Nuclear Proliferation and Safeguards:

Appendix Volume II, Part One

June 1977

NTIS order #PB-275843
FOREWORD

This volume contains the appendixes to the report “Nuclear Proliferation

and Safeguards,H

issued by the Office of Technology Assessment in June 1977.

These appendixes are published in two parts; Part One includes appendixes I

through V, and Part Two contains appendixes VI through IX. The appendixes

were prepared for OTA by contractors and consultants, but several have been

revised by OTA as noted. They were commissioned in order to collect and

develop the information needed for the analysis presented in the OTA report.

iii
Office of Technology Assessment

Thomas C.

President

OTA ENERGY ADVISORY COMMITTEE

Milton Katz, Chairman

Director, International Legal Studies, Harvard Law School

Ayers George E. Mueller

and Chairman President and Chairman of the Board

of the Board

Commonwealth Edison Company

Kenneth E. Boulding

Professor of Economics

Institute of Behavioral Science

University of Colorado

Eugene G. Fubini

Fubini Consultants, Ltd.

Levi (J. M.) Leathers

Executive Vice President

Dow Chemical USA

System Development< Corporation

Gerard Piel

Publisher, Scientific American

John F. Redmond, Retired

Shell Oil Company

John C. Sawhill

President

New York University

Chauncey Starr

President, Electric Power

Research Institute

Wassily Leontief

Department of Economics

New York University

OTA Nuclear Proliferation and Safeguards Project Staff

Lionel S. Johns, Energy Program Manager

Alan T. Crane, Project Director

A. Buyrn

Marvin C. Ott

Support Staff

Linda Parker, Joanne Sedor, Lisa Jacobson

iv
NUCLEAR PROLIFERATION AND SAFEGUARDS ADVISORY PANEL

Thomas L. Hughes, Panel Chairman

Carnegie Endowment for International Peace

Frederick S. Carney Herbert Scoville

Southern Methodist University Consultant

Thomas B. Cochran Henry De Wolf Smyth

Natural Resources Defense Council Princeton University

David D. Comey George J. Stathakis

Citizens for a Better Environment General Electric Company

Chester L. Cooper Theodore B. Taylor

Institute for Energy Analysis Princeton University

William A. Higinbotham Alvin M. Weinberg

Brookhaven National Laboratory Institute for Energy Analysis

Leonid Hurwicz Mason Willrich

University of Minnesota University of Virginia

George B. Kistiakowsky Cyrus R. Vance*

Harvard University Simpson, Thatcher & Bartlett

George Quester

Cornell University

● Resigned effective January 1, 1977

v
Acknowledgments

This report was prepared by the Office of Technology Assessment Energy

Program Staff. The staff wishes to acknowledge the assistance and cooperation of

the following contractors and consultants in the collection of information.

Jerry J. Cadwell

Barry M. Casper

Robert Clark

Thomas Cotton

L. Douglas DeNike

John Deutch

Warren H. Donnelly

Richard Garwin

Theodore Greenwood

The Hudson Institute Jack Ruina

Allan Krass Science Applications, Inc.

John R. Lamarsh O. F. Schuette

Barbara G. Levi Benjamin Snavely

Sarah J. Miller Stanford Research Institute

C. Bradley Moore Lorin Stieff

Robert Mullen Alan Westin

John N. O’Brien

The Rand Corporation

Task Force on Nuclear Weapons

J. Carson Mark, Chairman

Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory

Thomas B. Cook

Sandia Laboratories

George B. Kistiakowsky”

Harvard University

*Also a member of the advisory

Robert W. Selden

Lawrence Livermore University

Theodore B. Taylor*

Princeton University

panel.

The following government agencies also provided assistance:

The Arms Control and Disarmament Agency

The Department of Defense

The Department of State

The Energy Research and Development Administration

The European Atomic Energy Community

The International Atomic Energy Agency

The Nuclear Regulatory Commission

vi
TABLE OF CONTENTS

VOLUME II - APPENDIXES

PART ONE

I.

11.

111.

IV.

v.

PART TWO

VI.

VII.

VIII.

Ix.

Incentives/Disincentives

Peaceful Nuclear Explosions

Non-State Adversaries

International Nuclear Industry

Technical Descriptions of Fuel Cycle Facilities and

Evaluation of Diversion Potential

Dedicated Facilities

Purchase and Theft

Description of Safeguards Technology and Procedures

International Controls
Apppendix I

Incentives/Disincentives 
I.

