Summary of Discussions

The Council for Security Cooperation in the Asia Pacific (CSCAP) International Working Group (IWG) on Confidence and Security Building Measures (CSBMs) met for the thirteenth time on 22-24 May, 2000 in Washington DC. The meeting was hosted by USCSCAP and chaired by CSBM Working Group Co-Chairs Ralph Cossa (USCSCAP) and Kwa Chong Guan (CSCAP-Singapore). The meeting brought together regular CSBM Working Group participants with members of the CSCAP Nuclear Energy Experts Group that, with the support of the U.S. Cooperative Monitoring Center (CMC) in Albuquerque, New Mexico, has been developing the CSCAP Asia Pacific Nuclear Energy Transparency Web Site.

Eleven CSCAP Member Committees were represented, as was the United Nations Centre for Peace and Disarmament in Asia and the Pacific. All told, there were almost 40 participants. Representatives from the U.S. Departments of Energy, State, and Defense and several Embassies were also in attendance. All participated in their private capacities.

During this session, participants built upon the earlier efforts of both the overall CSBM Working Group and its Nuclear Energy Experts Group to identify, define, and promote regional CSBMs associated with the peaceful, safe, and transparent use of nuclear energy. Broader military and other general security-related topics like alliances, missile proliferation, and missile defense were also discussed. While the formal Working Group meeting was held in Washington DC, participants also conducted a one day field trip to the Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Station near Prince Frederick, Maryland, as part of its practical transparency program of on-site visits (we previously visited the Fukushima Power Station in Japan and the Kori Power Station in the Republic of Korea).

The meeting began with a brief review of what our nuclear energy transparency (PACATOM) project has accomplished thus far and what we hope to achieve at this meeting. The focus has been on identifying and addressing security concerns related both to the production of nuclear energy and to nuclear energy research and spent fuel storage and reprocessing policies and challenges. The belief that greater transparency and increased awareness of respective nuclear energy programs would help address these concerns lies at the base of the decision to develop the CSCAP Asia-Pacific Nuclear Energy Transparency Web Site, in cooperation with the Cooperative Monitoring Center. The web-site provides a "one-stop shopping" location for anyone interested in learning more both about both transparency technologies and about nuclear energy production and related activities in the Asia Pacific region.

Web Site

Dr. John Olsen of the CMC provided a comprehensive review of the CSCAP Asia-Pacific Nuclear Energy Transparency Web Site, which is now fully accessible on-line [http://www.cmc.sandia.gov/Nuc_Trans]. Besides nuclear energy transparency the Web Site serves several purposes. It contains basic information about CSCAP and the CSBM Working Group, along with many of the Working Group's papers, meeting summaries, and publications relating to nuclear energy transparency. It also contains links to many related sites.

The Web-Site front end now provides a more direct path to radiation safety data from Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and the U.S. Further integration of these data continues to be a high priority. The Working Group made several suggestions to improve public understanding of the displays.

In the section describing the CSCAP/CMC transparency experiment, the Web Site provides current and prospective nuclear energy producers with systems descriptions of the various transparency measures and technologies that are currently available to demonstrate their safe, secure operations. The Web Site also contains basic information on selected existing nuclear energy production efforts. Today, it contains data, at varying levels of specificity, on the nuclear energy programs of China, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Russia, Taiwan, and the U.S., in each case provided in large part by the respective members of the Nuclear Energy Experts Group. This includes, in some cases, radiation and other safety monitoring data regularly collected by the respective plants or industries/agencies and, in many instances, made available in some form to the general public on a near-real time basis.

We also discussed how to further refine and expand this Web Site to make it even more relevant. Suggestions to provide links to current events in the nuclear industry affecting safety or nonproliferation interests will receive high priority. Continued development of a more interactive interface is also an important requirement. One priority next step will be to incorporate data on Canada's nuclear energy production. Efforts will also be made to include more radiation monitoring data, especially from Russia, and to expand the Web Site to cover nuclear research operations and other prospective nuclear energy users. Information on regional nuclear weapons-free zones will also be incorporated. Greater International Atomic Energy Authority (IAEA) exposure to and involvement in the project is also planned to better complement IAEA efforts.

