Critical Issues Forum 2008

Nuclear Energy: Benefits and Risks

Benchmark II

The High School of Art & Design

Contributors:

Katie Ernst

James Estrada

Robert Cipriano

Teacher: Angela Gin

Objective I

Presently, the issue of nuclear energy is a much-debated topic due to the massive power that such intelligence commands; power, not only in the sense of greenhouse gas free, low cost electricity, but in the sense of the responsibilities, respect, and authority that come with harnessing nuclear energy. Nuclear energy may be used for both civilian and military purposes, and its dual nature requires that nuclear energy be kept under international controls through various laws, organizations, and multi-lateral treaties. These controls are necessary to safely oversee the production of peaceful nuclear energy, while simultaneously preventing the proliferation of nuclear weapons technology and intelligence.

International Controls

Organizations

-International Atomic Energy Agency (United Nations)

-Nuclear Energy Agency (Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development)

Treaties

-Treaty on the Nonproliferation of Nuclear Weapons /Nonproliferation Treaty

-Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty

International Atomic Energy Agency

IAEA Members

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b9/IAEA.png

IAEA mission:

“…(assist) its Member States, in the context of social and economic goals, in planning for and using nuclear science and technology for various peaceful purposes, including the generation of electricity, and facilitates the transfer of such technology and knowledge in a sustainable manner to developing Member States…”
“develops nuclear safety standards and, based on these standards, promotes the achievement and maintenance of high levels of safety in applications of nuclear energy, as well as the protection of human health and the environment against ionizing radiation”
“Verifies through its inspection system that States comply with their commitments, under the Non-Proliferation Treaty and other non-proliferation agreements, to use nuclear material and facilities only for peaceful purposes.”[1]

The IAEA, created in 1954 in response to U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s “Atoms for Peace” speech to the United Nations General Assembly is the international authority on control of nuclear energy. Out of the 195 nations of the world, 144 are members of the IAEA. Of these, thirty-one are recognized by the IAEA as being capable of using nuclear energy for civilian purposes, meaning that they possess licensed commercial nuclear reactors. It is the duty of the IAEA to “promote safe and peaceful nuclear technologies” [2] within these nations and worldwide. Guided by the needs and interests of its member nations, the IAEA focuses on three main areas of work:

•Safety and Security

•Science and Technology

•Safeguards and Verification

Safeguards

IAEA safeguards are means by which the proliferation of nuclear material and the production of weapons are prevented. Member states allow the IAEA to verify and regulate their nuclear activities. The IAEA conducts random inspections on facilities, to verify that they are working both safely, and efficiently.

Nuclear Energy Agency

NEA Member States

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bb/Map_of_NEA.png

The Nuclear Energy Agency was established in 1958 and consists of 28 members, which account for approximately 85% of the world’s total nuclear capacity. Nuclear energy compromises at least 25% of the total energy sources in each member nation. Working closely with the IAEA, it focuses on similar areas of work, but is more scientific in nature. The NEA also works in the fields of waste management, economic and technical analysis of the nuclear fuel cycle, and nuclear law liability.

Treaty on the Nonproliferation of Nuclear Weapons / Nonproliferation Treaty

The purpose of the Nonproliferation treaty is to limit the spread of nuclear weapons and intelligence that may aid in the production of such weapons. Currently, 189 nations are party to the treaty. Of the thirty-one nations currently using nuclear energy for civilian purposes, only five are considered “Nuclear Weapons States” under the terms of the NPT, meaning that they possess nuclear weapons. These include Russia, the People’s Republic of China, France, England, and the United States.

The Treaty is broken up into three pillars, which are as follows:

Non Proliferation

Nuclear Weapons states must not transfer nuclear weapons or explosives, nor assist any of the 182 Non-Nuclear Weapons States in acquiring such intelligence. In turn, Non Nuclear Weapons States must not receive or seek information, and must not manufacture any kind of nuclear weapon. NNWS are limited to using nuclear energy for civilian purposes.

