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Global Nuclear Energy Partnership: Prospects for 2007

A CNP Conversation with Dr. Victor Reis

January 10, 2007

Between the threat of nuclear proliferation and the worsening reality of global warming, how the world manages nuclear power safely is a major issue. Addressing the lunchtime audience at CNP was Dr. Victor Reis, currently senior advisor to the Secretary of Energy and formerly assistant secretary of energy for defense programs under President Clinton. Dr. Reis discussed the status of the administration's proposed Global Nuclear Energy Partnership (GNEP).

The goals of the GNEP program are to increase nuclear power generation, to decrease the amount of radioactive waste and to reduce the risk of proliferation posed by expanding the number of nuclear generators. The program was launched by President Bush in February 2006.

The program, if implemented, would create a nuclear fuel leasing facility managed by those states that already possess a full nuclear fuel cycle capability. Processing states would lease fuel to 'reactor' states, returning spent fuel to the processing states for re-processing. Such a program was first proposed by President Eisenhower in the 1950s, in the Atoms For Peace program. The Soviet Union used a similar system to manage nuclear fuel within the Soviet Bloc.

Major questions remain, however, and Congress has yet to fully authorize the program. Questions include the ultimate destination of the remaining nuclear waste, the physical security of the leasing cycle and the possibility that GNEP could become a 'nuclear OPEC.'

There does appear to be substantial interest in the program. The U.S. has established action plans with both the Russian and Japanese governments and 28 nations participated in a recent GNEP workshop in Vienna. Industry interest in the program is strong. DOE received 18 responses to the initial GNEP request for proposals.

This program was made possible by the MacArthur Foundation's Nuclear Security Study Group grant to CNP.