II.

111.

IV.

v.

VI.

VII .

VIII ●

IX.

Incentives/Disincentives

Table of Contents

Major Nth Countries

Iran .

Israel

Brazil

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South Africa

South Korea

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The Federal Republic

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46
MAJOR Nth COUNTRIES

Iran

1. Background —— — —

Iran is a country of 34 million people located to the south of the

USSR, to the west of Pakistan, and to the east of Turkey and Iraq. It is

governed by a hereditary monarch, the Shah, who holds most decisions on

foreign and military policy very closely. There is no legal political

opposition, but leftist guerrilla groups are active.

Apart from the “extractive” industries of oil and natural gas, which

earn the bulk of foreign exchange, the major products of the Iranian

economy are agricultural, including wheat and cotton.

While Iran is still a relatively underdeveloped country, its position

as a prominent oil-exporting member of OPEC has brought it an enormous

windfall of foreign currency holdings since 1973. This sudden currency

inflow has brought about the intriguing problem of how to pass such

prosperity forward, so that it will produce lasting well-being for Iranians

into the next century. While some of this “petrodollar!’ income can be invested

profitably abroad, much of it is to be spent directly on development of

the Iranian economy, including an ambitious program for the generation of

electricity with nuclear reactors. Because of the relatively small infrastructure of trained scientific and engineering personnel in Iran, such

investments will rely heavily on foreign technology and manpower for another

decade or two. Most projects will take the form of “turnkey” packages

purchased from abroad.

The nuclear projects strike some observers

calling for the installation of perhaps twenty

end of the 1980’s, more than doubling existing

as incredibly ambitious,

1000 megawatt reactors by the

electric power capacity in the

country. In some cases, reactors will be installed at locations which at this

moment have no electricity of any kind.

1-1
With memories of a Soviet occupation of northern Iran during and

after World War 11, the Iranian government has felt itself confronted with

a continuing defense and deterrence problem. The insurance against a

Soviet invasion has stemmed in part from American conventional or nuclear

commitments, and more recently has been the justification offered for heavy

Iranian purchases of conventional military equipment. While relations

between Iran and the USSR are currently good, with the USSR purchasing

piped natural gas from Iran, there is still evidence of suspicion about Soviet

intentions on the part of the Shah and his government.

Justification for recent Iranian weapons purchases has also been

based on Iran’s regional politico-military role. Iran’s relations with

Iraq have been characterized by frequent disputes, although currently

relations are improved. Iran has also sought to influence events in the

Persian Gulf and on the Arabian peninsula. In 1971, Iranian troops landed

on two strategically important islands in the Gulf vacated by the British.

Iran has also been involved in combatting rebellions in Oman and other

Gulf states at the request of the local regimes. In the aftermath of the

Indian intervention in East Pakistan, the Shah is reported to have warned

India against any military moves against West Pakistan as well. Whether the

focus is the defense of Iran itself, or the projection of Iranian influence

out into the surrounding region, the Shah has tended to emphasize the

significance of armed forces. Already Iran is the dominant military power

in the Persian Gulf region and is amassing hardware and constructing

bases on a scale commensurate with a NATO country. Iran is rapidly becoming

one of the world’s stronger military powers.

Although Iran has signed and ratified the Nuclear Non-Proliferation

Treaty, it has nonetheless become suspect on proliferation. This may be

1-2
attributed, in part, to the absence of public debate or a real legislative

Process preceding Iran’s ratification. This meant that no overt public opinion

developed that would feel particularly committed to or bound by the treaty.

The NPT also came before the windfall of OPEC, i.e., before Iran acquired the

currency holdings facilitating major nuclear investments.

Further doubt followed the Indian detonation of a nuclear explosive in

1974, and a press interview with the Shah (immediately denied) in which he was

quoted as saying that Iran might soon follow suit.

On the more positive side, the Shah and his government have presented

some general proposals for a Middle East Nuclear Free Zone. While the

boundaries remain to be defined, they clearly include Pakistan, Israel,

Egypt and all the Arab states. They just as clearly do not include the Soviet

Union or India, and thus do not depend on any nuclear-weapons-renunciation by

states already having them. The proposal is in need of further definition,

but can be seen as an offer by Iran to forgo nuclear explosives as long as the

other Middle Eastern states cited do the same. If seriously pursued, this

proposal could be a significant contribution to non-proliferation in the region.

