The USA has about one quarter of the world's nuclear energy capacity operating or under construction in some way, so what happens with the US nuclear waste program is of more than passing interest to the rest of the world. However, leadership in such matters has long since passed to Europe and Japan, and the USA is one of only very few countries committed to treating spent fuel as waste and hence disposing of whole fuel assemblies without reprocessing them to recover valuable uranium and plutonium for use in reactors.
The USA's spent fuel policy goes back to 1977 and was due to President Carter's view that even reactor-grade plutonium should be kept inaccessible by ensuring that it remained combined with radioactive wastes (fission products and transuranics). The US concern about plutonium was based on a highly contentious 1960s experiment which remains shrouded in secrecy. US Government sources assert that the experiment involved exploding a device made from "reactor-grade" plutonium, but it is generally understood that this would have been low-burnup material of about 85% Pu-239, ie close to weapons grade (compared with most reactor-grade plutonium which is c 70% Pu-239). This confusion is not merely academic. It has caused safeguards measures to counter weapons proliferation ever since to be applied without distinction to all kinds of plutonium, the majority of which is of less proliferation concern. (Weapons-grade Pu needs to be made to order in reactors designed and operated for this purpose.)
So, US policy for spent fuel came to be fixed on direct disposal rather than reprocessing. Canada, Finland, Spain and Sweden are the only other countries committed to this course. The plan is that after several decades storage under water at the reactor site, followed perhaps by dry storage there or elsewhere, the spent fuel will eventually be laid to rest in excavated caverns deep underground, well away from the biosphere and any possibility of disturbance.
Recent debate in the US has turned on the timing of all this. The US Government has been collecting a levy from utilities to finance nuclear waste disposal, and the total sum garnered into the Nuclear Waste Fund is now over US $11 billion, built up at 0.1 cent per kilowatt hour (less than one percent of power costs). Some of this has been spent in R&D on a final repository, but much of it - over $5 billion, has simply financed the US budget deficit, to the increasing annoyance of the electric utilities.
The utilities' anger has become more vocal as the time approached for the Government to begin accepting spent fuel from the utilities. January 1998 has long been set as the time when the Government would begin to take over responsibility for spent fuel disposal, and the capacity of utilities to store their own spent fuel has been designed with this in mind. Hence the widespread anxiety, as no progress has been made by the Government on setting up a Monitored Retrievable Storage facility (or even finding a site for one), and it is clear that the Yucca Mountain repository in Nevada simply will not be ready before about 2010. Fortunately, even three decades' spent fuel to date - some 35 000 tonnes, doesn't take upmuch room, and as the radioactivity of the wastes in it decays, it becomes progressively easier to handle.
This year Congress has finally been stirred to action on the whole matter. A bipartisan Bill with some 180 sponsors (HR 1020, with a corresponding Bill in the Senate) holds considerable promise in breaking the pattern of bureaucratic and congressional equivocation which has prevailed for many years. The Bill requires the Department of Energy to start accepting spent fuel by the due date, in an interim facility.
Specifically, the legislation authorises:
The other US development this year is that the Mescalero Apache tribe has signed an agreement with a consortium of 20 utilities for construction and operation of a private enterprise interim storage facility for spent nuclear fuel on their land in New Mexico. The consortium expects the facility to be operational in 2002.
Elsewhere in the world, spent fuel is reprocessed to recover unused uranium and plutonium for return to the front end of the fuel cycle, and procedures for treating high-level waste are much further advanced. For instance in Europe:
(NEI Overview 14/8/95, UI Core Issues April-May 1995 and various sources quoted in UIC Weekly News Summaries.)
ERA Annual Report 1994-95
Energy Resources of Australia Ltd (ERA) has announced an after-tax
operating profit for the 1994-5 year of $12.4 million (previous year $26.5
million). The 1995 profit after tax was reduced by $8.4 million as a
result of restating the company's deferred tax liability following an
increase in the Australian company tax rate from 33% to 36%.
