Nuclear power plants, already more popular outside the United States than stateside, are popping up all over the developing world. But America, having backed away from nuclear power since the accident at Three Mile Island in 1979, is not a major player and is missing an important opportunity to influence the safety and security aspects of the new wave of reactor construction.

So says Ariel "Eli" Levite, a former official of the Israeli Atomic Energy Commission, now an associate at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace. He was the speaker for the 2009 Drell Lecture, sponsored by the Center for International Security and Cooperation (CISAC).

This blooming of reactors is seen, not surprisingly, in India and China, driven by economic need for more electricity. But the boom is not confined to "Chindia." Russia has large oilfields but still wants more nuclear power. The United Arab Emirates has no reactors yet, but is seeking one as an alternative to oil.

Some countries, Levite said, are replacing aging reactors, while others may want them primarily as a source of uranium or plutonium for nuclear weapons. Then there's the green reason for going nuclear: Reactors don't produce greenhouse gases (even though, of course, they have a serious issue with radioactive wastes).

A map from Levite's PowerPoint presentation shows most of the world covered either in light blue (countries considering nuclear power) or dark blue (existing reactors). There are now 44 reactors under construction worldwide, according to Levite's chart. China has 11 in the works; Russia, eight; India, six; South Korea, five; Bulgaria, two; Japan, two; Ukraine, two, Taiwan, two. Argentina, Finland, France, Iran, Pakistan and the United States each have one under construction.

The wave of construction is driven by demand for electricity, not just for industry but for populations eager to modernize. Levite used Photoshopped images to represent the world without new sources of electricity, nuclear or otherwise: an SUV pulled by a horse, an automobile with a roof-mounted sail.

There are now 435 operating nuclear power plants, according to Levite's figures. France, with 80 percent of its electric output generated by nuclear fission, is seen as the model to emulate. But, Levite said, it is the developing nations who are in the driver's seat, for better or worse.

The annual Drell Lecture is named in honor of physicist Sidney Drell, CISAC's founding co-director and former deputy director of the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory. Albert and Cicely Wheelon endowed the lectureship.