«cooperation of the ussr (russia) with foreign … 20 «the laser method of uranium enrichment...

1

Pavel Ptitsyn (TENEX, Russia)

«Cooperation of the USSR (Russia) with foreign

countries as a historical example of the integrated

approach and the responsibility of the Supplier of nuclear

technology & services»

INPRO Dialogue Forum, May 2015

INPRO Dialogue Forum, May 2015 2

«The new is well forgotten old»

Retrospective analysis will:

• eliminate the repetition of past errors,

• identify the underlying causes of the

current problems,

• evaluate the old ideas with modern

achievements in science and technology,

• verify possible solutions for the future.

3

Reasons for retro

Tenerife-Madeira-Barbate-

Gibraltar-Marbella-Malaga

(April 2015, ~ 2000 km in the

ocean under sail)


4

Archives


5

The USSR on the world nuclear market

JSC «Techsnabexport»

• uranium enrichment services,

• delivery of the equipment, rare metals,

isotope products.

The main partners in the 70s-80s:

Western Europe

JSC «Atomstroyexport»

• the construction of power plants on a

turn-key basis,

• complete deliveries of fuel assemblies,

• staff training.

The main partners in the 70s-80s:

COMECON


6

Pricing

The thesis from the archive of TENEX:

«Historically developed Western countries had proposed to export their

supplies and services in the field of atomic energy and nuclear fuel cycle

before the others. In this regard, for pricing Soviet organizations must

focus on world markets controlled by the West».


7

Prices for reprocessing

16, 85

$/kg - price for reprocessing, which was

formed and published by the United

States Atomic Energy Commission

(AEC) on the «cover expenses» method

dated 1962.

40 early 70s

120-140 1975

300-350 (550-600 vitrification) 1978

750 1981

from 1100 (depending on services) 80s

United Reprocessors

GmbH

Deutsche Gesellschaft für

Wiederaufarbeitung von

Kernbrennstoffen mbH

(DWK)


8

The ideological divide

Reprocessing Direct disposal

Long-term storage with «postponed decision»


9

Reprocessing as the hit in charts

The Customer is responsible for:

• capital costs,

• operating costs (in proportion),

• additional bonus to the Reprocessor,

• separate payment for storage/treatment with

regenerated products,

• separate payment for the storage of RW,

• separate payment for transportation through third

companies,

• penalties for violations of the terms

+ obligations on the State level !

The Customer:

• does not involved in property,

• does not get access to

technology/training,

• practically does not participate

in management,

• «stay alone» with final disposal

RW and utilization of

regenerated products.

Order

~ 7200 tHm

Order

~ 4000 tHm


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BE to FE

+ active appeals to add the line of reprocessing services some orders in the front

end, especially on the enrichment market…

full services from the mining of uranium concentrate to reprocessing

and MOX.


http://www.google.com/url?url=http://www.aucoin2larue.fr/pro-eurodif-19100-brive-correze-limousin-commerces-sorties-services_5460.html&rct=j&frm=1&q=&esrc=s&sa=U&ei=89FAVbT3A4KrsQGB7YHYAw&ved=0CBwQ9QEwAw&usg=AFQjCNEDNWB_p09UoCSF4WaU2bU4XtPVtQ

http://www.next-up.org/images/Tricastin_AREVA_EURODIF.jpg

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The underground facility at Yucca

Mountain – for disposal of SF

exclusively of national origin.

On the external market US-partner

countries are obliged to stay on

reprocessing ban without a prior

agreement with the United States

concerning any actions with nuclear

material, technology or equipment of

the American code of obligations.

US and US-partners


12

BE in 80s

Regatta in WEurope...

Calm in the US.


Document structure and procedures of the COMECON

Bohunice NPP

Kozloduy NPP

Paks NPP Loviisa NPP

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Dukovany NPP


Comparison of basic conditions for cooperation

in creating nuclear units

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The Technology Supplier:

• covers CAPEX through a long-term loan of 20-25

years at low interest,

• covers advanced payments for the first load of

nuclear fuel,

• provides the Customer with integrated approach:

NPP, front-end, SNF,

• train personnel,

• ensures fulfillment of obligations on nuclear

security,

• ensures fulfillment of obligations under the NPT.

The Customer:

• gets unit in the own property,

• gets the access to

technology/training,

• has own management,

• has no problems with the NFC.

