In exchange, the EU diplomats publicly assured the Iranians that, their countries would reward improved behavior (such as Tehran's agreement not to reprocess nuclear reactor fuel and its signing up to - and implementing - a new, more intrusive inspection accord with the IAEA) with still more Western nuclear technology.
That's a lot of risk capital for any venture-backed start-up, especially considering that not one new commercial nuclear reactor design has been approved and built in the United States for 30 years.
Lightbridge Corporation, a pioneering nuclear-energy start-up company based in McLean, VA, is developing the Radkowsky Thorium Reactor in collaboration with Russian researchers.