ML20011A146
| ML20011A146 | |
| Person / Time | |
|---|---|
| Issue date: | 12/27/1977 |
| From: | Gossick L NRC OFFICE OF THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR FOR OPERATIONS (EDO) |
| To: | |
| Shared Package | |
| ML20010G502 | List: |
| References | |
| FOIA-81-280, TASK-IR, TASK-SE SECY-77-566B, NUDOCS 8110070425 | |
| Download: ML20011A146 (8) | |
Text
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C Cecember 27, 1977 UNITED ST AT($
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b NUCLEAR REGULATORY COMMisslON W ASHIN G TON, D. C. 20555 INFORMATION REPORT N
For,:
T'he Comissioners Frcm:
Executive Director for Operations
Subject:
INFCE STATUS REPORT NUMBER 2.,
Purpose:
To inform the Comnission and interested staff offices of the status of activities related to the Internaticnal Nuclear Fuel Cycle Evaluation and NRC's involvement in this work.
Dis'cussion:
At the time of the first status report (SECY-77-566A, dated November 23), the first full (international) meeting of INFCE Workin Group 8 (Advanced Reactors and Fuel Cycle Concepts) had just. taken place in Washington.
Since then the first full meetings of k'orking Groups 2, 4, 5, 6, and 7 have been held, as well as the first meeting of the INFCE Technical Coordinating Committee.
A notable development in the organization of U.S. support efforts was the recent designation of Angelo Giambusse of DOE to oversee the coordination of interagency participation in INFCE.
In performing this function, he will report both to 00E Undersecretary Dale Meyers (where he will have direct reach to all DOE Assistant Secretaries) and to Philip Farley in Ambassador Smith's of fice at the Department of State (where he will be associated with the INFCE Management Group).
.A.
Meeting of the INFCE Technical Coordinating Committee, Vienna, Austria, Cecember 12-13 The U S. delegation to the first meeting of the TCC was comprised of A. Carnesale{ Harvard University; P. Farley, DOS; and G. W. Cunningham, DOE.
(J. Boright, DOS, and A.Giambussoattendedinan\\observerstatus.) Another U.S. national, Abram Chayes~bf the' Brookings Institution,
served as temporary chairman of the TCC meeting. (Mr. Chayes had also been chairman of the INFCE organizational meeting in Washington in mid-October.)
s Contacts:
R. Hauber, IP, 492-7788 H. Lowenberg, NMSS, 427-4142 8110070425 810813 PDR FOIA V<
FISCHER81-280 PDR
c The main business accomplished in the first TCC meeting was a review and discussion of the plans, activities, and problems of the eight INFCE working groups.
The focus was on the general approach to be taken by the individual groups, the distribution of work, and future schedules.
It was agreed that the groups should, over the next six months, assemble and perform initial analyses of data in their respective areas, and begin to define and assess alternative systems and approaches.
Agreement was not reached on the selection of a permanent chairman for the TCC, nor on the role to be. played by such a chaiman.
An interim solution was arrived at whereby A. Chayes was accepted to serve again as temporary chaiman of the next TCC meeting, to be held in June 1978.
He was given the responsibility for preparing for the meeting in consultation with the co-chaimen of the working groups and with the assistance of a TCC Secrr ry.
to be provided by the IAEA.
This solution is without prejudice to the various views of TCC members on sub-sequent chairmanship arrangements, to be worked out in consultations leading up to the June meeting.*
B.
Working Group 1 -- Fuel and Heavy Water Availability This group has not yet had its first full meeting; the meeting is currently scheduled to be held in Vienna, January 23-27, 1978.
C.
Working Group 2 -- Enrichment Availability The first meeting of this working group was held in Vienna, December 14-15.
The U.S. delegation was headed by George Quinn, the U.S. Representative to this working group.
DOE, State and ACDA were also represented on the delegation.
Prior to.the, international workinq group session,.the interagency U.S. Support Group met on December 8 to prepare Mr. Quinn and the other delegates for the Vienna meeting.
S. Smiley, NMSS, played an active role in the preparatory meeting and is expected to be closely involved in the substantive worR of the working groun and the U.S. support group over the coming months.
- A more complete discussion is contained in State Department Telegram Vienna 10675, dated December 14, 1977 (CONFIDENTIAL).
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,7 3-During its December meeting in Vienna, the working group formed three sub-groups:
S'b-Group 1, to establish uranium demand figures and u
enrichment services requirements.
(This sub-group will review the uranium supply and demand forecasts of the OECD's Nuclear Energy Agency; it will also coordinate its work with INFCE Working Group 1.)