Further clouding all predictions about Iranian policy is the special

role of the Shah. Lower–ranking officials are discouraged from staking out

positions on policy issued, or developing policy alternatives. If the Shah’s

regime were to fall suddenly a vacuum of policy direction might follow in

which all things could become possible.

2. Incentives for the Acquisition of Nuclear Weapons

To purchase some additional insurance against Soviet invasion, in light

of doubts about the continuing credibility of American commitments.

To acquire a counter to Indian political and military nuclear leverage,

and to reassure Pakistan of meaningful Iranian support.

I-3
To acquire substantial global prestige and influence for the Shah

and his country.

3. Disincentives to the Acquisition of Nuclear Weapons

The danger of antagonizing the United States, possibly resulting in the

termination of American security commitments.

The risk of a slowdown or cutoff of European and American technological

inputs to Iranian economic development.

The danger of antagonizing the Soviet Union, raising the spectre of preemptive

military action.

The likely emulation of an Iranian nuclear weapon initiative by other Middle

Eastern states thus clouding the vision of a prosperous twenty-first century

Iran with a costly nuclear arms race and the risk of a regional nuclear

conflict. Also, the acquisition of nuclear weapons by other countries in

the region would tend to nullify Iran’s conventional arms superiority.

The unsuitability of nuclear weapons to the sort of regional military

police actions in which Iran is likely to be involved.

The vulnerability of the Iranian nuclear power program to a cutoff of

overseas inputs of technology and uranium fuel.

4. Technical Capabilities

Iran has placed firm orders for four light

supplied by France and Germany. The first two

for completion in

projects and many

the early 1980’s. The power

years may elapse before they

water power reactors to be

of these reactors are scheduled

reactors will all be “turnkey”

can be manned entirely by

indigenous Iranian personnel. This reliance on foreign technicians can

amount to a check on proliferation. While much of the mineral wealth of Iran

may yet be discovered, no large quantities of uranium have been uncovered, so

that fuel requirements for the complex must be met abroad. Enriched uranium

fuel will be supplied by France under an arrangement in which Iran has agreed

to lend the French Atomic Authority $1 billion for the Eurodif enrichment

plant under construction at Tricastin, giving Iran 10% ownership in the plant

and entitling it to 10% of the output. Iran also has a 25% share of a second

European enrichment facility, Coredif.

1-4
The Iranian nuclear electric complex, when it is finished, will be quite

large, thereby generating substantial quantities of plutonium as well as

electricity. While some interest has been shown in a plutonium reprocessing

plant, no purchases have yet been negotiated, and strong outside disapproval

has been communicated to Iran.

Recently, the former head of the Argentinian nuclear program, Admiral

Quihillalt, was hired as a consultant to the Iranian Atomic Energy Commission.

In addition, half of the foreign staff of the IAEC is from Argentina. To those

outside observers who are given to looking for signs of a nascent Iranian

nuclear weapons program, this was read as a signal that Iran would soon seek

facilities applicable to a nuclear weapons program, following the path Argentina has taken. This would include the purchase of natural uranium fueled

reactors instead of the more cost effective light water reactors Iran has

ordered to date. This type of switch in orientation has not yet occurred and

the presence of Argentinian technicians in Iran may simply reflect the more

favorable employment conditions there. 1

Iran’s venture into nuclear power looks like very much of a “great leap

forward”. As such, it is likely to encounter disappointments of one sort or

another. The schedules proposed by foreign manufacturers have in the Past

been prone to slippage. The likely cost inflation in such reactor projects may

similarly eat into Iran’s foreign cash reserves. A proliferation problem is

clearly emerging in the Iranian projects, but there is every reason to assume

that it will appear later than formerly anticipated.

Given its substantial foreign currency holdings, and its reliance on

foreign technicians in other areas, it is always possible that an Iranian

government might seek to hire foreign bomb-designers on a “mercenary” basis.

10 George H. Quester, “The Shah, and the Bomb”, Policy Sciences 8 (1977) p. 25.

I-5
This is an avenue to nuclear explosives that no one else has tested

is full of pitfalls.

5. Net Assessmentyet, and

The disincentives will outweigh the incentives for a considerable time into

the future. The technical capability for manufacturing nuclear weapons will

be compromised by the reliance on foreign technicians, foreign equipment, and

uranium fuel. The military need for a nuclear weapon is not imminent, since

relations with the USSR are relatively stable for the moment. The likely

alienation of the outside world after a nuclear explosives decision might

slow down or endanger the inputs of western material goods that make for

Iranian prosperity. Iran is unlikely to jeopardize a major investment in

nuclear electric power by overtly or covertly diverting fissile material to

nuclear weapons production. Furthermore, a decision to make nuclear weapons

would render the Shah’s nuclear-free-zone proposal, irrelevant, and indeed

might speed up the nuclear-weapons decisions of Israel and the Arab states

and Pakistan.