Although the uranium spot price in the US increased 29% over the year to US$11.90 per lb U3O8 the upswing in prices occurred too late to reverse the general downward trend in ERA selling prices. Sales revenue for the year was $140 million achieved on the sale of 2013 tonnes of U3O8 from Ranger and 1418 tonnes sourced from third parties, notably Kazakhstan.
In the medium term the company sees prospects for further growth in the Asian and US markets where there is substantial uncommitted demand after the year 2000. With the prospect of a strengthening demand for uranium from 1997, the company is about to upgrade the level of automation of the Ranger mill to improve efficiency and it intends to resume year-round milling in 1996. It plans to bring nearby orebody #3 into production in 1997. (ERA Media Release 18/8/95 and 1995 Annual Report)
Olympic Dam 1994-95 Results
Western Mining Corporation Holdings Limited (WMC) announced that profit
from the Olympic Dam copper and uranium mine increased to $98.2 million in
1994-5 (previous year $60.2 million). Total sales revenue for the year
increased 23% to $350 million due to improved prices, particularly for
copper, since WMC uranium is generally sold on long term contracts.
Production of U3O8 was 1084 tonnes.
(WMC Media Release 7/9/95)
Senate inquires into nuclear testing and non-proliferation
In response to France's intransigence and in the light of Australia's
active role at the New York Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty conference in
May, the Senate Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade References Committee is
to inquire and report on:
ANSTO to participate in international cancer risk study
Past and present workers at the Lucas Heights Research Laboratories are to
be part of an international study to determine whether occupational
exposure to low levels of radiation increases cancer risk. The study is to
be undertaken under the auspices of the International Agency for Research
on Cancer, and will bring together data on over half a million nuclear
industry workers from fourteen countries. It will provide valuable
information for developing future radiation protection standards and
regulations.
The Australian component of the study involves collation of dosimetry records and collection and analysis of data on cancer incidence and mortality. Professor John Kaldor, Professor of Epidemiology at the University of NSW, is the principal investigator, with Associate Professor Richard Taylor from the Department of Public Health, University of Sydney, and head of the NSW Central Cancer Registry. (Australian Radiation Protection Society, NSW Branch Newsletter No 1, July 1995)
US Enrichment Corporation for sale
Two years after emerging from the US Department of Energy, the US
Enrichment Corporation (USEC) is ready for its transition to the private
sector. In the two years since its creation, the USEC has cut its
production costs, boosted production capability by 40%, cut the time to
fulfil orders, and booked almost US$1 billion (A$1.3 billion) in new
business. Sale of the government-owned corporation would fulfil Congress'
1992 mandate to privatise the venture.
The privatisation plan calls for the USEC's sale in early 1996 in one of two ways - an initial public offering of common stock, or a negotiated merger or acquisition by a third party. The corporation estimates the sale would yield US$1.5-1.8 billion (A$2.0-2.4 billion) plus an additional US$600-800 million (A$800-1100 million) cash 'exit dividend'- about half of the estimated revenue USEC will have earned since mid-1993. According to a corporation spokesman the other half of the anticipated revenue would go to the buyer as 'working capital'. A controversial General Accounting Office report released in mid-September questions these figures and opposes the sale.
The USEC currently supplies 88% of the domestic and 40% of the international uranium enrichment market from two gaseous diffusion plants, one in Paducah, Kentucky, and the other in Portsmouth, Ohio. In 1994, USEC showed a net profit of US$377 million (A$500 million), on revenues of US$1.4 billion (A$1.9 billion). The corporation is the sole US agent in a US$12 billion (A$16 billion) swords-to-ploughshares agreement with Russia to convert highly enriched uranium from nuclear weapons to low-enriched uranium for use in nuclear power plants. By July it had received two shipments of Russian ex-weapons uranium which had been blended down to 42 tonnes of low-enriched product before shipment to USA. (NEI Insight 8/95, NucNet background #13/95, NEI Nuclear Energy Overview 18 & 25/9/95)
What to do with plutonium?
As US Congress starts to focus on civil nuclear waste, two recent reports
have addressed the question of what to do with the plutonium from
dismantled nuclear warheads.
