Uranium Stewardship
Note: this paper has been derived from material developed by WNA's Uranium Stewardship Working Group.
Stewardship involves the care and management of a commodity
through its entire life cycle. For a mineral, this cycle
generally encompasses exploration, mining, processing, refining,
fabricating, use, recovery, recycling and disposal.
Stewardship must be an integrated programme of action aimed at
ensuring that all materials, processes, goods and services are
managed throughout the life cycle in a socially and environmentally
responsible manner.
For an enterprise, the concept of Stewardship entails accepting
responsibility for influencing and improving performance in all
aspects of the life cycle, including those beyond its direct
control. When the principle is actively applied, Stewardship
becomes a driver for innovation in the ways we view our businesses
and operate them.
"Eco-efficiency is reached by the
delivery of competitively priced goods and services that satisfy
human needs and bring quality of life, while progressively reducing
ecological impacts and resource intensity throughout the life
cycle, to a level at least in line with the Earth's carrying
capacity".
World Business Council for Sustainable
Development
The Business Case for Stewardship
The key benefits of a well-implemented Stewardship plan are:
- Minimizing opportunities for harm to people and the
environment
- Expanding commercially valuable relationships with other
sectors of the life cycle
- Enhancing the industry's social license to operate, market and
grow
- Lowering consumption of energy, water and other
auxiliaries
- Reduced product waste and increased opportunity for reuse and
recycling
As
a practical matter, it is now well established that efforts to
redesign processes and products to minimize their environmental
impact often results in significant financial savings. In short,
environmental consciousness and profitability can go hand in
hand.
An essential element of Stewardship is the sharing of management
systems and best practices within and among industry sectors. This
inevitably strengthens the efficiency of any
enterprise.
A Stewardship approach means taking a long-term, whole-of-business
view. Leading companies will see Stewardship not as a compliance
issue but as a means to shape their future operational processes,
products, services and relationships.
Uranium stewardship can be defined as a shared programme of
action to enable uranium products to be produced, used and disposed
of in a safe, sustainable and acceptable manner. This means that
the full life cycle of uranium, from cradle-to-grave, is key to
establishing leading industry practice in such sectors of uranium
mining as health, safety and the environment. The "social aspects"
such as promoting minimal waste and encouraging recycling are also
areas of attention under Uranium Stewardship.
Continuous
striving is part of the process which leads toward industry best
practice and ethical conduct which in turn underpins the concept of
Uranium Stewardship. In the nuclear sector the full cross-section
of activity from mining through to waste disposal and from the
production of medical applications to the operation of nuclear
power stations is part of the package toward achieving Uranium
Stewardship best practices.
A crucial aspect of Uranium Stewardship is also the engagement
of, and participation by, civil society in the unfolding processes.
The intention is to act out the concept of transparency, or 'walk
the talk' by engaging the public in dialogue, and providing them
with regular updates, to gain trust for the global nuclear fuel
cycle. Stakeholder participation is an important part of the
establishment of best practice.
Principles of Uranium Stewardship
"Sustainability must be the
guiding principle of global development - requiring worldwide
policies that meet the needs and aspirations of the present
generation without compromising the opportunity of future
generations to fulfil their needs and aspirations".
World Nuclear Association: Charter
of Ethics
The
Principles of Uranium Stewardship cascade from the Charter of
Ethics of the World Nuclear Association.
Uranium stewardship is a shared responsibility, through all
sectors of the nuclear fuel cycle, working together in the spirit
of cooperation. Through the Principles, the subscribing members of
this sector commit to:
- Ensure the safe and peaceful use of nuclear
technology
- Act responsibly in the areas that we manage and
control
- Operate ethically with sound corporate
governance
- Uphold fundamental human rights
- Contribute to social and economic development of
the regions where we operate
- Provide responsible sourcing, use and disposition
of uranium and all its byproducts
- Encourage best practices and responsible behaviour
throughout the nuclear fuel cycle
- Improve continually in all areas of our
performance
- Communicate regularly progress on the
implementation of the Principles
- Review and update these Principles as
necessary
Uranium Stewardship and Sustainable Development
Uranium
Stewardship is one pillar that supports the overarching concept of
Sustainable Development. Its role is to ensure that business
management focuses simultaneously on economic development;
environmental impact and the fulfillment of social
responsibilities. For an enterprise accepting the goal and duties
of Stewardship, these three objectives become "triple bottom line
accountability". To pursue these objectives effectively, an
enterprise must establish productive working relations with
government ministries, companies within and outside of its
immediate sector, and other stakeholders.
The Business Ethics Challenge
Surrounding
communities have become more educated about what is happening in
mining operations, and are increasingly better informed about the
nature of mining and its associated activities. This awareness has
led to increased pressure on miners with respect to their social
responsibilities at the same time challenging the sector on
operating procedures and even marketing initiatives.
The global uranium market is forecast to grow rapidly in the
short to medium term on the recognition that uranium will play a
valuable role in reducing greenhouse gasses through its part in
nuclear power generation. The consequence of such favourable short
to medium term fundamentals is an expanding uranium market driven
by better prices and a cleaner environment. The business ethics
challenge is to balance financial rewards with environmental and
social responsibility on growing public awareness and
involvement.
Pressure is not restricted to only surrounding communities. It
also comes from downstream users of uranium. This has resulted in
the mining sector having to understand, and track its product,
through the various stages from the raw material right the way
through processing; manufacturing; consumption and even the
recycling, of the original resource. This larger "cradle to grave"
philosophy is known as the nuclear fuel cycle.
Part of the nuclear fuel cycle includes the long-term management
of nuclear waste. This is a challenge that requires the
participation of industry, governments and the community to reach
agreement on matters such as treatment techniques and sites for
repositories.