We perhaps know less than we would like to know about the exact plans and

world-vision of the Shah. There is every reason to believe that he would

like to go into history as the man who brought prosperity to his country. While

this may be very consistent with a program of investments in nuclear electricity

it is not so clear that it would fit with a program of nuclear weapons. The

Shah’s proposals for a nuclear–free-zone, and his earlier decision to ratify the

NPT, suggest that he may see this in the same way.

6. circumstances that Might Alter the Relationship between Incentives and

Disincentives.

Among the circumstances that could shift the relationship between incentives

and disincentives in favor of the former are the following:

I-6
A marked decline in the visible American inclination to support Iran

against attack.

A marked increase in Soviet hostility toward the existing regime.

An assertion of new prerogatives in the region by India on the basis

of the nuclear explosives it possesses?

The fall of Pakistan to outside invasion or domestic disintegration

The detonation of nuclear explosives somewhere else in the Middle East.

An outright rejection by Middle Eastern states of the proposal for a

nuclear-free-zone,

A marked erosion of the domestic political prestige and support

enjoyed by the regime -- an erosion which might be alleviated by a

dramatic initiative like the acquisition of nuclear weapons.

I-7
Israel

1. Background

Israel is a small country of 3.3 million people who live mostly in urban

or suburban areas in the northern part of the country. It is a constitutional

democracy, in which the executive power rests with a Prime Minister and Cabinet

based on a majority within a one-house parliament. Representation is through a

number of political parties and elections are free and regularly held.

Although it may be characterized as a small industrial and commercial power

that lacks heavy industry, Israel possesses a high degree of advanced technical

skills and scientific accomplishment. An aircraft industry, electronics precision

instruments and tools, and a first-class ordnance industry mark the exceptional

nature of the Israel economy in comparison to other countries in the Middle East.

Israel borders on Egypt, Jordan, and Syria, with whom it has fought four

major wars in the past thirty years. These countries as well as other Arab

countries remain in a juridical state of war with Israel. Israel is without allies in the

region and its population of only a little over 3 million people has repeatedly

faced, in war, countries with combined populations of 100 million people. While

Israel has been adept in converting foreign military equipment to its own tactical

purposes, it, like the other countries in the region, is dependent on foreign

suppliers for its military equipment. While the population of Israel is prosperous and

fully employed, enjoying a relatively high standard of living, the burden of a very

large defense budget has been felt in the form of an annual inflation rate in excess

of 30 percent. The enormous costs of Israel’s many wars have been borne in part

by contributions from sympathizers living abroad as well as through military assistance

provided directly by the United States.

Israel’s dependence on U.S. military supplies and economic support makes it

highly sensitive to changes in American attitudes and policies. Recent moves towards

“even-handedness” in the region, the sale of U.S. military equipment to Egypt,

increasing American dependence on Arab oil and U.S. concern with limiting the

I-8
arms trade all add to Israeli fears and insecurities. One major result is an

emphasis on increased military self-reliance.

Israeli nuclear weapons policy has not been the subject of intense public debate,

although in recent years, the number of articles on the subject in the Israeli press

had increased significantly. Articles in the foreign press concerning Israel’s nuclear

capability are often reprinted, and political leaders have made general statements

concerning the utility or disutility of nuclear weapons in the Arab-Israeli context.

The general public, however, apparently considers this subject to be a matter of

.

national security, best left to political and military leaders.

While Israel’s military forces have been successful in defending the country

in short wars, the 1973 war witnessed the first military setback to Israel when

Egyptian forces crossed the Suez Canal and managed to secure the eastern bank. Among the

consequences was the loss of some Israeli territory gained in the 1967 war, and more

importantly, a loss of confidence in the ability of the Israeli Defense

any Arab attack on the state. Shaken confidence, continuing threats of

rising burden of defense costs, and fear that U.S. support is weakening

Forces to stem

war, the

may increase

the attractiveness of nuclear weapons deployment as a means of restoring certitude

to Israel’s defense capability.