The National Academy of Science (NAS) thinks the plutonium from dismantled American and Russian nuclear warheads should be used as nuclear power plant fuel or be vitrified into solid glass blocks, and recommends pursuing both options. Most, if not all, of the nation's 109 light water reactors are capable of burning mixed oxide (MOX) fuel without major modifications, the report claims. Processing of plutonium for MOX fuel could begin in the US by 2001 with 50 tonnes of US weapons plutonium being loaded into power reactors beginning in 2015. The vitrification process would require eight years to process 50 tonnes of plutonium, according to the NAS report.
The two options are the fastest available to address the growing national security concern and could meet all safety and environmental standards at a projected cost of between US$500 million (A$670 million) and US$2 billion (A$2.7 billion) for the disposal of 50 tonnes of plutonium, says the NAS. The US Department of Energy will not settle on a preferred option until September 1996, however the administration has previously opposed burning plutonium in commercial power reactors in the belief that it violates non-proliferation policy.
In the second study, commissioned by the American Nuclear Society (ANS), a team of American and international experts also concluded that fuelling civilian nuclear power plants with plutonium is the fastest, most effective way to dispose of the material from dismantled nuclear warheads and should begin as soon as possible. Unlike the NAS, the ANS report argues that plutonium is a valuable global energy resource for electricity production, and should not be regarded as a waste material to be vitrified and buried. (NEI Nuclear Energy Overview 24/7/95 and 28/8/95)
BNFL a major export performer
British Nuclear Fuels (BNFL) has reported record turnover and record
exports- during the last financial year with a 7% growth in underlying
pre-tax profits and a trebling of overseas earnings. Export earnings of
over 425 million pounds (A$900 million) were equivalent to one third of
total turnover, making BNFL one of Britain's major export earners. The
company now accounts for nearly 10% of UK exports to Japan.
The international nuclear services market is seen by the company as large and growing. It is expected to be worth some US$20 billion (A$27 billion) a year by the turn of the century and US$35 billion (A$47 billion) by 2010.
Commissioning of the Thermal Oxide Reprocessing Plant (THORP) is continuing, with many areas ahead of schedule. Over half the business contracted for THORP is with overseas customers and the plant's contribution to profits will be further enhanced once the plant attains its planned throughput levels. The prospects of securing further international business for THORP have been boosted by the government's recent endorsement of BNFL's proposal to implement waste substitution. This allows the substitution of smaller volumes of high-level waste for larger volumes of intermediate and low-level waste to be returned to overseas customers following reprocessing of their spent fuel (cf. UIC Newsletter#4 July-August 1995). (BNFL Annual Report 1995, 'BNFL News' #254 August 1995, NucNet News #292 & 374/95)
EU-US nuclear agreement moves forward
After years of negotiation between the US Department of State and the
European Commission, the European Union (EU) approved the new US-Euratom
agreement on peaceful cooperation at the beginning of August. The draft
agreement, to replace one dating from 1960 which expires at the end of this
year, is now due to be submitted to the US Congress for approval. It
covers trade in civil nuclear materials with or involving the USA.
US law requires that the agreement, once approved by the president, lie before Congress for a period of 90 days of continuous session. This means there will now be a period of several months next year when any US - European trade involving civil nuclear materials will take place in a legal void. Although the situation is bound to cause some problems, the industry believes they can be overcome provided US ratification is completed not later than March 1996.
The main obstacle to a fresh accord has been disagreement both between the US and EU and among EU member states about two key issues: trade involving highly enriched uranium and plutonium, and US consent rights. An internal EU briefing document says the text now approved by Euratom resolves the two main areas of EU concern: fears of undue US influence over trade in US-origin nuclear materials and fears that, if the EU invoked similar consent rights in the US, it might damage its own interests.
Meanwhile in the US, the General Accounting Office has been asked to examine whether the proposed agreement is consistent with US non-proliferation policies. (NEI Nuclear Energy Overview 24/7/95, 14/8/95 and 5/9/95; NucNet Background #11/95)
`No secrecy in Russian - Iran nuclear energy deals'
Russia's cooperation with Iran involves only the peaceful uses of atomic
energy, and there will be no secrecy surrounding its negotiations and
contracts with the Iranians, according to Minatom, the Russian Ministry of
Atomic Power.
