THE FUTURE OF NUCLEAR ENERGY TO 2030 AND ITS ... - acuns

The Centre for International Governance Innovation
inaugurated in the wake of 9/11, have been useful in
integrating the various activities and in funding them
through a special Nuclear Security Fund (NSF). However,
funding is still insufficient and too many conditions
are attached by donors. The IAEA’s Illicit Trafficking
Database is another useful service, but suffers from
insufficient participation by states.
Finding the Right Balance
between Secrecy and Transparency
Because of the secrecy that surrounds nuclear security
(much of it for understandable reasons), international
transparency is constrained and IAEA involvement less
welcome. The Nuclear Energy Agency recommends a
sensible “need to know” concept with two levels of disclosure:
release of “generic” information on policies and
practices to provide a measure of transparency, while
limiting public release of specific information on facilities,
transportation routes and other technical and operational
details to avoid compromising security. This could
form the basis for rethinking the balance between the
conflicting values of confidentiality and transparency
that may improve global governance instruments in this
field, making peer review, for instance, more feasible.
Fashioning a Universal Nuclear
Security Regime
As in the case of nuclear safety, there needs to be greater
cooperation among the various stakeholders involved in
nuclear security. Industry seems largely content to leave
matters to governments, as it does in the case of nonproliferation
issues. However, a major security incident at a
nuclear power plant would threaten the nuclear revival
in a similar fashion to a major nuclear reactor accident.
In designing new generation reactors, vendors need to
consider security in the same way that they consider
safety, while regulators need to consider how to apply
security regulations to new facilities. New entrants need
to develop security practices and acquire a sustainable
security culture quickly. Cooperation seems axiomatic.
There is a need for a truly international, universal nuclear
security regime that encompasses all interested parties
― international organizations, governments, regulators
and industry. The US/Russia Global Initiative to Combat
Nuclear Terrorism and the World Institute of Nuclear Security
(WINS) are both excellent initiatives that deserve
support from all stakeholders worldwide. Whether they
are the beginnings of such a global regime, or whether it
needs to be constructed afresh, are questions that require
urgent attention.
Select Recommendations
• All states, but especially those seeking nuclear energy
for the first time, should be strongly urged to accede
to the CPPNM and sign and ratify the Amendment
to help bring it into force as soon as possible; a
campaign should be mounted by the IAEA and supportive
states to achieve this.
• The UN Security Council’s 1540 Committee should
adopt objective criteria to identify sectors and countries,
like nuclear security in developing states that
seek nuclear energy, where implementation is a high
priority; it should cooperate more closely with the
IAEA in coordinating assistance to states in this area.
• States should make increased financial contributions
to the regular IAEA budget that funds nuclear security
and to the voluntary Nuclear Security Fund; states’
restrictions on NSF funding should be dropped.
• The April 2010 Nuclear Security Summit should address
the security of the civilian nuclear power sector
and adopt measures specifically targeted at this issue,
including, where appropriate, those outlined above.
• Above all, a true global security community for the
nuclear energy sector needs to be established involving
all stakeholders.
28 cigionline.org