ML19207C470
| ML19207C470 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Issue date: | 07/20/1979 |
| From: | Hendrie J NRC COMMISSION (OCM) |
| To: | Giaimo R HOUSE OF REP. |
| Shared Package | |
| ML19207C471 | List: |
| References | |
| NUDOCS 7909110665 | |
| Download: ML19207C470 (8) | |
Text
UNITED STATES
'I l
g, "" "'%g j
fg NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMISSION c_,
g
- @ s (4; g WASHINGTON. D. C. 2C555 3 QWW/
- .l
/
July 20, 1979 OFFICE OF THE CH AIRM AN 3d The Honorable Robert N. Giaimo Ir; h[J i
United States House of Representatives Washington, D. C.
20515
[*'
Dear Congressman Giaimo:
Thank you for sending us the letter and The New York Times article 3
containing Mr. Davis' proposals concerning international nuclear safety.
We are pleased to receive suggestions from the public on how to improve nuclear safety both here in the U.S. and internationally.
I am enclosing staff cor=ents on these proposals.
Our Office of International Programs, which prepared these comments, had received an earlier copy of Mr. Davis' article and recently discussed certain of the thoughts contained in it with Dr. Floyd Culler, who is the U.S. member of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Scientific Advisory Committee j
and the U.S. representative on the IAEA senior advisory panel organized to discuss the major institutional and programmatic implications of the Three Mile Island accident to the IAEA.
\\ Sincerely, i
%%Em 7Joseph M. Hendrie Chairman
Enclosure:
Comments on the Proposals Listed in Mr. Davis' Letter to
(
Cmigressman Robert Giaimo ay tb p$.
t tz V.{
b.
O /, 1
^ ~ E.
/ -t i
L.
J I NOllQ(ph
MRC STAFF COMMENTS ON THE PRUPOSALS LISTED IN MR. DAVIS' LETTER TO CONGRESSMAN GIAIMO Proposal 1:
... an American initiative for a multinational conference on nuclear safety and proliferation (INFCE appears too narrow, too secret and too vague in its mandate)."
Comment:
With regard to the International Nuclear Fuel Cycle Evaluation, forty countries and four international organizations met in Washington in October 1977 and agreed to address various measure; that can and should be taken at the national level and through international agreements to minimize the danger of the proliferation of nuclear weapons without jeopardizing energy supplies or the development of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes.
To this end, INFCE, whose participation has now grown to 53 countries, is organized around a Technical Coordinating Committee and the following eight working groups:
1.
Fuel and Heavy Water Availability 2.
Enrichment Availability 3.
Supply Assurances 4.
Reprocessing, Plutonium Handling and Recycle 5.
Fast Breeders 6.
Spent Fuel Management 7.
Waste Management and Disposal 8.
Alternative Fuel Cycle and Reactor Concepts g
u.
Thus, INFCE is hardly narrow in its non-proliferation mandate nor secret in that world governments have access to any information contained in the more than 250 papers that have already been produced by the IfiFCE Working Groups.
In the area of nuclear safety, the flRC is working with many countries through bilateral regulatory information exchange and cooperation arrangements.
Seventeen such bilateral arrangements are currently in force and negotiations toward similar arrangements with six additional countries are in progress.
The objectives of these arrangements are to:
1.
Establish a formal channel of communication with foreign regulatory organizations to assure prompt and reciprocal notification of reactor safety problems that could apply to both US and foreign nuclear facilities; 2.
Form a network for bilateral cooperation related to public health and safety, safeguards and environmental protection; 3.
Assist in developing an international consensus on regulatory matters and safety standards and experiments; and 4.
Provide assistance in improving health and safety practices of countries importing US reactors.
94i 257 Relatedly, on May 22-23, a meeting was held at the IAEA in Vienna of leading nuclear safety experts to provide advice on possible new initiatives that the IAEA might take within its program of nuclear power plant safety.
It was agreed that the Agency has an increasingly important role to play in the area of nuclear power plant safety and in assisting its member states by advisory and training services.
In addition, it was felt that the IAEA should be more active in collecting, evaluating, and distributing information on the results of research and development in safety matters done in member states.
The group further emphasized the necessity for the Agency to give assistance to member states in establishing their national emergency plans.
