Nuclear industry awaits new guidelines

Date: 19/09/1996

By Elizabeth Wise

THE European Commission is expected to approve guidelines for the Union's nuclear energy industry next week aimed at strengthening the sector in the face of political opposition to nuclear power in some EU member states.

“The essential message of 1996 is to allow the nuclear industry to keep its share in the energy balance of the Union,” said a Commission official.

“We need a common code of conduct and principles for all EU member states so that nuclear electricity can remain an option for supply in Europe.”

The non-binding guidelines contained in the Commission's Nuclear Indicative Programme for the Community (PINC) drawn up by the Directorate-General for energy (DGXVII) will be issued at the end of the year, once they have been approved by the full Commission and the Economic and Social Committee.

The nuclear industry has been waiting for the Commission to adopt the PINC since July, but approval has been delayed repeatedly by logistical problems as well as concerns voiced by Commissioners Ritt Bjerregaard (environment), Emma Bonino (consumer affairs), and Franz Fischler (agriculture).

Under the Euratom treaty governing supply of nuclear fuel in the Union, the Commission is required to publish periodic guidelines for the industry. Previous versions appeared in 1966, 1972, 1984 and 1990. An update is needed now, say Commission officials, because “the approach today is totally different”.

In 1990, the most pressing need was to harmonise safety standards to help Europe's industry attain economies of scale and boost exports.

The demand for common standards led the Commission to invite electricity companies using nuclear power to agree common safety rules. It led to a Franco-German joint venture between Framatome and Siemens, who are designing the European pressurised water reactor.

Now the main challenge to the industry is coming from a different direction - in the shape of anti-nuclear lobbies, particularly in Austria, Germany and some Nordic countries. “In some areas of the Union, nuclear energy is not accepted. We need to find at least the minimum principles that can be accepted around the Union,” said one official.

The new draft PINC focuses on the cost of nuclear energy in general and whether nuclear-made electricity is competitive when compared with traditional energy sources. It also examines issues such as waste management, the decommissioning of nuclear plants and the costs associated with both, using data from the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

Such cost studies are designed to point future investment in the industry in the right direction. The PINC suggests that Europe's fuel industry need not invest in further research into enriching uranium ore as enrichment capacity already exceeds current demand, unless the US decides to move to laser techniques.

The Commission proposes that Europe's industry should continue its search for export markets for nuclear-generated power. The industry is already exporting to Russia, Central and Eastern Europe and the US, but officials say “developments will be needed”.

As an aside, the PINC paper will also take note of talks to date with Moscow about the possibility of buying enriched uranium from Russia. Most of the Union's ore comes from subsidiaries of European companies abroad. The Commission is currently working on EU rules for nuclear trade, which could include regulations on enriched and even highly-enriched, bomb-grade uranium.