Israel has not detonated a nuclear weapon, nor declared herself a nuclear power,

but there are a number of credible reports of the existence

weapons program. Israel is now generally credited with the

delivering, and successfully detonating a nuclear weapon on

of an advanced nuclear

potential of assembling,

short notice. As a result,

Israel should not be considered as simply another Nth country with a future potential

for developing nuclear weapons, but neither is Israel a nuclear weapons state in the

sense of India, because India has demonstrated its nuclear capability with its 1974

detonation. The crucial questions for Israel concern the incentives and disincentives

for demonstrating its nuclear capability with a test detonation and deployment of nuclear

weapons.

2. Incentives for the Testing and Deployment of Nuclear Weapons

o Calculation that the more overt the nuclear weapons capability,

the

more credible the deterrent. Thus, a clear capability might deter

I-9
major Arab attacks, at least on Israeli population centers,

whereas an ambiguous nuclear potential might not be as effective.

•Growing Western dependence on Arab oil may render U.S. support

for Israel’s security increasingly less and the need for a purely

Israeli deterrent more compelling.

Ž Limitations on Israel’s ability to develop and perfect a nuclear

weapon force without actual testing.

• Belief that an overt capability will force the world community,

including the Arabs, to acknowledge the reality and permanence

of Israel’s existence.

• The disparity between the size of Israel’s armed forces and those

of the neighboring Arab states is likely to grow over time, thereby

diminishing Israel’s ability to deter attack. An overt nuclear

capability could arrest this trend.

• anxiety that Israel’s defensive position is being and will continue

to be eroded by diplomatic pressure aimed at achieving peace in the

Middle East.

• Belief that the overt threat of the use of nuclear weapons on Arab

oil fields will force the industrialized world to restrain the Arabs.

3. Disincentives to the Testing and Deployment of Nuclear Weapons

Ž The desire to preserve the present situation which permits Israel

to gain the benefits of threshold nuclear weapons status but pay

few of the costs associated with an overt weapons capability.

• The prospect that overt acquisition of weapons by Israel would

cause one or more of its Arab adversaries to acquire a comparable

capability resulting in the possible nuclearization of future wars.

• Fear that testing of nuclear weapons by Israel would alienate its

supporters abroad and stop weapons supplies from the United States.

• Desire to maintain the moral principles and respectability of the

Zionist and Israeli ideology.

• Fear that the possession of an overt (and vulnerable) nuclear force

would make Israel a target for a pre-emptive nuclear or conventional

attack.

• Overt nuclear weapons facilities and storage areas would probably

become high priority terrorist targets.

• Deployment of nuclear weapons could increase the likelihood of their

unauthorized or accidental use.

4. Technical Capabilities

Israel unquestionably has the scientific and technical know-how to fabricate

I-lo
nuclear weapons. Its reactor at Dimona appears to have had the purpose

the production of plutonium and it is generally assumed that Israel has

in part of

the capability

to separate plutonium from spent fuel. Research in the country, the possession of

precision machining capabilities, the aviation and avionics industry, and the firstrate ordnance industry leave little doubt of Israel’s competence to fabricate nuclear

weapons and delivery systems. Israeli scientists have studied in Western universities

and scientific institutes, while scientists from the U.S. and Western Europe have

probably carried to Israel whatever techniques Israel may have at one time lacked.

Evidence suggests that Israeli scientists have long ago conducted the research

necessary to the fabrication of weapons from available fissile material.

5. Net Assessment

Israel’s clear capability to fabricate nuclear arms along with the obvious

weight of the incentives to do so, make it impossible to rule out the existence

of Israeli nuclear weapons. Certainly, Israel

possessing such a capability although there is

this assumption. As a result of its ambiguous

is widely perceived as already

no conclusive evidence in support of

status, Israel enjoys many of the

advantages of an overt weapon capability, including deterrence, while avoiding

many of the costs, including precipitating an Arab nuclear arms program and

antagonizing the United States. Consequently, the interaction between incentives

and disincentives favors not crossing the nuclear threshold overtly. This is

particularly true as long as the United States continues to provide adequate

conventional weapons and credible security guarantees.

6. Circumstances That Might Alter the Relationship Between Incentives and Disincentives.

• The incentives for an overt Program of construction and deployment

of nuclear weapons will be strengthened if there is a substantive

weakening of U.S. support for Israel.

• The materialization of a situation in which Israel’s existence as

a state is in serious jeopardy or its population centers clearly

threatened.

1-11
• The new Likud government may feel that the time has come to

demonstrate Israel’s military strength by displaying a nuclear

weapons capability.

