Skip to main content

Bodman on Nuclear Expansion and Nuclear Security

From a speech by Energy Secretary Sam Bodman delivered last week at the Sandia Labs International Security Conference:
The need for expanding nuclear energy production is clear. The International Energy Agency predicts that global demand for energy will rise by about 60 percent over the next 25 years, and that two-thirds of the increase will come from developing nations. Countries like China already have begun building emission-free nuclear plants to help meet future energy needs.

But with broader use of nuclear power comes greater responsibility. The nuclear energy sector’s top priority must always be safety -- avoiding accidents -- and security -- preventing the malicious use of nuclear technology and materials. This is more than a slogan. The concepts approved for Generation IV development are those that optimize safety and proliferation resistance. Proliferation resistance is also a goal of a common Action Plan adopted in 2002 by six U.S. National Laboratories, including our hosts at Sandia.

As we develop tomorrow’s nuclear energy systems, we must continue to address the risks of nuclear technology in use today. One major area of concern is uranium enrichment and reprocessing facilities, which are integral to the commercial nuclear sector… but also can enable their users to make weapons. We know that dangerous regimes, including those with ties to terrorism, seek these capabilities. Yet, judging by what is now known about illicit nuclear purchases by Iran and Libya, these capabilities are far too accessible today. I believe we all can agree that this needs to change.

In addtion, Secretary Bodman announced that the Department of Energy would host a conference in conjunction with the nuclear fuel sector to better coordinate non-proliferation efforts.

Technorati tags: , , , ,

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Fluor Invests in NuScale

You know, it’s kind of sad that no one is willing to invest in nuclear energy anymore. Wait, what? NuScale Power celebrated the news of its company-saving $30 million investment from Fluor Corp. Thursday morning with a press conference in Washington, D.C. Fluor is a design, engineering and construction company involved with some 20 plants in the 70s and 80s, but it has not held interest in a nuclear energy company until now. Fluor, which has deep roots in the nuclear industry, is betting big on small-scale nuclear energy with its NuScale investment. "It's become a serious contender in the last decade or so," John Hopkins, [Fluor’s group president in charge of new ventures], said. And that brings us to NuScale, which had run into some dark days – maybe not as dark as, say, Solyndra, but dire enough : Earlier this year, the Securities Exchange Commission filed an action against NuScale's lead investor, The Michael Kenwood Group. The firm "misap

An Ohio School Board Is Working to Save Nuclear Plants

Ohio faces a decision soon about its two nuclear reactors, Davis-Besse and Perry, and on Wednesday, neighbors of one of those plants issued a cry for help. The reactors’ problem is that the price of electricity they sell on the high-voltage grid is depressed, mostly because of a surplus of natural gas. And the reactors do not get any revenue for the other benefits they provide. Some of those benefits are regional – emissions-free electricity, reliability with months of fuel on-site, and diversity in case of problems or price spikes with gas or coal, state and federal payroll taxes, and national economic stimulus as the plants buy fuel, supplies and services. Some of the benefits are highly localized, including employment and property taxes. One locality is already feeling the pinch: Oak Harbor on Lake Erie, home to Davis-Besse. The town has a middle school in a building that is 106 years old, and an elementary school from the 1950s, and on May 2 was scheduled to have a referendu

Wednesday Update

From NEI’s Japan micro-site: NRC, Industry Concur on Many Post-Fukushima Actions Industry/Regulatory/Political Issues • There is a “great deal of alignment” between the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the industry on initial steps to take at America’s nuclear energy facilities in response to the nuclear accident in Japan, Charles Pardee, the chief operating officer of Exelon Generation Co., said at an agency briefing today. The briefing gave stakeholders an opportunity to discuss staff recommendations for near-term actions the agency may take at U.S. facilities. PowerPoint slides from the meeting are on the NRC website. • The International Atomic Energy Agency board has approved a plan that calls for inspectors to evaluate reactor safety at nuclear energy facilities every three years. Governments may opt out of having their country’s facilities inspected. Also approved were plans to maintain a rapid response team of experts ready to assist facility operators recoverin