Sub-Group 2, to consider the technical, economic and s
planning aspects of enrichment technology.
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Sub-Group 3, to consider the special needs of developing l
countries.
The second meeting of Working Group 2 will be held in February 1978 and the third meeting in May 1978.
In the meantime, the U.S. Support Group, with the involve-ment of representatives of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory,
-l has begun work on a questionnaire treating the technical -
and economic potential and proliferation aspects of various enrichment processes.
It is expected that all countries which now have enrichment capability, are presently develop-ing the technology, or may be considering the development of such technology, would respond.
S. Smiley will provide NRC input to the questionnaire work.
Toward this end he attended on December 21 a meeting of the U.S. Support Group at which an initial draft of a possible questionnaire prepared by Messrs. Quinn, 'Rosenthal and Schwennesen was distributed. This initial version of the questionnaire dealt mainly with the technical and' economic features of the enrichment process, and did not yet touch on proliferation and safeguards aspects.
Other working group member nations will be developing their own versions of the questionnair9 which will then be circulated to all participants.
D.
Working Group 3 -- Assurances for Lrng-Term Supply _
The first full meeting of this work.ag group will take place in Vienna, January 30 to February 3, 1978.
A decision has not been made yet regarding the U.S.
delegation.
A draft issues paper written by Hal Bengelsdorf, DOE, concerning the concept of an international fuel bank was provided to NRC.
S. Williams, IP, J. Devine, OPE, and S. Smiley, NMSS, reviewed it and S. Williams attended a December 22 meeting of the subgroup on fuel assurances of the NSC Ad Hoc Group on Nonproliferation to review the issues paper before it is considered by Working Group 3.
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n At the meeting, chaired by L. Scheinman, DOS, NRC's and other agencies' coments on the paper were discussed.
It was decided to generate two additional papers that would address alternative concepts of organization, conditions of access and " operation of the fuel banks.
These papers, i
along with the original draft, are classified " Confidential."
They can be made available to interested offices through J. Devine, OPE.
E.
Working Group 4 -- Reprocessing, Separated Plutonium, Recycle A full meeting of Working Group 4 was held in London on December 6 and 7.
The U.S. delegation was headed by i
. John Boright, DOS, and L. Charles Hebel of the Xerox
,e' Corporation.
H. Lowenberg, NMSS, represented NRC.
Representatives of DOE and ACDA also attended.
The working group addressed several subjects:
1.
Reaffirmation of the terms of reference established at the October INFCE Organizational Conference held in Washington.
2.
Establishment of the prime objectives for the working group.
3.
Identification of the topics to be studied and the assessments to be made.
4.
Request to the TCC to provide common criteria for proliferation resistance.
b 5.
Organization of the working group and appropriate sub-groups.
6.
Development of a tentative schedule for work activities.
7.
Assessment of specific tasks.
The prime objectives were stated as follows:
1.
To evaluate the need for reprocessing of thermal reactor (uranium) fuels on an industrial scale and for recycling in thermal reactors, taking account of economic, erivironmental, energy resources, technological and industrial aspects, and the work of the other relevant working groups as it progresses; and 2.
To identify means of minimizing the risk of proliferation in relation to reprocessing of nuclear fuels and to recycling.
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To facilitate the overall work of the group, two subgroups were fonned:
Subgroup A on reprocessing issues a.,d Subgroup 8 on plutonium management and recycling.
Both subgroups will have working sessions in Vienna January 23-27, 1978.
The next meeting of the full working group will be held in Tokyo in May or June 1978.
The scope of work for Working Group 4 was clearly defined to be limited to the reprocessing and recycle of thermal reactor uranium fuels.
Consideration of reprocessing and recycle of fast reactor fuels will be handled by Working Group 5 and consideration of other fuel cycles such as thorium will be handled in Working Group 8.
A meeting of the U.S. Support Group for Working Group 4 was' held in Washington on December 22 to review U.S. responses to the questionnaire on national programs and U.S. inputs to baseline models.
In addition, the working group co-chairmen (U.K. and Japan) plan meetings in Washington on January 10-12, 1978, and H. Lowenberg, NMSS, has been requested to carticipate, along with other U.S. members.
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.I F.
Working' Group 5 -- Fast Breeders The first full meeting of this group took place in Vienna on December 8 and 9.
The U.S. delegation was led by R. Staker, DOE.
Representatives of DOS, ACDA, and Argonne National Laboratory, as well as other DOE staff, were also on the delegation.
The most noteworthy occurrence at the meeting was the resistance by Frar ce to any consideration by the working group of thorium-cycle breeders.
