Stichting Laka: Documentatie- en onderzoekscentrum kernenergie De Laka-bibliotheek The Laka-library Dit is een pdf van één van de publicaties in This is a PDF from one of the publications de bibliotheek van Stichting Laka, het in from the library of the Laka Foundation; the Amsterdam gevestigde documentatie- en Amsterdam-based documentation and onderzoekscentrum kernenergie. research centre on nuclear energy. Laka heeft een bibliotheek met ongeveer The Laka library consists of about 8,000 8000 boeken (waarvan een gedeelte dus ook books (of which a part is available as PDF), als pdf), duizenden kranten- en tijdschriften- thousands of newspaper clippings, hundreds artikelen, honderden tijdschriftentitels, of magazines, posters, video's and other posters, video’s en ander beeldmateriaal. material. Laka digitaliseert (oude) tijdschriften en Laka digitizes books and magazines from the boeken uit de internationale antikernenergie- international movement against nuclear beweging. power. De catalogus van de Laka-bibliotheek staat The catalogue of the Laka-library can be op onze site. De collectie bevat een grote found at our website. The collection also verzameling gedigitaliseerde tijdschriften uit contains a large number of digitized de Nederlandse antikernenergie-beweging en magazines from the Dutch anti-nuclear power een verzameling video's. movement and a video-section. Laka speelt met oa. haar informatie- Laka plays with, amongst others things, its voorziening een belangrijke rol in de information services, an important role in the Nederlandse anti-kernenergiebeweging. Dutch anti-nuclear movement. Appreciate our work? Feel free to make a small donation. Thank you. www.laka.org | [email protected] | Ketelhuisplein 43, 1054 RD Amsterdam | 020-6168294 Plutonium for Energy? Explaining the Glo1bal Decline of MOX A Policy Research Project of the LBJ School ojf Public Affairs University of 'Texas at Austin dNl� NUCLEAR9 PIROLIFERATION�· PREVENT rN PROJECT � th,· llmv•:r'''iof lc••• •• t\u"'" Edited by Alan J. Kuperman Copyright © 2018, by Alan J. Kuperman First Edition: October 2018 This publication is Open Access under the terms of the Creative Commons AttributionNonCommerciai-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0), which permits use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided that the publication i:s properly cited, the use is non-commercial, and no modifications or adaptations are made. Book design by Alan J. Kuperman, based on concepts by Derek Murphy of Creativindie Design. Cover design by Alan J. Kuperman. Cover photo © Greenpeace I Fotopress, used under license. Library of Congress Control Number: 2018912516 ISBN-10: 1-7329077-0-6 ISBN-13: 978>-1-7329077 -0-6 Contents Acknowledgements iv 1 Recycling Plutonium: What Went Wrong? Alan J. Kuperman 2 MOX in Belgium: Engineering Success but Politico- Economic Failure 24 Valentina Bonello 3 MOX in France: Reassessment as Foreign Customers Fade 51 Kingsley Burns 4 MOX in the UK: Innovation bUJt Troubled Production 96 W. Neal Mann 5 MOX in Japan: Ambitious Plans Derailed 146 Hina Acharya 6 MOX in Germany: Reprocessimg Spurs Opposition to Nuclear Energy 180 Kelli Kennedy 7 MOX in Switzerland: Explaining an Uneconomic Fuel Choice 202 Mu Kwan (Harry) Kim and Alan Jl. Kuperman 8 MOX in the Netherlands: Plutonium as a Liability 228 Alan J. Kuperman Works Cited 255 Contnbutors 291 1 Recycling Plutonium: What Went Wrong? Alan J. Kuperman Th is introductory chapter summarizes the findings of our book, the first comprehensive global study of "plutonium for energy" - using mixed­ oxide (MOX) fuel in thermal nuclearpower reactors that traditionally had used uranium fuel Plutonium, a man-made element that can be obtained by reprocessing used nuclear fu el, is controversali for three reasons: it causes cancer, may be used in nuclear weapons, and is vety expensive to purify and manufacture into fu el Our team conducted research in all seven countries that have engaged in the commercali production or use of thermal MOX Belgium, Fran a� Germany, Japan, the Netherlands, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. We fo und an in dustty in rapid decline, as five of the seven countries already had decided to phase out commercali MOX activities. This retreat is not due to the fuel's early performance problems, which hav�1 been overcome, but to plutonium's in herent dangers. Because plutonium is toxic, MOX fuel manufacturers fa ced public opposit ion and took extraord in ary precautions that in creased costs and reduced output Five of l'he world's six commercali production fa cilities for thermal MOX fuel have closed prematurely after underperform in g. The price of thermal MOX fuel, in the six countresi that have used it commercally,i has bE?en three to nine times