Nuclear energy specialists from Australia, China, Japan, the Republic of
Korea, New Zealand, Russia, Singapore, Taiwan, the United States, and Vietnam
attended the Misawa meeting and subsequent field trip to Rokkasho, along
with a representative from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
Mr. Kim Myung Chol from the Center for Korean-American Peace provided a
DPRK perspective. This was the fourteenth meeting of the CSBM Working
Group and the eighth time the Nuclear Energy Experts Group had met together
to discuss energy transparency-related issues.
The Nuclear Experts Group is very grateful to CSCAP-Japan and the Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) for their assistance in arranging this meeting. We especially thank the Japan Nuclear Fuel Limited (JNFL)for arranging the field trip to Rokkasho.
The Misawa meeting began with a comprehensive review of the Nuclear Energy Transparency in the Asia-Pacific Web Site by Dr. John Olsen, with a focus on some new or expanded features. The site is designed as a "one-stop shopping" location for information on nuclear energy transparency in the region. It contains background information on all of the region's nuclear energy production programs (in large part provided through the efforts of Expert Group members), along with a review of available transparency technologies and, in selected cases, detailed information about various domestic radiation monitoring efforts.
Among the new features on the web site is a virtual tour of the Carlsbad Waste Isolation Pilot Plant, made possible through the use of a wide-angle digital camera which provides 360 degree photographs of installations. Imbedded "hot links" allow the viewer to change position and call up supplementary information in selected areas, in effect permitting the building of a "three-dimensional brochure" to demonstrate the physical layout of the WIPP facility. Dr. Olsen noted that the CMC hopes to construct a "virtual tour" for an Asian facility for the web-site in the coming year.
Another new feature on the site is a "Current Events" section which contains initial reporting on significant nuclear energy-related developments from local newspapers and journals, summarized with permission and with a link to the primary source. We have received blanket permission from several regional periodicals (Japan Digest, Japan Times, Taipei Journal, Taipei Times) to highlight their reporting on our Web Site and are looking to Expert Group members both to help identify additional sources and to obtain the blanket permission. Still another new feature is a new hyperbolic web-navigation tool which allows easier, faster navigation through the increasingly complex web site.
During Session One, Ms. Nakashima Naoko of the Japan Nuclear Cycle Development Institute (JNC), who is currently a JNC Visiting Scholar at the CMC, also provided an update on radiation monitoring cooperation which has expanded significantly, making the site useful not only to those interested in general information on nuclear energy but to specialists (including environmentalists) as well. Nakashima-san also outlined the ambitious program for further development of the radiation monitoring features that she will spearhead during her time at the CMC. Other additions highlighted during the opening presentation included a new link to the Japan Atomic Energy Research Institute and new pages providing overviews of India's nuclear energy program and Mongolian organizations involved in exploring nuclear energy options -- our Mongolian nuclear energy specialist was unable to attend this meeting but is a regular participant in the Experts Group meetings. We hope to have Indian participation in future Experts Group meetings.
Session Two featured a presentation on Spent Fuel Storage: Opportunities for International Cooperation by Dr. Ronald Smith (University of Waikato, New Zealand), which discussed possible international cooperation in disposal and storage of spent fuel and nuclear waste. Background information included current and projected waste and spent fuel inventories, time lines for needed implementations, and an overview of proposed solutions. Included was the Pangea Corporation proposal to develop a commercial repository in Australia and the political problems associated with this suggestion. Dr. Smith observed that the use of concerns about other parties' back end policies in order to gain domestic political advantage was undermining the effort to find solutions in many countries. His suggested solution was to consider a regional back end authority to develop a coherent plan that all parties could accept (or at least refrain from criticizing). A regional authority might develop a consensus that could be more effective in gaining public acceptance -- a critical issue in solving the back end problem. Russian, Chinese and South Korean attendees provided comments on the paper and also outlined current planning in their respective countries to deal with the back end of the fuel cycle.
During Session Three, Dr. Jor-shan Choi (IAEA) provided an overview of the International Atomic Energy Agency's organization, functions, and departments, including a review of the IAEA's nuclear fuel-cycle activities (especially the backend). New initiatives on innovative technologies including proliferation-resistant reactors and fuel cycles were also reviewed. Dr. Choi emphasized that CSCAP nuclear transparency efforts were highly complementary to those of the IAEA and that, while there was some useful redundancy, he saw no wasteful duplication of effort. We will continue to closely involve the IAEA in our effort and look for additional ways to coordinate and integrate our complementary efforts.
During Sessions Four and Five, our assembled experts provided updates on indigenous nuclear energy production activities and planned or contemplated energy production/research activities respectively. Dr. Usami Kohgo from the Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO) provided a presentation on the current status of Japan's nuclear power which included an evaluation of nuclear power generation in Japan and the promotion of backend solutions. His presentation helped to set the stage for our subsequent visit to Rokkasho.
Dr. Leng Ruiping, Senior Advisor and Senior Engineer of the China National Nuclear Corporation, provided an update on China's nuclear energy program, highlighting progress over the past year and providing an update on operation facilities as well as those planned or under construction. In addition, Dr. Chu Wen-chen from Tatung University in Taipei provided an update on Taiwan's nuclear energy program in light of recent controversial decisions first to cancel and then to resume construction on the island's fourth nuclear power plant. Current plans call for the early shutdown of some existing reactors in exchange for completing the new reactor, provided that electrical capacity maintains a 15% reserve (year around) and that prices for electricity not increase over a seven year period after shutdown. (Since these requirements seem unattainable, continuing political strife on the nuclear issue appears inevitable.)