• The acquisition of nuclear weapons by one of the Arab states.

• The coming to power in the Israeli. parliament of a party that

assumes accommodation with the Arabs is the optimal way to achieve

peace in the middle East and protect Israel’s security.

Two features distinguish the Israeli case. First, Israel is, and has been

since its inception, in a state of belligerency with nations that surround it.

The very existence of the state has been under constant challenge. Consequently,

it requires no great imagination to conceive a scenario under which Israel would

actually use any nuclear weapons it possessed. Second, Israeli position vis-a-vis

proliferation is unique in that the suspicion that it has and will use nuclear weapons is

seen to be of greater utility than an overt revelation that it really does possess

them. It is quite possible that this strategy will be followed by other Nth countries

including South Africa, South Korea, and Taiwan.

1-12
Brazil

1. Background —

Brazil is a country of 110 million people, with a territory spread over

a large portion of South America. It has been governed by a military regime

since President Goulart was ousted from power in 1964. While the regime has

used severe measures to repress domestic dissidence, including reported

instances of torture, it has also achieved a substantial level of economic

growth, and has thereby won some acceptance from the Brazilian populace.

Brazil has no significant border disputes with any neighbors. The

South American continent as a whole has been generally free of military

threats for many years. An old and continuing rivalry with Argentina is a

significant factor in Brazilian policy formation and the growth of Argentina’s

nuclear capabilities and facilities may have had an impact on Brazil’s nuclear

policy. While Brazilian statements have hinted at an interest in peaceful

nuclear explosives, allegedly for use in some massive river-dredging projects,

there has been no official public speculation about any need for nuclear weapons.

The armed forces of Brazil and its neighbors have over time assumed more of

a domestic than an external function, and major weapons systems have become

primarily symbols of national prestige. The continent has, however, recently

seen a dramatic upswing in the quality and costs of the military equipment

procured.

While plagued with unsolved problems of poverty, income maldistribution,

and the movement of population from the countryside to overcrowded cities,

Brazil has nonetheless achieved substantial economic development. The

Brazilian economic “miracle” is based in part on an encouragement of foreign

investment. The boom is thus dependent on infusions of American technology,

and is likely to need continued infusions far into the future. Despite

1-13
considerable industrial development, agriculture still accounts for roughly

two-thirds of Brazil’s foreign exchange earnings. Coffee, soybeans, and iron

ore are the principal exports.

While the Brazilian regime is committed to replacing-an agricultural

economy with a diversified industrial structure, it has been hard hit by

the increase in oil prices, since Brazil must import virtually all of its

petroleum. This has clearly increased the attractiveness of nuclear power.

An additional factor which explains at least part of the interest in nuclear

industry is the existence of significant hydroelectric potential at remote

locations in the Brazilian jungle. To try to transmit electricity from

these waterfalls by wire to the Brazilian industrial cities would be

extremely wasteful of power. An alternative would be to -use the hydroelectric

power at the site where it is available to enrichuranium, and then to transport

the enriched uranium to power reactors close to the factories. The net

result would be electrical power production exceeding that available from

hydroelectric sources alone.

Brazil has shown interest in being recognized as a major power, and

perhaps the preeninent power in Latin America. Signs of this include statements

by government leaders, encouragement of domestic population growth (when

many nations around the globe are trying to reduce their birth rate), the claim

to territory in Antarctica, and the expression of interest in peaceful nuclear

explosives. The use of PNE’s has been mentioned in connection with proposals for excavating oil shale, for linking a number of rivers into an integrated network, and for the excavation of ports. 1

While the government of President Goulart, the last popularly-elected

1. H. Jon Rosebaum, “Brazil’s Nuclear Aspirations”, in Nuclear proliferation and the Near Nuclear Countries, 0. Marwah and Schulz, eds., Ballinger, 1975).

1-14
chief executive, played a significant role in the initiation of the

Latin American Nuclear Free Zone Treaty, succeeding regimes have worked mainly

to water it down, and signed it only after clauses were attached making

it non-binding on Brazil unless all the world’s nuclear-weapons states

had adhered to various protocols. Brazil has refused to sign the Nuclear

Non-Proliferation Treaty and has issued a number of statements attacking

that treaty. Brazil is legally obligated to accept inspection and forego

explosives manufacture on a project-by-project basis, as part of the

sales contracts it signs with the United States or other suppliers, but it

is not presently bound by any general treaty renouncing nuclear weapons.

