Plutonium disposition supported by Canada - $30 million

["Franta, Jaroslav" <frantaj@AECL.CA>]

Canada to hand Russia $30M for nuclear power 

The Ottawa Citizen

Mon 18 Jun 2001



Canada has decided to support a controversial American-led proposal to

bankroll Russian efforts to dispose of plutonium from its nuclear weapons by

burning it in nuclear reactors. 

Though still officially uncommitted to the program, estimated to cost nearly

$2 billion U.S. over the next 20 years, Prime Minister Jean Chretien is

expected to announce Canada's support at next month's G8 summit of leading

industrial nations plus Russia in Genoa, Italy. 



Canada is expected to commit about $30 million to the program, which will

result in the destruction of 34 tonnes of weapons-grade plutonium each by

Russia and the U.S. as part of a bilateral agreement reached in 1998. 



The U.S. has committed $200 million U.S., France $120 million U.S., the

United Kingdom $105 million U.S. and Japan $33.5 million U.S. 



Germany is opposed to the Russians' preferred choice of converting the

plutonium into mixed oxide (MOX) fuel and burning it in nuclear reactors,

but has committed $100 million U.S. to an alternative disposal method that

immobilizes the plutonium by combining it with other high-level nuclear

wastes and stabilizing it in a ceramic matrix. Italy has not yet publicly

stated its position, but the election last month of Silvio Berlusconi's

right-leaning government makes support of the American request probable. 



Russia has not yet said how it plans to raise money for the new facilities

and modernization program required, but an announcement earlier this week

that it is prepared to provide permanent storage for the world's

ever-growing stockpile of nuclear waste -- for a fee -- provides a clue. 



Foreign Affairs Minister John Manley says Canada fully supports the concept

of rendering weapons-grade plutonium useless for military purposes by using

it to produce energy. 



``It's swords into plough-shares,'' he said in an interview. 



He said Canada supports the MOX variant because it does a better job of

getting rid of the plutonium than does immobilization. 



``That's the whole point of the exercise, that this is for destruction. The

immobilization option is considered less desirable because you don't get rid

of the stuff so it can always be accessed and used. So on balance, the

preference is for destruction.'' 



The U.S. plans to immobilize nine tonnes of weapons-grade plutonium and

convert another 25 tonnes to MOX, while Russia will immobilize one tonne and

burn the other 33 tonnes it has committed to destroy. 



Disarmament groups prefer the immobilization option, arguing that plutonium

can still be extracted from fuel rods that have been burned in reactors. As

well, they have concerns about Russia's ability to burn MOX fuel in its

reactors. 



``None of those reactors in the former Soviet Union countries have been

safety assessed for MOX,'' says Jo Dufay, campaigns director for Greenpeace

Canada. 



Russia prefers the MOX option to immobilization because it provides more

opportunity to produce nuclear energy at a time when industrialized nations

are facing electricity shortfalls. 



Earlier this month, Russia announced it would offer permanent storage for

spent nuclear fuel piling up in countries around the world. Moscow believes

it can earn $21 billion U.S. over the next two decades by accepting up to

20,000 tonnes of nuclear waste from other countries. A key to the Russian

proposal is reserving the option to reprocess the nuclear waste and resell

it as commercial energy if a market develops. 



Greenpeace objects to the Russian plan, claiming that reprocessing and the

building of a fast-breeder reactor, which the U.S. opposes, would generate

more plutonium. 



``It somewhat undermines the purpose,'' says Ms. Dufay. ``All you would have

done is shifted the plutonium out of the military stockpile into the

civilian stockpile, but you've kept it in circulation rather than

immobilizing it. 



``It's absurd that a program intended to decrease the amount of plutonium

and make the world safer actually ends up increasing the amount of

plutonium. It's Alice in Wonderland.'' 





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