The Voice of Industry
Remarks by
John Ritch
Director General, World Nuclear Association
Statement at the IAEA Special Event aimed at developing
"A New Framework for the Utilization of Nuclear Energy in the 21st Century:
Assurances of Supply and Non-Proliferation"
19 September 2006
The World Nuclear Association, encompassing within its membership most of the enterprises that constitute the global nuclear energy industry, functions as the practical counterpart of the IAEA. Just as the Agency provides a forum for knowledge exchange and the formation of policy at the inter-governmental level, the WNA provides a private-sector forum by which those operationally engaged in all aspects of the nuclear fuel cycle share knowledge and work to develop a coherent industry perspective on key topics related to the production of nuclear energy. Like the IAEA, the WNA serves too as an educator and proponent of the value of nuclear technology.
Today, we are brought together by important initiatives proposing to strengthen the global framework within which the nuclear industry operates. Representing that industry, I wish to affirm that we welcome - and stand ready to cooperate with - the leadership of the Agency's Director General and of key national leaders and governments in a fruitful global conversation aimed at devising means to ensure that the worldwide expansion of nuclear power does not give rise to new dangers of nuclear weapons proliferation.
We aim to contribute constructively to this conversation in the conviction that the work of diplomacy is essential in sustaining a sound framework for the worldwide use of nuclear power and that diplomacy should be informed by direct interaction with those operationally engaged in this invaluable peaceful pursuit.
During the 50 years since this industry began to supply nuclear power, it has matured greatly and so too have the national and international institutions that create the framework within which it operates. The industry and the supporting institutions that provide standards, oversight and regulation constitute a single complex entity. Without the industry, the IAEA would have no need to exist; without the IAEA and the international and national institutions that uphold the Agency's purposes, the nuclear industry could not succeed.
In the 21st Century, the future of this industry will not be simply a matter of commercial interest. Rather, its growth on a massive global scale will be crucial if we are to meet our world's human needs and energize expanding economies without gravely jeopardizing the very environmental conditions that enabled civilization to evolve.
It requires no more than a sober appraisal of the facts - of population and energy trends, of Earth-systems science, and of the anticipated capabilities of various energy technologies - to recognize that civilization's future sustainability will depend heavily on an expansive contribution from nuclear energy. A slow nuclear renaissance will not be sufficient. Under any informed analysis, an accelerated renaissance will be necessary to prevent climate catastrophe.
With so much at stake, the work of perfecting the framework for the peaceful use of nuclear power must hold high priority on the international agenda.
To enable the industry to speak with a considered and coherent voice on this matter, the WNA has established a Working Group comprised of experts representing not just the enrichment function but also all other aspects of the fuel cycle. Over the past year, this WNA Working Group on the Security of the International Fuel Cycle met several times and produced a preliminary report. Copies of this report are available today, and readers will find in it a list of the Working Group's diverse membership, which truly spans the global industry.
The findings offered in this initial effort are not surprising, and the report does not purport to answer the tough questions now at issue.
The report finds first that the market for enrichment services has functioned extremely well in delivering those services where and when needed. It also affirms that the industry would welcome any arrangements made by governments through which the IAEA could provide supply guarantees of such services to countries that lack enrichment facilities - on condition of their clear commitment to NPT obligations. As might be expected, the report recommends that those arrangements be devised so as not to interfere with a well-functioning market. The report notes also that a backup to such IAEA guarantees could be a commitment by certain governments to release government-held stocks of enriched uranium.
What the report does not address is the fundamental question of how additional inter-governmental arrangements might be devised that would serve to ensure that any new enrichment and similarly sensitive facilities are created either under international auspices or are limited to countries with a recognized, highly reliable long-term commitment to NPT compliance. This, of course, is the unanswered question that holds immense complexity and importance.
It is not the role of the WNA to answer that question or even to proffer recommendations. The significance of our Working Group lies in its creation as a manifestation of the industry's readiness to marshal its expertise and a coherent voice as a cooperative interlocutor with governments and this Agency in the diplomatic task that faces them.
This task will surely not be easily accomplished, and this Special Event represents a step forward.
The challenge is to reconcile basic principles of national sovereignty with a larger common benefit, and this reconciliation will require a great deal of creative thought and much bilateral and multilateral exchange. Those with experience in such matters recognize that this kind of diplomatic process can be elaborate and, in truth, tedious. It is always susceptible to the monotonous phenomenon in which formal national position papers, having been laboriously prepared, are simply exchanged by government representatives - like ships passing in the night - with little creative synergy.
This observation is not offered in a spirit of cynicism or pessimism but rather as a preface to a recommendation that the extensive multinational conversation that lies ahead could be facilitated by the new World Nuclear University.
As many here know, the WNU is a partnership in which the IAEA, the NEA, WANO, WNA - comprising the WNU's so-called "Founding Supporters" - cooperate together, and with leading institutions of nuclear learning, in the pursuit of activities designed to enhance nuclear education and leadership for the 21st Century. The WNU partnership is supported by a small multinational secretariat in London. Co-located with the WNA, this WNU Coordinating Centre is composed of nuclear professionals seconded by key governments and nuclear enterprises.
The flagship of the partnership is the WNU Summer Institute, which has achieved two smash-hit successes - the first in Idaho, the second in Stockholm - in educating and inspiring a diverse international group of young nuclear professionals who show promise as future leaders in the world of nuclear science and technology. There is now a network of some 163 former WNU Fellows in 40 countries, and that number will grow. We are looking ahead to a third Summer Institute success in Korea next year and also to holding, soon thereafter, the first alumni gathering of WNU Fellows, which will occur in London in the context of next year's Annual WNA Symposium.
Meanwhile, the WNU project has begun to branch out. Two books by the WNU Press - one entitled "Nuclear English" and the other The WNU Primer on Nuclear Energy in the 21st Century - have become what qualify, in our nuclear world, as best sellers. I recommend them to you. In addition, the WNU partnership has placed into operation this month the new WNU School on Uranium Production. Located in the Czech Republic, it will provide needed training in key professional skills now in short supply.
As you will see at the WNU booth at this week's General Conference, the WNU Coordinating Centre team is also working to develop other educational, idea-generating, and leader-building programmes.
Among these programmes, one is aimed at assisting the global conversation on the topic of today's Special Event. Here, the World Nuclear University's contribution can be to assemble a wide international variety of working-level policy-makers and nuclear experts and to provide for them a non-governmental setting for a candid, non-official exchange of ideas and perspectives on the topic of how best to build combined assurances of nuclear supply and non-proliferation.
In London, the WNU has ready access to magnificent facilities at the venerable Reform Club, and we conceive that a series of off-the-record WNU policy forums - held in this venue and lasting perhaps 2-3 days each - could stimulate progress toward a trans-national meeting of the minds as we work to strengthen the institutional framework for nuclear technology in the 21st Century.
In short, we propose that the WNU can help to build the consensus that could eventually manifest itself in important new agreements under IAEA auspices. My colleagues from London and I will be pleased to hear from those here who may wish to be invited to these policy-oriented WNU forums.
To sum up, the WNA contribution to this Special Event is, first, our affirmation that the industry stands organized and ready to support the leadership of the Agency's Director General and of key national leaders; and, second, our recommendation that the WNU partnership can play a valuable consensus-building role in furthering that purpose.
I commend the Agency's secretariat for their good work in bringing us together this week with an important agenda. The WNA wishes to walk down this road with you. Thank you.