Disarmament

This section of the treaty is the most debated, because, it is unclear to many nations (particularly NWS) whether the purpose of NPT is to simply promote nonproliferation, or to, demand eventual and complete disarmament.

Article VI of the NPT

“Each of the Parties to the Treaty undertakes to pursue negotiations in good faith on effective measures relating to cessation of the nuclear arms race at an early date and to nuclear disarmament, and on a treaty on general and complete disarmament under strict and effective international control.”[3]

The words “negotiate in good faith” appear to suggest but not demand complete disarmament measures. However, it is publicly viewed that the final steps toward more peaceful international relations include complete disarmament; somewhat of a universally accepted goal.

Peaceful use

The terms provided by the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) are regulated by the IAEA, which oversees the processes related to civilian nuclear energy production, which under the NPT, is recognized as an inalienable right.[4]

Only India, Pakistan, and Israel are excluded from NPT. North Korea withdrew form the NPT in January of 2003, violating the terms of a three months notice of withdrawal. Iran violated NPT safeguards by pursuing an enrichment program for two decades. Libya has also pursued a nuclear weapons program in the past, but abandoned it in 2003, and joined the Non-Proliferation Treaty. [5]

Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty

The Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) is the next step in achieving the goals of disarmament set by the NPT. While the NPT provides terms and conditions to prevent proliferation, the CTBT restricts any kind of nuclear explosion from occurring. The CTBT would go in to effect 180 days after all forty-four states listed in Annex two of the treaty ratified it; only nine states remain, including the United States.

The US’s failure to ratify the CTBT due to Congress’ rejection of it in 1999 represents the US’ unilateral approach to dealing with the issue of nuclear weapons and international warfare restrictions. Opposition to the CTBT also conveys disregard of the US’ NPT commitments[6] as a Nuclear Weapons State to take action towards complete disarmament.

Although it is argued that Article VI of the NPT is vague as far as what this commitment is, all five Nuclear Weapons States confirmed that they are required to “achieve complete nuclear disarmament”[7] at the 1995 NPT Review Conference, and at the 2000 Review Conference, that it was necessary to take “specific, irreversible stets to achieve it.”[8] In 1996, the United Nations International Court of Justice, upon examination of the NPT, unanimously ruled that Nuclear Weapons States are required to accomplish complete disarmament.

Modern interpretations aside, the prospects of steps towards disarmament have existed and have been greatly supported since the beginning of the Nuclear Age.

“Not achieving a nuclear test ban would have to be classed as the greatest disappointment of any administration, or any decade, of any time, and of any party.”

-Dwight D. Eisenhower, 1961

Forty-seven years and nine presidents later, the United States continues to uphold Cold War policies regarding its Nuclear weapons, and is thereby feeding in to the expansion of the Nuclear Arms race.

In addition to the US’s refusal to ratify the CTBT, it actively engages in large- scale proliferation of nuclear weapons. As part of the largest military alliance in the world, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), the United States participates in “sharing” its nuclear weapons with six Non-Nuclear Weapon States (all of which have ratified the CTBT). These weapons, part of NATO military strategy, will be transferred to the control of the Non-Nuclear Weapon States in the occurrence of a war. This is a clear violation the NPT articles regarding the commitments of both NWS and NNWS.

National Controls

Each Nuclear Energy Agency member nation is required to enact legislation that would control domestic nuclear activities, and create public authorities that manage them. Individual nations also have the responsibilities of regulating, licensing, inspecting, and operating nuclear reactors within it. In the United States, this is done by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission.

“The NRC’s mission is to regulate the nation’s civilian use of byproduct, source, and special nuclear materials to ensure adequate protection of public health and safety, to promote common defense and security, and to protect the environment.”[9]

Oversees:

Reactor safety

Reactor licensing/ renewal

Material licensing/ safety

Waste management

It consists of four regions, which oversees the operation of 104 electricity- generating reactors, 36 of which do not produce power. Each site has resident inspectors and specialized inspection teams that monitor day-to-day activities.