19 NPPs

30


Comparing of the structure of prices for VVER and PWR fuel

15 INPRO Dialogue Forum, May 2015

Geography and scope of SNF shipments

in Soviet and post-Soviet period

ГДР ЧССР

(Словакия)

Финляндия Венгрия Болгария Украина Армения

290

100

346231

1373

392287


Transportation of spent fuel

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Over the past thirty years of activity of the Russian

enterprises on the market, there has not been a single case

of any unforeseen situations that threaten a nuclear

incident.


Responsibility of the Technology Supplier

18

The Soviet approach for the development of international

cooperation in the field of AE was and remains the only

historical example of real and full responsibility of the

Technology Supplier.


Collapse of the USSR and the COMECON

19

All the obstacles (political, institutional and financial) appeared at the

stage of global political change.


Forecasting

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«The laser method of uranium enrichment technology (ALVIS) will

allow DOE to provide uranium enrichment services at costs ~ $60/SWU

in 2000»

Deputy Assistant Secretary of the DOE Mr John R. Longenecker

(«Nuclear fuel», 23/11/1986).

«The IAEA's programme to establish international and

regional fuel centers of international stores of plutonium

and spent fuel deserves the attention».

(newspaper «PRAVDA», 11/08/1980).


FE & BE have the same genealogy from national military programm, so:

• practical scientific and technological development was initiated, and in many

ways still adapted in line with military technology aimed primarily at

extraction of high pure special fissile materials, rather than search for

commercially viable or environmentally defensible decisions;

• there are roughly similar and interrelated with FE and reactor stages a range

of participants (national authorities, commercial organizations, scientific

institutions, etc);

• examples of practical cycling and the transfer of NM of various applications

blur the boundaries between FE and BE.

Front End & Back End


• a much greater degree of Government Regulation: concepts and approaches

in the field of the treatment of spent fuel and radioactive waste are determined

at the national level by States and not by energy companies;

• while much of the States so far undecided what will be the final method of

SNF treatment (disposal/recycling) it is hard to form the optimum composition

of the products and services in BE for the relevant markets;

• there is a specific domination of the non-proliferation regime of NM

(primarily of plutonium) over economic or technological solutions;

Basic differences FE and BE


• the use of the materials, recovered from the recycling of SNF, is not clear in

the near future as the backbone of the world AE make up units with reactors on

thermal neutrons, mostly using available natural uranium;

• there is no strict time limits for solving the problem of the final handling of

spent fuel and radioactive waste: BE comes after the profit stage from the sale

of electricity.

Basic differences FE and BE


• the lack of a single market, with its special signs: no exchange of commercial

information via the quotes of products and services, producers of goods and

services in BE for the most part focused on the domestic market, the proportion

of international cooperation is seriously below in comparison to the initial phase

of NFC;

• the capital cost of the creation of industrial capacities in BE or

decommissioning of NPPs is comparable with the cost of building new power

plants that could be secured only by TNCs or natural state monopolies even if

the functioning of special funds is formed;

• the lack of a common and easily understood methodology for calculating the

costs of BE (discounting in the horizon for future periods, uranium-plutonium

credits, a different relationship to the decommissioning of units, hidden form of

subsidies and so on), the result is a diversity and divergence of comparative

economic evaluations on alternative approaches to handling spent fuel, RW and

decommissioning totally.

Features of BE Economics


• the lack of a unified approach and a uniform technological policy;

• the current emphasis on reducing (minimization) RW more than to extract

nuclear materials;

• country initiatives for improvement/modernization of existing technologies

(or individual elements of the technology) without their radical revision;

• the loss of skilled human resources and scientific schools;

• the emergence of technological problems, even in the case of intermediate

decisions (for example, wet spent fuel storage).

Features of BE Technologies


• formed the postulate of the responsibility of the State as a subject of rights

without corresponding return obligations of supra-national structures (f.ex,

Joint Convention on the Safety of Spent Fuel Management and on the Safety of

Radioactive Waste Management, Council Directive 2011/70/Euroatom);

• the ambiguity of approach when BE decisions often have to be passed

through a system of special authorities or funds (existing on contributions from

operating organizations!), that is legally independent and does not have the

intention for the early practical solutions for spent fuel and radioactive waste;

Features of BE legislation


• the heterogeneity of the requirements of domestic legislation of individual

countries in terms of international cooperation in the field of BE and the lack of

a complete consolidated legal analysis on the opportunities and limitations for

certain specialized market segments.