Minatom confirmed in January that a bilateral agreement had been signed with Iran for completing the construction of a VVER 1,000MWe pressurised water reactor (PWR) at the port of Bushehr at the northern end of the Persian Gulf (cf. UIC Newsletter#2 March-April 1995). The Russians also propose building a second 1,000MWe PWR at Bushehr and two other reactors each of 440MWe capacity. A delegation of Russian specialists visited Iran in August to inspect the status of existing installations and to discuss ways in which Russian engineers could complete the existing construction work, possible financing methods and the supply of nuclear fuel.
Minatom says the contract signed last January sets out strict conditions for the handling of spent fuel and its return to Russia, ruling out the possibility of weapons material being obtained from it. The total value of the Bushehr contract is about US$800 million (A$1.1 billion).
Meanwhile, Reuters has carried reports that the Chinese Foreign Minister, in talks with the US Secretary of State, has made it clear that China will not proceed with its previously announced reactor deal with Iran. (NucNet News# 368/95 and 413/95; The Australian 29/9/95)
Canada announces new U mine development
Plans for the development of the large high-grade Cigar Lake uranium
deposit in northern Saskatchewan have been announced, subject to federal
and provincial government approvals following an environmental review
process. The Cigar Lake reserves contain 175 000 tonnes of uranium oxide
at an average grade of 9.25% U3O8, more than any undeveloped Australian
deposit. The Cigar Lake Joint Venture will be managed by Cameco, which
holds a 48.75% interest, other parties being Cogema Resources 36.375%,
Idemitsu Uranium Exploration 12.875% and Korea Electric Power 2%.
It has been agreed in principle that the ore will be milled at McClean Lake 80 km away, which is currently being developed by a Joint Venture led by Cogema Resources. That project is mining five small orebodies containing an estimated 23 000 tonnes of uranium oxide at an average grade of 3.3% U3O8. The mill would be expanded fourfold from 2700 to 11 000 tonnes of U3O8 per year to accommodate the Cigar Lake ore. All tailings would be emplaced in a nearby mined out pit. The proposal will enable the overall environmental effects of the milling operations to be reduced significantly. (Joint press release 13/9/95, Mining Journal 22/9/95, Canadian Mines Handbook 1994-5)
Environmental Group urges more nuclear energy
A Swedish environmental advocacy group formed in 1988 is stepping up its
involvement in public debate on the country's energy future.
Environmentalists for Nuclear Power (MfK) now has some 2000 members drawn
from across the political and social spectrum. It was formed because of a
perception that the country's energy debate was being dominated by
"unrealistic anti-nuclear propaganda".
Sweden gets about half its electricity from nuclear, but in 1980 Swedes decided that nuclear energy should be phased out by 2010. This now seems unlikely to happen.
MfK Secretary Hans Pedersen said that "replacing clean nuclear power with polluting fuels like coal, gas, oil or biomass would be an historic mistake - both environmentally and economically. The waste of capital would be astronomic, and we would [all] have to pay for it." He said Sweden depended on nuclear energy to keep down its emissions of sulfur dioxide and carbon dioxide. "A clean environment may cost, - but why should we pay for a worse environment?" he asked. (ENS NucNet news #421/95)
Japan confirms adequacy of earthquake design guidelines.
After January's Kobe earthquake a panel was set up to review the safety of
nuclear facilities and the design guidelines for their construction. The
Nuclear Safety Commission has now approved the panel's report. After
recalculating the seismic design criteria required for a nuclear power
plant to survive near the epicentre of a large earthquake it concluded that
under current guidelines such a plant could survive a quake of 7.75 on the
Richter scale. The Kobe quake was 7.2. (ENS NucNet news # 451/95.)
50th nuclear power plant in commercial operation...
