in technology and working together to ensure it is done right and disseminated locally.