As a result, attempts to create a universal approach on the part of individual

participant or the special internal national legislation ended unsuccessfully due

to external legal restrictions.

Features of BE legislation


! The BE as the stage and SNF as a product

have a number of objectively inherent features

that often can be used in different ways.

! The lack of uniform technological policy,

transparent economy and generally accepted

international legal field only exacerbates these

peculiarities and makes them the system

problem.

! As a result, the continued accumulation of

SNF is a potential threat to global security and

has a negative impact on public opinion in

respect of any nuclear technology.


Current trends

• The SNF storage in major nuclear countries is exercised without any

definite plans on the final solution;

• There is an on-going public discussion on correctness of the previously

adopted decisions;

• Updating currently used technologies;

• There are troubles with the construction of large-scale industrial sites for the

SNF management.


The difficulty and even inconsistency of

attempts to resolve such large-scale projects

on a national level.

! Strategy of direct disposal and recycling does not

necessarily have to be competitive.

! Fairness: «Problems should be resolved where

they accumulate». Most of the SF is stored in the

USA and W.Europe (about 80% of the world`s

inventory).

! Accordingly, a regional principle aimed at the

interests of the neighboring countries and their

plans for the development of AE.

! The laws and regulations are not the biblical

doctrines and if the prohibitions and regulations

do not help to overcome the problem, then we

should not try to still adapt practices under them,

but rather to change the legal and institutional

system.

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Scenario 1. The Association of countries around

regional/technology leaders


Scenario 2. Search for strong political motivation.

Convergence IFNEC and INPRO


United States initiated a series of global international program (Generation-IV in 2002, GNEP in 2006, IFNEC), designed to demonstrate the ability to meet the challenges of non-proliferation and disposal of spent fuel and radioactive waste through new innovative nuclear energy system.

Obvious goal is the need to find a long-term and socially-acceptable solution to the

problems of the final stage of the NFC through: (a) the modification of the current

NFC with an existing NPPs on thermal neutrons and/or b) creating new

NES=NPP+NFC

Interstate associations with system

attributes on the format of the

ITER project.

Scenario 3. Creating of specialized organization


http://edwardwechner.files.wordpress.com/2012/09/iter-tokamak.png?w=640&h=607

• work on new forms of involvement of

regenerated materials in a cycle (MOX for

FB, REMIX, etc.),

• regional/technology partnerships in the field

of reprocessing of SF,

• using Soviet experience of complex support

of Customer for NPPs of Russian design

with full NFC services.

Scenario 1 in detail. The place of Russia


With the participation of Russia and the United States under the

auspices of the IAEA the long-term programme of repatriation of

HEU fuel & SF from research reactors of 14 countries was

successfully implemented .

Scenario 2 in detail. SF RR


Not only the list of achievements, but also the analysis

of failures can equally contribute to future decision

problems.

Faults recognition


Relationship innovation

«We have profoundly forgotten everywhere that cash-payment is not the sole

relation of human beings»

Thomas Carlyle «Past and Present»


Relationship innovation

«It expresses as well as anything the salient characteristics of the eastern worldview. It is a non-

confrontational rig, soft, relenting. It absorbs rather than resists. It turns the other cheek, feinting

gently away, while calmly appropriating the forces directed against it. It advances quietly, without

thrash or bang... The contrast with the bar-taut, hard-edged and, until recently, cumbersome rigs

of the West is as good a metaphor as any for the great divide between the eastern and the western

psyche. The modern occidental rig seems to set itself up in opposition to natural forces. It attacks

them, brutally. Its aim is to overcome them rather than to work with them. The principle is to

create ever stronger materials then stress them to the limit in a triumph of myopic engineering

machismo. It is a hotbed of high tension. Every bit of kit is wound up to within a fraction of its

breaking point».


Roger D. Taylor «The art of minimal ocean sailing»

Mentality innovatoin

Possible topics for collaborative investigations:

• the creation of summary statistical reporting and common methodology for

verified economic assessments;

• the description of national systems for the delineation of responsibilities between

the operator, the national authorities and the special fund;

• the establishment of a register of national legislation (with links to key

documents).

• open and informal discussion of the issue in a professional environment;

• recognition of strategic errors;

• feeling a single industry, waiver of competitive mentality;

• using the best practices.

38

The choice of action scenario (!)


Team!

39

The Winners of «The Victory Day Cup».

Regatta «Sea Wind» (May 2015, France)


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