Unit 2 of the Onagawa nuclear power station, in the Tohuku region in
north-eastern Japan, has gone into commercial operation, bringing the total
number of Japan's nuclear power reactors to fifty.
Onagawa-2 is a 825 MWe boiling water reactor with a number of advanced technological features including an advanced reactor containment that provides more working space to facilitate routine inspections. A new type of high capacity filter and hafnium control rods, which last longer than the conventional boron-carbide rods, allow the volume of radioactive waste to be significantly reduced.
...and Monju FBR begins generating electricity
Japan's prototype fast breeder reactor (FBR) Monju began supplying
electricity to the grid at the end of August. Monju, which takes its name
from the Buddhist saint of wisdom, is to be used for research and
development with the findings applied to the design and construction of a
larger 'demonstration' FBR.
Compared with typical light water reactors, FBRs, fuelled by plutonium, are capable of achieving dramatically higher efficiency in the use of uranium resources. In a statement timed to coincide with the commissioning of Monju, the President of the Power Reactor and Nuclear Fuel Development Corporation (PNC), the designer and operator of Monju, said FBRs are viewed in Japan as the primary system of nuclear power generation in the future and would play a central role as part of the country's nuclear energy policy. (NucNet News # 344/95 and 380/95; PNC Topics Nol 9/95; CNFC Plutonium # lO/95)
Domestically produced fuel elements
Since the National Atomic Energy Agency's RSG research reactor at Serpong
was commissioned in 1987 it has run largely on fuel elements manufactured
in Germany. These have progressively been supplemented by locally made
ones and the reactor core is now fuelled entirely with domestically
produced fuel elements. The 30MW research reactor, one of four operating
in Indonesia, is used for testing and isotope production.
(NucNet News#394/95)
The following item was not included in the printed version due to space constraints:
'All Clear' for uranium mine area
A team of experts from Sweden has found no evidence that uranium mining at
Krasnokamensk, in eastern Siberia, is harmful to health and the
environment. In a news release last year Greenpeace claimed that secret
documents showed that the incidence of cancer had trebled and that child
mortality and malformations were much higher than normal.
The mission, led by the Swedish Radiation Protection Institute, was carried out on the orders of the Swedish Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources. In a statement, released on the return of the mission, the Swedish institute said the first preliminary impression is that mining in the area has no negative influence on the health of the population. The statement also said that, apart from the mining area itself, no other impact on the natural environment could be found. The mining company involved, the Priargunsky Mining Chemical Union, has an extensive radiological and ecological program and all levels of radiation and radon doses presented to the Swedes were below Russian standard limits, which correspond to those of the International Atomic Energy Agency. (NucNet News#378/95 and 391/95)
Experts back geological disposal of wastes
As part of an ongoing review of waste management strategies, the
Radioactive Waste Management Committee of the OECD Nuclear Energy Agency
has reassessed the basis for the geological disposal of radioactive waste
from an environmental and ethical perspective.
The Committee confirmed that the geological disposal strategy can be designed and implemented in a manner that is sensitive and responsive to fundamental ethical and environmental considerations and concluded that: Σ it is justified, both environmentally and ethically, to continue development of geological repositories for those long-lived radioactive wastes which should be isolated from the biosphere for more than a few hundred years. Σ step-by-step implementation of plans for geological disposal leaves open the possibility of adaptation in the light of scientific progress and developing social acceptability over several decades, and does not exclude other options at a later stage. ('The Environmental and Ethical Basis of Geological Disposal of Long-Lived Radioactive Wastes', OECD/NEA)
Nuclear power outlook
Based on recent estimates prepared by the IAEA's Planning and Economic
Studies Section, Division of Nuclear Power, nuclear power is expected to
grow at a modest but steady pace over the next 15 years under prevailing
conditions.
Growth could be much more robust, however, if some obstacles including financial constraints, low electricity demand in industrialised countries, and negative public attitudes in some countries - evolve in a positive direction. The following figures illustrate the range of projections.
The Exchange Value (US$/ pound U3O8) quoted by NUEXCO for the last 12 months:
Month, Restricted Unrestricted prices