Objective II

Emerging Nuclear Energy Countries

http://www.wicketgate.co.uk/worldoutlinemap.gif

Nations that want Nuclear Power:

Albania, Algeria, Australia, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Belarus, Chile, Egypt, Estonia, Georgia, Ghana, Indonesia, Iran, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Latvia, Libya, Malaysia, Morocco, Namibia, New Zealand, Nigeria, Norway, Oman, the Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Thailand, Tunisia, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates, Venezuela, Vietnam, and Yemen.

A closer look…

Albania

http://z.about.com/d/geography/1/0/m/K/albania.jpg

Algeria

http://z.about.com/d/geography/1/0/l/K/algeria.jpg

Australia

http://z.about.com/d/geography/1/0/f/K/australia.jpg

Belarus

http://z.about.com/d/geography/1/0/r/K/belarus.jpg

Iran

http://z.about.com/d/geography/1/0/N/H/iran.jpg

Ireland

http://z.about.com/d/geography/1/0/1/C/ireland2.jpg

Italy

http://z.about.com/d/geography/1/0/j/J/italy.jpg

Kazakhstan

http://z.about.com/d/geography/1/0/f/J/kazakhstan.jpg

Morocco

http://z.about.com/d/geography/1/0/E/J/morocco.jpg

Nigeria

http://z.about.com/d/geography/1/0/w/I/nigeria.jpg

Poland

http://z.about.com/d/geography/1/0/e/I/poland.jpg

Portugal

http://z.about.com/d/geography/1/0/c/I/portugal.jpg

Syria

http://z.about.com/d/geography/1/0/r/H/syria.jpg

Turkey

http://z.about.com/d/geography/1/0/j/H/turkey.jpg

Venezuela

http://z.about.com/d/geography/1/0/c/H/venezuela.jpg

Vietnam

http://z.about.com/d/geography/1/0/b/H/vietnam.jpg

Conclusion

Countries like Ireland, Australia, and Nigeria primarily want nuclear energy in order to reduce energy prices. With the rising prices of coal, oil and gas, some nations have sought out means to produce nuclear energy because they can no longer afford other forms of energy. Countries, exampled by Albania, have experienced electricity shortages because they cannot afford to pay for the energy. Another major problem that non-nuclear countries are dealing with is high CO2 emissions from burning fossil fuels. Although nuclear energy is cleaner and less costly, other problems arise. How do we deal with the waste produced? Where could it be stored? What are effects of having nuclear power plant accidents? What if nuclear materials fall into the wrong hands? All of these are serious questions to consider before investing in a potentially destructive science more powerful than mankind.

Objective III

Economics of Nuclear Power Plants

Benefits Risks

Long operational life High investments

Low fuel, operating, and maintenance costs Long construction time: (market may

Less use of fossil fuels change during its construction).

Threat of sabotage, high security costs and insurance.

Nuclear Waste Storage and Disposal

Forms of Storage

Temporary Storage Pools: After fuel rods are used they are extremely hot and must be cooled to a temperature that they can be handled with. The rods are placed in pools of boric acid, a substance that absorbs some of the radiation and heat from the rods. Rods need to be submerged for about six months, but they usually stay longer because there are not many permanent storage sites to move them to. Therefore, the pools are often crowded with fuel rods. If the rods ever make contact with one another a nuclear chemical reaction could occur, so spent fuel rods have to be carefully monitored until they can be relocated.

Dry Cask Storage Containers: These solid containers are where the rods are placed when pools either get crowded or when waste has been cooling long enough.

Forms of Disposal

Deep Geological Disposal: This method of disposal is presently the most promising and successful. Spent fuel rods are encased deep underground and go through a process similar to the storage pools. The rods are deep enough as to not affect anything on the surface and they have no access to water and will not travel. The rods are stored in special containers that are resilient to corrosion, impacts, radiation, and extreme temperatures. Deep geological disposal is more of a permanent form of storage. While it does not really dispose of waste, it keeps it from interacting with the environment which is a top priority.

