The global increase in the use of nuclear power in countries such as China, Russia and the UK must be accompanied by a greater focus on security and the management of nuclear waste, a report says today.
In the wake of the Fukushima-Daiichi accident, the Royal Society report also calls for a World Nuclear Forum to be established so business leaders and governments can explore the development of nuclear power and responsibilities for non-proliferation and nuclear security.
The forum could be proposed at the 2012 Nuclear Security Summit in South Korea and set up afterwards, the report says.
The report, which looks at ways of making the nuclear fuel cycle more secure and proliferation resistant, says global regulation for security and non-proliferation “is 50 years out of date and needs to address the changing geography of nuclear power as well as a fully nationalised nuclear industry”.
“In the rush to construct nuclear reactors, the management of spent fuel and radioactive waste, including planning for its disposal, must no longer be an afterthought,” the report says.
Currently, there is no operating civil geological disposal facility, although disposal plans are well advanced in some countries. The entire fuel cycle needs to be considered “from cradle to grave” to reduce proliferation and security risks.
The report calls on governments to establish a national policy that considers the long-term role of nuclear power. This policy should specify the requirements for managing spent fuel and radioactive waste, including sufficient capacity for interim storage, as well as detailing plans for “timely geological disposal” from the outset.
The UK’s environment minister Chris Huhne effectively gave the green light earlier this week for the expansion of the country’s nuclear industry after a post-Fukushima safety review concluded there were no grounds for the UK to curtail the use of nuclear power.
But the Royal Society said the UK was operating a “short-sighted” approach to planning and research and urged it to avoid “burdening future generations with a legacy of spent nuclear fuel”.
It called for the construction of a new mixed-oxide (MOX) nuclear fuel plant after the closure of the UK’s only existing plant at Sellafield in August.
The report says construction of nuclear plants is furthest advanced in South and East Asia, especially China, India; and South Korea, as well as Russia. These countries are likely to lead a global expansion of nuclear power.
The Middle East could emerge as the second largest market for new reactors. In 2009, the United Arab Emirates awarded a South Korean consortium the contract to build four nuclear power reactors by 2020. Saudi Arabia recently announced plans to build 16 nuclear reactors over the next two decades. Kuwait has plans for four nuclear power reactors and Jordan for one reactor, the report says.
