Remarks by John B Ritch Director General, World Nuclear Association
European Nuclear Council Paris, 28 September 2001
Mr. Chairman, ladies and gentlemen, I appreciate the opportunity to be with this important group today.
I have always found it easy to identify reasons why my official duties should bring me to Paris, and on this occasion I found it particularly easy because I am eager to tell you about the World Nuclear Association, our aims, and our intent to be a valuable partner to all of you in a new century where nuclear technology will play an indispensable role in meeting the global imperative of strong and sustainable development.
As you know, our predecessor organisation was the Uranium Institute. In its subtitle, the UI was called the International Association for Nuclear Energy. When I left Vienna last January , after seven years as American ambassador to the UN agencies there , and became head of this organisation, I took it as my primary task to take the UI's subtitle and give it real meaning.
The first step, which our members voted to approve less than five months ago, was to change our name to state even more explicitly the role we seek to perform. Our aim now is to fulfill the meaning of our simple but ambitious name , World Nuclear Association. That is my mission and will remain so in days ahead.
Now, the very good question is: In an international nuclear community that is already teeming with an abundance of organisations, where does ours fit in? I believe I have a clear-cut answer. It relates to the old phrase "if it didn't exist, we'd need to create it." We believe we are building something that needs to exist , for the industry's benefit and for the world's.
There are in the world today two great world organisations in the nuclear field.
The first is the International Atomic Energy Agency, the inter-governmental organisation that essentially sets the rules of the game for nuclear commerce , by promulgating safety standards, by operating the global safeguards system, and also by acting in implicit conjunction with the inter-governmental Nuclear Suppliers Group, which establishes guidelines governing trade in nuclear technology and material. The IAEA does not have a major commercial or promotional role except insofar as it develops and disseminates nuclear applications and investigates new possibilities in nuclear power production.
The second great world organisation is WANO, the World Association of Nuclear Operators, which is only 12 years old but has became a major global instrument in promoting operational safety at all of the world's nuclear power reactors. WANO does this through a global system of technical exchange and operational peer review. WANO exists in the private sector but, like the IAEA, is not a commercial or promotional organisation. Rather, it conducts its affairs quietly and confidentially with the single overarching objective of maximizing nuclear safety.
Both of these organizations are indispensable. We are building the World Nuclear Association with the aim of taking a place along side the IAEA and WANO by performing a third valuable role on a world scale.
We are the world association of the private sector companies that actually perform the various roles that comprise the whole nuclear fuel cycle , including not only nuclear power generation but also mining, conversion, enrichment, fuel fabrication, plant manufacture, transport and the safe disposition of spent fuel.
The WNA also includes government agencies , from those countries where these roles are performed by government rather than by the private sector.
The WNA serves its Members by facilitating their interaction on matters of commerce, technology and policy, and by promoting wider public understanding of nuclear technology. This dual role can be stated as follows:
Our goal today is to do these two jobs with ever growing effectiveness and on a full global plane.
Our premises are straightforward. I will articulate them without the normal caveats used by industry leaders who, for understandable reasons, often wish to avoid seeming too apocalyptic or too ambitious in intent:
I am keenly aware of the daily commercial and political practicalities that absorb , and place enormous pressures on , the people in this room, and that against that backdrop, this vision may seem excessive and even grandiose. Those directly involved in the work of the industry clearly have immediate and pressing tasks at hand:
This list could go on throughout a nuclear world that extends into China, India, Korea, and Japan , and even further into countries like Italy, Indonesia, and Vietnam where nuclear power is not currently being produced but where it could provide enormous future benefit. In these and many other countries, there is a full diversity of challenges relating to economic and political feasibility facing all those who hope to promote an expansive nuclear future.
These diverse challenges are immensely difficult and must be met if progress is to be made. But they should not be allowed to obscure the even larger , far larger , possibilities that may await this global industry on the not too distant horizon. If we can achieve this range of short-term objectives , holding fast where nuclear has a strong foothold and advancing forward on various fronts , we may find that the world of five to ten years from now has become a very different place indeed:
I believe that this vision is more realistic than grandiose. It is our goal at the World Nuclear Association both to hasten the arrival of that world and to begin to prepare for its arrival.