They insisted that the working group ought to cunfine itself exclusively to uranium-plutonium breeders, leaving the thorium cycle to Working Group 8.
The U.S. was finally able to arrange a compromise involving the establishment of a subgroup on the thorium-cycle breeder, to be headed by the FRG and to report both to Working Group 5 and to Working Group 8.
In all, four sub-groups were established in Working Group 5 as follows:
Sub-Group 1, headed by the U.S.S.R., on "the role of the breeder reactor taking into account natural resources and diffe, rent classes of countries."
Sub-Group 2, headed by Belgium, on the uranium-plutonium fuel cycle for breeders, including its proliferation resistance.
-6 Sub-Group 3', headed by the FRG, on alternate fuel cycles for breeders, including their proliferation 1
resistance.
Sub-Group 4, headed by Italy, on institutional, legal, N
administrative, environmental and safeguards implica-tions of fast breeders.
(To include a discussion of multinational fuel cycle centers.)
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G.
Working Group 6 -- Spent Fuel Management n[
The first full meeting of this working group was held in Vienna on December 7-9.
The U.S. delegation was headed g
by C. Heath, 00E.
J. Martin, NMSS, represented NRC.
J. Boright, DOS, H. Williams, ACDA, and D. Reardon, DOE, were also on the delegation.
The working group confirmed two objectives:
l To analyze technical, economic and environmental aspects of storing spent fuel after discharge from the reactor and up ta the time it is either reprocessed i
or sent to final disposai sites.
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To analyze legal, institutional, nonproliferation and licensing aspects related to s;orage strategies, in order to ensure schemes to minimize diversion and environmental risks.
C. Heath of the U.S. delegation volunteered the services 4'
of the Boeing Company, DOE's principal spent fuel study contractor, to receive from INFCE participants responses to a Working Group 6 questionnaire on spent fuel storage needs and capacities, and to collate them for subsequent consideration by the group as a whole.
The reaction to this, offer was quite negative and the working group agreed instead to nave the responses submitted to designated contacts of the co-lead countries (Argentina and Spain) and processed by the working group, possibly through the facilities of the IAEA.
(However, Heath believes it likely that the U.S. offer cf support through the use 6f the Boeing capability raay be accepted at a later date when the extent of the work is realized.)
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- The working group also agreed that each country would submit a bibliography of work already performed in areas outlined in the program of work and a description of additional work I
currently under way.
This information is to be submitted i
through the Argentine mission by January 1978.
Each country ;
was also asked to identify areas in which they would be j
willing to perform specific work.
After this information is received, the working group will reconvene in March 1978 to allocate specific work responsibilities.
A meeting of the.U.S. Support Group for Working Group 6 f
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will be convened in the near future to review the results 1
of the intnrnational working group meeting and to plan the P
preparation of materials to be submitted to the Argentine j.
mission in January.
H.
Working Group 7 -- Waste Management and Disposal 3
The first full meeting of this working group was held in l
Vienna November 22-23, 1977, as reported in SECY-77-566A.
L The meeting was concerned with organizational matters, the including consideration of the terms of reference for working group,,a discussion of the possible studies and analyses each country might contribute, and a division of the tasks to be undertaken in the next few months.
The next meeting of Working Group 7 is scheduled for February 15-17 in Vienna.
1.
I.
Working Group 8 -- Advanced Fuel Cycle and Reactor Concepts The first full meeting of this working group, which was discussed briefly in SECY-77-566A, was held in Washington in November. is a copy of the fonnal summary report of that meeting.
The next 'neetino of Working Group 8 is scheduled for the week of January 30, 1978, in Vienna.
J.-
IAEA' Participation in INFCE IAEA Director General Sigvard Eklund met with the INFCE
..c Technical Coordinating Commit. tee during its initial meeting
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i in Vienna, December 12-13.
He reported on the support H
which IAEA would be able to provide to INFCE, in response
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to the request fo'r such assistance made at the INFCE Organizational Conference.
He said that IAEA would provide a secretary to serve the TCC, and would provide scientific secretar,ies, meeting rooms, and general administrative i
support to the TCC and, upon request, to individual working
, groups:and their sub-groups.
An IAEA chart which summarizes INFCE meeting schedules and IAEA's invited participation as of November 29 is attached as Enclosure 2.
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Future Reports j
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-u The current plan is to submit INFCE status reports to
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the Comission on a monthly basis.
The next report
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is scheduled for late January.
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Lee V.
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Executive Director for Operations c,
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Enclosures:
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Sumary Report of First Meeting
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of Working Group 8 gn
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.IAEA~ Schedule of INFCE k.
Activities
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