Nuclear radiation

“Radiation is energy traveling through space or matter in the form of sub-atomic particles or electromagnetic waves.” (Nuclear Energy Today (OECD Publications 2003, 2005). Nuclear radiation is made of high-energy charged alpha and beta particles, neutrons, and photons (gamma rays and x-rays).Radiation can be natural, such as cosmic radiation which is derived from the birth and death of stars, or man made (nuclear weapon tests).

Positives:

Used in medical discoveries

X-rays contain ionizing radiation

Computerized tomography (CT)

Proton emission tomography (PET)

Can kill cells (i.e. tumor cells)

Negatives:

Can be cause of cancer (high doses)

Damages DNA

Temporary sicknesses (headaches and nausea)

May result in death

Nuclear Terrorism

In this day and age, nuclear terrorism poses an enormous threat to national security. If a terrorist group were to get their hands on a nuclear weapon and set it off, cities would be destroyed and hundreds of thousands of people would die. The survivors would have to suffer the callous reality of having their way of life completely destroyed. Since there is no defense against nuclear warfare, the only solution to prevent such a tragedy is to keep nuclear information and materials out of terrorist’s hands. Some of the policies being passed may even increase the threat of nuclear terrorism.

In the 1970s, the United States stopped the separation of plutonium from civil spent nuclear fuel. Under the Bush administration, the United States has reinstated reprocessing to extort plutonium from civil spent fuel on a grand scale. This reprocessing policy is harmful because it only takes a small amount of plutonium to generate a nuclear bomb, and withdrawing plutonium from civil spent fuel makes the plutonium more accessible. Prior to 2005, the U.S. had placed restrictions on exporting plutonium. This policy was revoked by the Bush Administration for production of medical isotopes.

Contributing to the possible nuclear terrorism threat is the fact that numerous countries including Russia, Belgium, France, Germany, India, Japan, and the United Kingdom harbor huge stockpiles of plutonium, but continue reprocessing because they want more civil plutonium. Although civil plutonium is not strong enough to be deemed “weapon-grade,” it can still be used to make weapons.

Currently, the U.S. and Russia have military plutonium weighing from 100-150 metric tons. This military plutonium was derived from dismantled nuclear weapons. Both countries have stated that they will dispose of at least 34 metric tons, but have yet to do so. In order to get rid of this plutonium, each country has decided to convert the plutonium into fuel for nuclear reactors, which may increase the rate of plutonium theft unless intensive security measures are taken. Various countries, such as Russia and the U.S. have thousands of tactical nuclear weapons, which are small and lack electronic locks that are used to stop unauthorized use, and store them in poorly secured areas. Security measures are lagging in almost every country with nuclear power plants or reactors.

Many times, nuclear reactor facilities are placed in “academic or industrial settings with inadequate security.”[10] This provides an easy target for terrorist groups that are searching for nuclear weapon materials.

The only way to fix these problems is to educate the public, the media, and Congress on the dangers of nuclear warfare. The UCS Global Security Program is working on spreading this knowledge, as well as holding legal interventions and meetings with U.S. policy makers.

Bibliography

http://www.chemcases.com/nuclear/nc-14.htm

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuclear_Non-Proliferation_Treaty

http://europeanfoundation.blogspot.com/2007/12/albania-wants-to-become-nuclear-power.html

http://geography.about.com/library/blank/blxaustralia.htm

http://www.iaea.org

http://www.ieer.org/reports/nato/summrec.html

http://www.library.thinkquest.org/17940/texts/nuclear_waste_storage/nuclear_waste_storage.html

http://www.nationsencyclopedia.com/Africa/Algeria-ENERGY-AND-POWER.html

http://www.neoliberalismo.com/Cereijo0105.htm

http://www.nrc.gov/reading-rm/doc-collections/nuregs/brochures/br0099/r10/#mission

Nuclear Energy Today (OECD Publications 2003, 2005)

http://www.nuclearfiles.org/menu/library/treaties/non-proliferation-treaty/trty_npt_intro.htm

http://science.howstuffworks.com/

http://www.ucsusa.org/global_security/nuclear_terrorism/

http://www.un.org

http://www.world-nuclear.org/info/inf102.html

http://www.worldtribune.com/worldtribune/07/front2454125.1611111113.html