Proliferation%20Issues%20and%20Fuel%20Cycles

1
Proliferation Issues and Fuel Cycles

• Phillip Finck
• Associate Laboratory Director for Nuclear Science
  and Technology
• September 30, 2009

2
On the First Hand

• Nuclear energy is a critical component of an
  integrated greenhouse gas emission solution
• Nuclear energy is again expanding worldwide
• More and different types of materials in more
  locations
• New technologies and new strategies in more
  locations
• Recent examples demonstrate the need for caution

3
On the Other Hand

• President Obama has stated that while we must
  harness the power of nuclear energy on behalf of
  our efforts to combat climate change, and to
  advance opportunity for all people nuclear
  terrorism is the most immediate and extreme
  threat to global security. (Prague, April 5,
  2009).
• No technical silver bullet
• Risk is very hard (maybe impossible) to measure,
  or even compare for a single technology or an
  integrated system
• Current international regimes are strong but
  limited

4
Lessons Learned

• The old approach (i.e., technology push, a
  posteriori fixes) probably wont be sufficient

Need to protect materials, facilities, sensitive
technologies, and expertise through integrated
development of fuel cycle options.
5
Some Technical Possibilities

• Safeguards by Design
• More accurate, faster, and better integrated
  measurement techniques
• Co-location of facilities
• Unseparated materials
• Very long-lived fuels (and cores)
• Reinforced international regimes
• Novel international regimes

6
Integrated Program Composed of Four Key Elements
Understanding, limiting and managing risks for
integrated fuel cycle options
Safeguards and Security Technologies and Systems
Nuclear energy technologies and systems
Frameworks and Institutions
Source S. Scott, Los Alamos National
Laboratory (unclassified presentation)