higher than traditional uranium fuel Due to environmental and proliferation concerns, plutonium fuel has proved politically controversali in fo ur countries - Germany, Japan, Belgium, and Switz.e:rland - which halted some or allMOX activities whilepermitting nuclear energy to continueat the time. Security is also a major concern, as each delivety of freshMOX fuel contains enough plutonium for dozens of nuclear we apons,· yet reador operators have not significantly bolstered physical protection, and the shipments are susceptible to terrorist attack. Ironically, plutonium fuel orignali ly was viewed as vital to the nuclear in dus tty, but it instead has helped underm in e the economics, security, and popularity of nuclear power. Th is chapter concludes with lessons for countries that are engaged in, or contemplating the recycling ofplutonium for nuclear energy. , Acknowledgements Major funding for this project wa1s provided by a grant from the John D. and Catherine T. MacAnthur Foundation to the Nuclear Proliferation Prevention Project (1\IPPP). It enabled our authors to conduct research in all seven wuntries that have engaged in commercial MOX fuel for thermal! nuclear power reactors, and to present their findings internationally. The NPPP is grateful to the Foundation's Emma Belcher and Theo Kalionzes for their sustained guidance and support. The Foundation encouraged publication of this project's findings in open-acoess format, which it is hoped will expedite and maximize their impac:t. This book emerged from a "Policy Research Project" (PRP) at the LBJ School of Public Affairs, University of Texas at Austin. PRPs are a signature feature of the LBJ School, in which graduate students work with faculty for a year on ex1ternally funded research. Crucial administrative support was provided by the LBJ School staff, especially Danielle Kahikina. The University's Dolph Briscoe Center for American History hosts the archives of the Nuclea r Control Institute, which proved an invaluable resource. Several international experts provided important advice as we designed our research, including Mycle Schneider, Frank von Hippel, Shaun Burnie, and Masa Takubo. The initial literature review was conducted by the NPPP's research assistant, Joel Dishman, and the project website (www.Pu4Energy.com) was designed by Yeo-Ri Kim. The book's layout was inspired by Derek Murphy of Creativindie Design. Above all, the authors are 'grateful to the dozens of current and retired foreign officials - frorn government, industry, utilities, regulatory agencies, academia, thi 1n k-tanks, and non-governmental organizations - who volunteered their time to educate us on this important topic. We also deeply appreciate the many external reviewers who provided extensive feedback on our draft chapters. The NPPP is neither pro- nor anti-nuclear power. We do hope this book provides insight into how to produce energy safely, securely, and affordably. Recycling Plutonium I 3 2017, so irradiation should end in 2020. The Netherlands plans to load its last MOX fuel assembly in 2026 and remove it four years later. Except in the last case, commercial MOX activities were reduced prior to any decision to phase out nuclear power. This track- record leaves only two countries that still plan to continue commercial MOX for thermal re!actors - France and Japan - and their programs too face financial and political challenges. Figure 1 Seven Countries Involved in Commercial MOX for Thermal Reactors Commercial MOX Experience flbricaledand UsedMOX Fabncaled MOX UsedMOX Source: Veo-Ri Kim. To assess the causes of the overall decline, and the variation in national outcomes, this book examines five aspects of the thermal MOX experience in each country: economics, security, safety/environment, performance, and public acceptance. Some information on these questions had previously been available in public literature but typically was dated and incomplete. In many cases, our researchers obtained key data only by conducting interviews with current and re!tired officials from government, utilities, industry, and non-govNnmental organizations (NGOs) - who provided oral and documentary evidence. After drafting our 21 Kuperman Recycling is typically considered a !good thing. It turns garbage into an asset, thereby reducing the need for both raw material and waste disposal. Yet, recycling plutonium from previously used nuclear fuel to make fresh fuel for nuclear enerogy has proved controversial. This is mainly because plutonium has three big downsides: it can cause cancer, may be used to make nudear weapons, and (largely due to the first two characteristics) is very expensive to purify and fabricate into fuel. Despite these challen9es, seven countries - Belgium, France, Germany, Japan, the Netherlands,