Dr. Edward Avdonin, from the Ministry of the Russian Federation for Atomic Energy (MINATOM) International Center for Environmental Safety (ICES) in Moscow, provided information on Russia's nuclear energy program and on several other projects of interest to the Group. As an environmental safety expert, he was personally optimistic about the political prospects and technical feasibility of regional cooperation in the temporary storage of spent nuclear fuel at Mayak or Krasnoyarsk in Russia, even though there were many political, diplomatic, and legal hurdles to overcome. Dr. Avdonin also discussed the placement of radiation safety monitoring devices at Bilibino in the Russian Far East by the United Federal Emergency System. We are looking at the possibility of feeding the data from these devices into the web site.
The presentation by Mr. Le Doan Phac from Vietnam's Atomic Energy Commission on Vietnam's fledgling considerations of nuclear energy was useful both in providing the Group with information on the status of his nation's examination of nuclear energy and in providing Mr. Phac with insights into the challenges involved in pursuing this energy option. Several delegates compared their own learning experience to the Vietnam formative plan. All participants agreed on the value of including future nuclear power producers in the transparency project at an early date and the Vietnam delegate was eager to learn from other systems' experiences.
Mr. John Kjar, Counsellor, Minerals and Energy, at the Australian Embassy in Tokyo also provided a presentation on Australia's nuclear research program. Australia has no plans to become a producer of nuclear energy but does have a research reactor that will soon be decommissioned and replaced with a more advanced research reactor. Selected members of the Experts Group hope to pay a visit to the Australian reactor before or after the December CSCAP Steering Committee meeting in Canberra.
One of the highlights of the meeting was the 22 May day-long field trip to Rokkasho, where the group received several informational briefings and was able to visit numerous facilities, including the enrichment plant, the low level waste (LLW) and high level waste (HLW) storage areas, and the construction site of the extensive reprocessing and mixed oxide (MOX) fuel complex. The enrichment plant was shut down during our visit due to centrifuge problems, which are said to require new manufacturing development. The HLW facility is accepting material now, but only has a few canisters at this point. The LLW site is accepting waste for permanent burial in two large sunken fields. The reprocessing and MOX fuel facility is in an advanced stage of construction. The group conducted a bus and walking tour of the site and was also escorted through the Control Building where one of six control centers is completed. It was noted that the HLW building might be an excellent choice for a "virtual tour" using the panoramic camera.
These facility visits are in integral part of our confidence building and transparency program and several of the Group members praised our Japanese hosts for their willingness to open up their facilities and promptly and directly answer the Group's many questions. It has been suggested that we also consider adding radiation monitoring facilities to our list of future facilities that the Nuclear Energy Experts Group might be able to visit.
In our closing session, the Group discussed where we should go from here in our effort to further promote nuclear energy transparency. There was general agreement that the CSCAP Asia Pacific Nuclear Energy Transparency Web Site should be expanded to include information on research reactors and countries that were seriously contemplating the future use of nuclear energy. We will also make an effort to incorporate more information on Canada's nuclear energy program. (Canada has been represented at some earlier Experts Group meetings and has cooperated in beginning to build a Canada page for the web site.)
Efforts will also be made to acquire more radiation monitoring data and
to expand coverage of transparency options for the back end of the fuel
cycle. In this regard, Dr. Olsen presented a "strawman" list of back
end transparency options that included potential partners and Nakashima-san
showed a summary of current Japanese power company web sites, demonstrating
that, in terms of annual reports, there is already considerable progress
in back end transparency. All Nuclear Energy Expert Group and CSBM
Working Group members are encouraged to help us further develop the web
site by
identifying
new links and sources of information.
We remain extremely grateful to the Cooperative Monitoring Center for their tireless efforts in making the current CSCAP web site possible. We continue to note that greater regional ownership of the transparency effort has been a consistent goal of this project. The CMC stands ready to assist any regional organization that would like to take the lead in further developing and refining the CSCAP Asia Pacific Nuclear Energy Transparency Web Site.
Looking toward the future, the Nuclear Energy Experts Group will continue to focus its efforts on the further development, refinement, and expansion of the CSCAP Asia Pacific Nuclear Energy Transparency Web Site and the production, in cooperation with the broader CSBM Working Group, of individual Asia-Pacific Nuclear Energy Data Books. The Experts Group will also assist the CSBM Working Group in its examination of regional approaches toward multilateral cooperation in the field of nuclear energy research and development in general and in spent fuel storage and disposal in particular. Efforts will also be made to expand the Web Site to include information on regional nuclear energy research programs among states operating research reactors.
Meanwhile, the full CSBM Working Group will also continue its broader focus on arms control and non-proliferation issues in general, both at a joint meeting with the CSCAP North Pacific Working Group in Paris in late June and at a regular CSBM Working Group meeting tentatively scheduled for Washington DC in the fall of 2001. The Washington DC meeting will also provide an opportunity to examine America's emerging Asia strategy and its missile defense plans and other possible changes in the Pentagon's strategic thinking. The CSBM Working Group also hopes to hold another Preventive Diplomacy Workshop in conjunction with one of the 2001-2002 ASEAN Regional Forum Inter-sessional Support Group meetings.
Prepared
by: Ralph A. Cossa
Co-chair, CSCAP CSBM Working Group
President, Pacific Forum CSIS