This hesitation to sign the NPT is not necessarily an indication of a

Brazilian program to develop nuclear weapons, but rather appears to signify

a reluctance to renounce the option to initiate such a program in the future.

The position of the regime in Brazil is such as to allow it to produce

nuclear explosives without first securing popular consent. Some public

opinion polls have been taken which seem to show enthusiasm for the

government’s stand in favor of the peaceful nuclear explosives option, but

such polls were conducted in an atmosphere which would make it difficult

for contrary opinion to emerge.

2. Incentives for the Acquisition of Nuclear Weapons

Desire to obtain prestige and great-power recognition for Brazil in

the outside world.

Belief that such prestige would augment popular support for the regime

at home.

Rivalry with Argentina, which has tended to be slightly ahead of

Brazil in the nuclear field and which may be perceived as embarking

on a weapons program.

3. Discentives to the Acquisition of Nuclear Weapons

Belief that United States and European inputs to the Brazilian economy,

both nuclear and non-nuclear, might be less forthcoming if a move

toward nuclear explosives became evident.

1-15
4.

Concern that any Brazilian nuclear explosives acquisition would

stimulate similar action by Argentina. The end result could be a

costly nuclear arms race in Latin America to the detriment of all

concerned.

Concern for the hostile reaction of other Latin American countries,

a number of which have become parties to the Latin American Nuclear

Free Zone Treaty, including Mexico, Chile and Venezuela

Fear that a nuclear weapons arsenal may become the focus of coup

attempts by military factions.

Fear that nuclear explosives might be used by domestic dissidents in

a terrorist action.

Technical Capabilities

As part of its general drive to industrialize, Brazil is accumulating

an infrastructure of trained people in the nuclear field. The nuclear

facilities operating in Brazil for the forseeable future will nonetheless

be imported from sources such as the United States and Germany.

The first major power reactor obtained by Brazil was an enricheduranium fueled reactor (LWR) purchased from Westinghouse; this was

inherently less proliferation-prone than the natural uranium fueled reactor

(CANDU) which Argentina selected. This was seen by many as a sign

that Brazil was putting commercial considerations of cost effectiveness

in electricity production ahead of thoughts of a weapons option. Proposals

concerning the second round of purchases, however, have caused a great deal

of attention to be directed towards Brazil. In 1975, West Germany and

Brazil signed a multibillion dollar agreement which will entail Brazilian

acquisition of the entire fuel cycle from West Germany including as many

as eight power reactors, a jet nozzle uranium enrichment capability, a

fuel fabrication plant, and a plutonium reprocessing facility. This agreement has resulted in U.S. protests to Germany and Brazil because of the

potential use of these. facilities for nuclear weapons.

It will almost certainly be a decade before any of these facilities are

1-16
in operation, and the sales agreements, as with the American supplied

reactors, call for IAEA safeguards. This agreement reaffirms the

principle of nuclear nonproliferation and specifies that German approval

must be obtained prior to re-export of any materials, facilities or

technology provided by Germany. It also includes a Brazilian commitment not

to use any of these items for the production of nuclear explosives.

Nonetheless, Brazilian scientists and industry will gain extensive experience in

handling nuclear material and concern has been expressed that Brazil might

be able to duplicate such facilities in an indigenous construction effort.

Brazil may also achieve fuel cycle independence which would allow a

unilateral abrogation of safeguards without major penalties to its nuclear

energy program.

Brazil has as yet not found any significant quantities of uranium on

its territory, but extensive prospecting is underway A more certainly

available natural resource is the waterfalls at remote locations, whose

electric potential can most easily be “transmitted” by use of uranium

enrichment.

While Brazil (like Argentina) has signed

ments with India, these agreements seem to be

“nuclear cooperation” agreeinnocent, since they specifically exclude “classified” matters, and all the Indian work on nuclear

explosives is classified.

5. Net Assessment

Incentives seem to be somewhat outweighed by disincentives for the

short-run and possibly for the middle term. The Brazilian government has an

internal pro–bomb lobby in the military, but it also has an anti-bomb faction.

While officials of the Foreign Ministry are prone to tout the advantages of

“peaceful nuclear explosives’; officials responsible for economic growth tend

to be against such projects, for fear of alienating the outside participation

1-17
in Brazil’s economy that may be crucial to continued growth. Since growth

is the major source of support for the regime, this is not a consideration

that can be dismissed lightly.