As an organization, our practical goals are not as grand as our vision of this industry's future.
First, we are trying to build membership. When I arrived in January, my organization had no members outside the OECD world and was shrinking, primarily through consolidation in the industry. Now we are growing.
In recent months, in addition to new members from within the OECD world, we have new members from countries not before represented , Bulgaria, India, Ukraine, Iran, South Africa, and Morocco , and we are now expecting applications in the coming months from organizations in such countries as Brazil, Mexico, Egypt, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, and Pakistan. We are focusing particular effort on achieving the participation of a full range of organizations from Russia, China and India.
During the WNA's Annual Symposium in London 3 weeks ago, I had very promising talks with First Deputy Minister Ivanov of Russia's Minatom regarding the membership of wide array of Russian organizations. Last week in Vienna, I met on the same subject with the head of China's Atomic Energy Authority. Next week I will be in India as a guest of the head of that country's Atomic Energy program, again to discuss wide-ranging WNA membership.
Within a year or 18 months, we want our membership to include companies and government agencies from every country in the world that is either producing nuclear power or considering do so.
Our goal in this membership drive is to build a global nuclear community , or, more accurately, to consolidate a potential community that exists already in a greatly disaggregated form. Our purpose in trying to make this community more real and more active is two-fold:
A second organizational aim for the WNA is to continue to build certain in-house capabilities. We are not engaged in empire building, nor do we wish to compete with other organizations that have national or regional responsibilities. But our staff is not yet equipped with all of the professional capabilities I would like to see us place at the service of our global membership.
For example, I would like us to have world-class expertise on several subjects of topical concern such as waste disposal and national and international emissions trading.
Perhaps even more important, I would like to see us in a position to monitor closely all of the major media , electronic and print , on the international scene, and to engage with them both pro-actively on behalf of the industry's broader vision and also correctively , so that no mistake goes without a response, either an educational phone call or a public rebuttal.
I myself have a great deal of experience in interacting with reporters , to fairly good effect , but right now, in truth, I just don't have the time to do it. We have had some impact already on the international media scene, but I am eager to be more active because in the world of advocacy, I believe we can help fill a great global void.
I fully recognize and appreciate the efforts of companies and the various national associations and forums in the struggle to achieve factual reporting. But far too much misinformation continues to flow through the major news arteries of the world.
Unlike the other world organizations I mentioned , the IAEA and WANO , the World Nuclear Association is, inter alia, an advocacy organization. Far from being constrained like the IAEA to conduct our affairs according to the principle of the lowest common denominator or from adopting an intentionally low silhouette like WANO, we are for nuclear energy and we are proud of it.
We are ready , indeed eager , to combat the silly dogmas of many environmentalists and the sheer hypocrisy of certain governments that refuse to see the indispensable value of nuclear energy. We are quite uninhibited in challenging them and taking them to task for espousing positions that represent a dangerous combination of ignorance, psychological denial, and moral exhibitionism.
Our philosophy is quite simple. We want to spread the truth about nuclear technology, and we aim to do with a confidence that the battle for understanding , among citizens, journalists and policymakers , can gradually be won.
It is for this reason that we placed early priority on establishing a World Nuclear Association Charter of Ethics , a strong declaration of the principles and extensive international standards and laws that should make this one of the world's most respected industries rather than one of its pariahs. Already, we are using this Charter of Ethics to good effect in an effort to challenge some of the so-called Ethical Investment categorizations propounded by the financial community , lists that have heretofore taken it as an unchallenged "given" that nuclear investments should be deemed unethical.
It is for this reason, too, that I have placed a high priority on establishing a website that we believe is becoming the world's best source of comprehensive, reliable, and accessible information on the global nuclear industry and the issues that surround it. Because I think we are near that goal already, I thought I would take just a few moments to show you what we have done that front.
