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Feb 22, 2006 -- STATE DEPARTMENT RELEASE/ContentWorks
The United States has launched an international technology initiative that it hopes will expand the nuclear power industry around the world without raising the risk of nuclear proliferation. Increased international cooperation is a key element of the initiative. Because of its grand ambitions, the GNEP faces many political, security, financial and logistical challenges, he added. "But we think with technology and with strong international participation, it is possible," he said at a February 16 briefing in Washington. He said the GNEP seeks to: " [cents] Promote nuclear energy for electricity generation as a clean alternative to fossil fuels, especially coal, which produce greenhouse emissions and other pollutants when burned; " [cents] Recycle spent nuclear fuel in a way that not only would reduce the weapons proliferation threat but also dramatically decrease the amount of radioactive waste; and " [cents] Give developing countries access to clean and affordable energy within a proliferation-resistant framework of nuclear fuel services provided by developed countries. MAJOR POLICY CHANGE GNEP requires a major shift in the U.S. policy on nuclear reprocessing and depends on a number of advanced technologies still in their infancy. Sell said the Bush administration wants to reverse President Carter's 1977 ban on the commercial reprocessing of spent fuel, which was put in place to prevent nuclear weapons proliferation. Spent fuel contains pure plutonium, which could be used to produce a nuclear bomb. This has been a stance that "virtually no one [else] followed," Sell said. The United Kingdom, France, Japan and Russia have proceeded with commercial reprocessing based on U.S. technology. Now, the United States wants to develop an advanced reprocessing technology that will make it a "leader rather than a spectator," Sell said. But a reversal of the U.S. policy, after such a long hiatus in commercial reprocessing, is likely to create uneasiness around the world at a time of increasing concern about nuclear weapon programs in North Korea, Iran and other countries, according to John Deutch of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Deutch, who served as director of central intelligence in President Clinton's first administration, says he is a strong supporter of the initiative, which enjoys bipartisan support. But in a February 17 interview with the Washington File, he said the Bush administration will have a hard time persuading countries it believes are developing or may consider developing technology for weapons to refrain from reprocessing at the time the United States is resuming reprocessing spent fuel. Administration officials argue the United States intends to resume work on reprocessing only to make spent nuclear fuel "proliferation-resistant" and is not doing it unilaterally but as part of the international effort. Sell said the administration consulted the United Kingdom, France, Russia, China, Japan and the International Atomic Energy Agency and found "broad agreement" on all objectives of the initiative. NOVEL TECHNOLOGY At the center of the GNEP is urex-plus, an advanced version of the existing reprocessing technology that does not separate plutonium from other long-lived radioactive elements. Reprocessed materials, which retain about 90 percent of energy content of primary fuel, can be burned in advanced reactors to produce even more energy, according to Department of Energy fact sheets. However, reprocessed fuel cannot easily be used to produce nuclear weapons and will be difficult to handle without advanced robotics. Spent fuel coming from advanced burner reactors can be recycled again and again, reducing greatly the amount of waste and its radioactive toxicity. In addition, the new process would allow burning of more than 200 metric tons of existing plutonium stockpiles, thus reducing the proliferation threat even further, Sell said. It also would dramatically reduce the need for underground storage of radioactive waste, which has been one of the major obstacles to faster expansion of the nuclear power industry, he added. This dramatic reduction of radioactive waste and its reduced toxicity also might help to soften the opposition of mainstream environmental organizations to nuclear power, according to nuclear-power industry analysts. Such groups have opposed nuclear energy because of perceived risks associated with nuclear power plant operations and disposal of large amounts of radioactive waste. However, urex-plus and accompanying technologies are years away from a commercial application. Although they have been tested successfully in the laboratory, "the practicality of these schemes is not yet established and requires additional scientific and engineering research," according to 2005 testimony from an official of the Argonne National Laboratory before the House of Representatives Science Committee. AGGRESSIVE SCHEDULE Under Secretary of State Robert Joseph said February 16 that the U.S. goal is to demonstrate advanced reprocessing technology beyond the laboratory environment, "hopefully" in the next five years, and have a pilot advanced burner reactor in the next 10 years. The administration hopes to have a commercial reprocessing system in place by 2025, officials said at an earlier briefing. This is a wildly optimistic estimate, Deutch said. "We are talking about the programs it will take many decades to develop," he said. Deutch's view is shared by many experts inside and outside the U.S. nuclear-power industry. Mitch Singer, spokesman of the Nuclear Energy Institute industry group, said that the institute's analysis indicates that those technologies will not be ready to use for 50 years to 60 years. Nevertheless, he said in a February 21 interview, the industry supports the initiative as a crucial effort to address nuclear waste disposal and other issues essential for the industry's expansion. Sell said the administration is contemplating "dramatically" accelerating work on a new generation of nuclear technologies to follow an "admittedly aggressive time schedule." Joseph said that the administration still is discussing the time line of GNEP projects with potential international partners. For additional information on U.S. initiatives, see Energy Policy. (The Washington File is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State.) News Provided By |