Also, West German Chancelor Helmut Schmidt, in a speech to the European Nuclear Conference in Hamburg in early May, called for the creation of an international government conference on reactor safety.
Finally, the subject of nuclear safety was taken up by the Heads of Government during the recent Tokyo Econo;nic Summit meeting.
Hence, in the judgment of the staff, significant actions are being taken in a number of international forums on the twin subjects of nuclear safety and non-proliferation.
Proposal 2:
"... a moratorium en the sale, transfer and start-up of new nuclear plants around the world pending the n tablishment of strict international monitoring 9di 25 fj
guidelines."
Comment:
Some questions have arisen in reviewing this proposal:
Does Mr. Davis have in mind a series of unilaterally declared moratoria or some kind of joint decision on the part of all countries building, operating, selling, buying, or considering the use of nuclear power plants?
What kind of guidelines is he concerned with ani how much stricter than current U.S., IAEA or other existing guidance would they have to be for the moratorium to be lifted?
Three Mile Island is generally seen as having its greatest impact on the national programs and decisions of individual countries, and it is at the national level that the highest priority is being given to understanding and reacting to the accident.
International initiatives which are broadly conceived and might involve years of discussion and negotiation, especially anything having the impact of a proposed moratorium on nuclear power, are not likely, in our view, to be given very close or prompt consideration by any of the leading industrialized countries.
Proposal 3:
... the separation of regulatory functions from nuclear promotion in the IAEA."
Comment:
The U.S. has been the leading voice in the IAEA in G /; ^{
2b9 support of strengthening its international safeguards activities.
Likewise, in recent months, prior to the Three Mile Island accident, the U.c. undertook e new initiative to encourage the strengthening of the IAEA's nuclear safety effort, especially as it pertains to reactor safety in developing countries.
In these respects, the U.S. is interested in assuring that the safeguards and safety efforts of the IAEA can function effectively and without interference based on promotional considerations.
However, the extent to which the Agency's regulatory functions can be separated from its promotional functions is not clear and, depending on the perticulars, any drastic reorientation of the IAEA might decrease the ability of those performing regulatory functions to require or persuade countries to participate in or adhere to their standards or controls. Nevertheless, it is likely that there will be some renewed interest in studying the possibility of further separation of functions in the IAEA although this can be expected to run into substantial opposition from the IAEA membership if additional resources will be required in order to implement this proposal.
Proposal 4:
... the establishment of an emergency facility, a sort of world nuclear fire department, to deal effectively with potential atomic disasters anywhere."
Comment:
This proposal is in an area which is being given considerable attention internationally.
The IAEA has, in 0 4 "l 7(G
/9 LvU the past, convened expert groups to develop emergency planning guidance and has circulated questionnaires to Member States to establish an inventory of emergency response capabilities which would be available to any-country asking emergency assistance.
The IAEA will be reviewing these programs as well as entertaining other ideas over the next few weeks in deciding whether there are additional emergency functions or services it should coordinate or provide in light of the Three Mile Island incident.
The idea of establishing an international team, with appropriate expertise and equipment, which would be available on very short notice to react to nuclear emergencies anywhere in the world is now specifically being explored, including the questions of US participation.
Of course, there would be problems that would have to be resolved in setting up such an arrangement.
For example, language barriers, timeliness of response during the early phase of emergencies in distant countries, and the variety of reactor types in use in different countries would all have to be dealt with.
It should be noted that the U.S. Department of Energy has a nuclear emergency response team whose services have oj\\
been offered on a bilateral basis to foreign countries.
This team was sent, on very short notice to Canada last s
year when the Soviet satellite carrying a nuclear power source crashed in Northern Canada. Certain of its capabilities, as well as expertise from other U.S. agencies such as the NRC, might be on call to any international team or arrangement set up by the IAEA.
Proposal 5:
... the launching of a world-scale project to develop alternata energy strategies for the West."
Cor: rent:
This proposal falls outside NRC's scope.
- However, the Department of State coordinates a program of U.S.
assistance to less-developed countries in making energy demand projections, assessing indigenous energy resources, and developing energy plans.
In addition, the U.S., as a member of the International Energy Agency (part of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, in Paris), has joined with other Western industrialized countries and Japan to consider means of improving the future balance of energy supply and demand, including the development and use of a variety of energy sources.
m (ob
'v q)N
,