Nuclear Energy Data Book

The group then put the finishing touches on the generic outline of a new "Asia Pacific Nuclear Energy Data Book" document which will form the basis for future volumes outlining specific indigenous programs. This project was formerly known as our generic Nuclear Energy "White Paper" project. The White Paper designation has been dropped since it connotes an official document while we envision the voluntary production of data books at the track two level, through the collation of information currently available in a variety of different formats from various government and industry sources. The outline was a Nuclear Energy Experts Group product spearheaded by Dr. Kaoru Kikuyama (Japan Atomic Industrial Forum) and Prof. Wen-chen Chu (Tatung University, Taipei). The outline is being finalized, based on feedback during the Working Group meeting, and will soon be posted on the CSCAP Asia-Pacific Nuclear Energy Transparency Web Site.

Spent Fuel and Back End of the Fuel Cycle

Spent fuel storage is a growing problem among all nuclear energy producers and cooperative approaches to dealing with this common problem should be examined. Discussions were held on spent fuel challenges among regional nuclear energy producers, along with an examination of various governmental and private sector proposals for regional spent fuel storage. Mr. Keita Akakura (CSCAP-Japan) made a presentation on current and planned Japanese activities in the back end of the fuel cycle. Mr. Ralph Stoll (Pangea Resources International) gave a detailed briefing on a private industry effort to identify geologically-suitable sites for national and international spent fuel disposition. Dr. John Olsen announced that the CMC, in cooperation with Sandia National Labs and the Pacific Forum CSIS, will be holding an international Workshop on Transparency in the Back End of the Fuel Cycle in Albuquerque, which will include a visit to the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) in Carlsbad, New Mexico. All members of the CSCAP Nuclear Energy Experts Group will be invited to attend.

Calvert Cliffs Nuclear Power Plant

The Working Group visit included informational briefings and a walking tour of the plant, which contains two nuclear reactors, operational since 1975 and 1977 respectively, and an Independent Spent Fuel Storage Installation designed as a life-of-plant storage facility. Participants were given a tour of the turbine hall and also provided with presentations on the operations of the plant, which was the first U.S. nuclear energy production facility to get its original 40-year operating license renewed (for another 20 years). The CSBM Working Group is indebted to Calvert Cliffs for its generous hospitality and spirit of openness and cooperation.

Other CBM/Transparency Issues

Moving beyond the topic of nuclear energy, the group also examined areas of concern related to bilateral alliances, strategic partnerships, and offensive and defensive missile programs, with an eye toward making such efforts more open and understandable. Mr. Hao Yinbiao (CSCAP-China) and Dr. Kwa Chong Guan (CSCAP-Singapore) gave presentations that helped put these issues in broader perspective, in order to further stimulate debate. Discussion also focused on the role of security outlook documents and voluntary security briefings (as proposed by the ARF as Preventive Diplomacy mechanisms) as additional means of building confidence and promoting regional transparency. ARF members will be preparing security outlook documents for this summer's annual ministerial meeting. The CSBM Working Group could help this process by reviewing these documents and perhaps suggesting a common outline for future products, along the lines of our earlier efforts to develop a generic Defense Policy Paper (White Paper) outline.

Special Session on Arms Control in China

In addition to the above discussions, a special session was held to review the recent study on China, Nuclear Weapons, and Arms Control: A Preliminary Assessment prepared by the Council on Foreign Relations, the National Defense University, and the Institute for Defense Analysis and available on the Council's Web Site [www.cfr.org]. Two of the study's authors, Brad Roberts (IDA) and Robert Manning (CFR), gave a presentation on its findings and General Pan Zhenqiang (CSCAP-China) provided commentary.

What's Next?

The CSBM Working Group, both through its own efforts and through the efforts of its Nuclear Energy Experts Group, will continue to develop and refine the CSCAP Asia-Pacific Nuclear Energy Transparency Web Site with an eye toward making it even more comprehensive through the addition of information on nuclear energy research and reprocessing facilities, nuclear weapons-free zones, and plans and attitudes of current non-nuclear energy producing states. The Working Group also hopes to conduct future visits to nuclear power facilities in Canada and China, among other locations. We are also considering broadening our discussion beyond nuclear energy to include energy security in all its forms.

Working Group members also agreed that it was important to widen our discussions to address other regional security concerns, including those dealing with non-proliferation, offensive and defensive missile developments, military alliances, and a better understanding of non-traditional security concerns. We will also closely monitor ARF activities to determine where we can best assist the ARF's examination of confidence building and preventive diplomacy issues and initiatives, including the development and assessment of security outlook documents.

Prepared by: Ralph Cossa, USCSCAP Co-Chair, CSBM Working Group