I have no illusions that a website in itself can win the struggle for public support. But a strong website can be a valuable resource, and a source of prestige and influence.
The WNA website provides not only information on who we are and news of the latest developments in the industry. It also provides a wealth of in-depth information and educational papers covering every facet of the nuclear industry.
Here you see what we call our "traditional" home page. It has a typical web format, which is useful for attracting search engines and convenient for the no-nonsense person who's looking for quick and simple access to information.
But what we aim to convey is not just information. We also want to convey, by style and by graphics, the aura and feeling that we believe should surround nuclear energy , a sense of the modern, of the magic of this technology, of the future, of the fact that this industry is prepared to take the world into that future.
That is why we have established a second home page that involves multimedia and that we call, with our tongue slightly in our cheek, our "cosmic" home page. It leads to the same information with a little more pizzazz.
Our basic premise is that the facts speak for themselves. But we are certainly looking for ways to help those facts speak clearly and persuasively, and to this end our website has a new feature.
Some of you saw at our Annual Symposium a new feature on our website called the AutoEssay. Like much that we do, the AutoEssay is based on a belief that most people can be educated. It is designed to throw a lot of thought-provoking facts at a reader in a very short time , in hope of piercing some myths and stimulating an interest to learn more.
The content constitutes the answer to a question I asked myself over a period of many months: "Just what is the essential argument for nuclear energy, What is the briefest, most persuasive sequence of facts and logic that might make an impression on an intelligent person with an open mind who wants to know more?"
The AutoEssay is one answer to that question. There are many people of that description , a number of them friends of mine who are journalists , and I was looking for a quick and effective tool through which to challenge them intellectually. The AutoEssay lasts only 12 minutes if played automatically. It is also possible to click through manually, at one's own speed.
(View AutoEssay.)
I emphasize that this is a work in progress and always will be. But we have given it some early road tests with encouraging results. As I said, we have no illusions that any such presentation can work wonders. But we do think it can be a valuable educational tool.
Let me close by emphasizing a distinction that was implicit in my earlier remarks. The World Nuclear Association has a very broad and ambitious vision. But we hold that vision not for ourselves as an organization , but on behalf of this industry.
At the secretariat level, we have no aspiration to grow into a large institution, although I do hope we will be able to enhance some of the professional capabilities we make available to our members.
Where I believe we can be strong is through building a wide-ranging and engaged membership, which has developed into a true global nuclear community and has gained the confidence in outlook that this valuable industry should have.
It was in this spirit during the WNA Symposium 3 weeks ago that a large group of industry CEO's , after a special meeting where they focused on the current state of play in the Kyoto process , decided to ask the WNA Secretariat to help organize their efforts to make an impact on the future negotiations.
They asked us to do this not because the WNA itself can influence the Kyoto process. Quite the contrary, these talks are being shaped primarily in the capitals of the key parties, where national positions are developed and national delegations are appointed. Heretofore, these delegations , even from many pro-nuclear countries , have been so overloaded with anti-nuclear voices that, by the time the negotiations actually convened, the outcome was nearly a foregone conclusion.
What our CEO's recognized is that they must make their voices heard in capitals, where they have far more influence than any international trade association could ever have. What they asked us to do is to monitor the negotiations, discover facts, share information, develop arguments and make recommendations for their individual and collective action. This we are pleased to do. This is just an example of the WNA's aim - and availability - to help the nuclear industry develop a stronger transnational unity of thought and action.
To sum up, we ourselves do not intend to become a big-budget enterprise. Rather, we aim to remain small and cost-effective. But we do have a strong ambition to serve this industry on a transnational level: facilitating commercial cooperation among its many and diverse participants and acting wherever possible to advance understanding , among journalists, policymakers, and ordinary citizens , of its enormous economic and environmental value.
Our goal is help build and promote an industry that we our 21 st century world must soon come to see not as an outcast but as an indispensable source of clean, reliable, and affordable energy for a modern, civilized society.