It will be at least a decade before any weapon program can easily be

undertaken using purely indigenous means. Any gains from acquiring such

weapons will tend to be offset by U.S. displeasure and possible retaliation,

by the likelihood that Argentina would move to acquire a bomb, and by the resentment of other Latin American states. Already U.S. -Brazilian relations have

been severely strained by the planned Brazilian purchase of German enrichment

and reprocessing facilities.

6.

much

Circumstances that might Alter the Relationship between Incentives and -.. .

Discentives

Much will depend on how the Brazilian economy grows and on how

such growth continues to be interlocked with American investment and

technology. If such growth remains the continuing base of public acceptance

for the regime, this may be a lever that can discourage proliferation well

into the future.

Brazilian interest in a nuclear explosive will rise sharply, however,

if Argentina takes steps to acquire the bomb.

1-18
South Africa

1. Background

South Africa is a country of 26 million people of which 41⁄2 million

are of European descent and 22 million are of African or mixed African and

European descent. It is a federal republic with a President elected for

a term of seven years, but the powers of government are exercised by a prime

minister and cabinet chosen by the majority party

A number of political parties exist and elections

the franchise and other rights of citizenship are

European, portion of the population.

South Africa is the most advanced industrial

in the two-house legislature.

are regularly held but

enjoyed only by the white,

nation in Africa and is

well endowed with minerals and agricultural produce, from which it derives

most of its foreign currency. The fruits of industrialization and trade have

supplied the European population with a high standard of living and the

amenities of a modern industrial state. South Africa depends on the export

of its products and resources, including large quantities of uranium, to

obtain those articles of heavy machinery and armaments which it is not

capable of producing itself. South Africa's abundant coal reserves

provide for most of its energy needs.

Apartheid policies have resulted in a situation in which friendly

relations have only been maintained with Rhodesia, a bordering country

with an even smaller proportion of European to African population than

yet

South

Africa’s, and with Botswana which abuts

frontier. The eastern land border is

colony and the northwest border is with

territory of Southwest Africa presently

South Africa along the Transvaal

with Mozambique, a former Portuguese

Namibia, the former mandated

under South African control.

1-19
In addition to increasingly violent internal opposition to white minority

rule, African nationalist movements in Mozambique, Rhodesia (Zimbabwe),

Namibia, and Angola, all work to surround South Africa with a number of

hostile regions and insurgent movements which threaten its existence.

At the same time, South Africa’s position at the southern tip of Africa

makes its fate a matter of concern to the maritime powers of the world whose

ships pass the Cape of Good Hope. South Africa is pictured by its government

and its white citizens as the representative of West European strategic

interests in southern Africa and as the leading anti-Communist force in

Africa. This view is reinforced by the presence of Soviet or Cuban military

personnel in Angola and to a lesser extent, Mozambique. Its apartheid

policies have made South Africa the target of economic boycott and

recrimination by the Third World nations and to a lesser degree, by

Western Europe and the United States. On the other hand, Western investment

in South Africa and South Africa’s rich mineral resources and strategic

position foster an ambivalence on the part of Western countries toward

the regime.

White fear of the impact of political equality limits the possibilities

for a voluntary and peaceful transition to majority rule while the

desire to employ Africans and Cape Coloureds to maintain the economy and

services limits the possibilities for a complete political separation

between African and European populations. Strong racial prejudices make

any progress toward integration difficult.

The outlook for stability in South Africa is poor. Failure of the

white majority to bring Africans into the political process and to promote

black education has been increasing disaffection among the politically

fragmented black population. The likelihood that any Western nation would

1-20
commit itself to defense of the white minority against an uprising by the

black majority population or against attack from surrounding African

nations is small. This leaves the white population alienated from the world

community, fearing extermination, expulsion or at least the loss of

property and political rights. Every criticism of South Africa’s

internal policies from abroad and every successful terrorist raid serves

to increase feelings of isolation.

Such conditions of isolation and desperation have led to speculation that South Africa may be considering the development of nuclear

weapons. While the Prime Minister has stated that South Africa’s

interest in nuclear power extends only to peaceful applications, he and

members of his cabinet have made reference to the possibility of “mounting

a nuclear defense” if the existence of the regime is threatened. The

republic of South Africa has neither signed nor ratified the Nuclear

Non-Proliferation Treaty and seems unlikely to do so.

The South African government has the legislative and administrative

power to develop nuclear weapons without submitting the question to public

opinion.

2. Incentives for the Acquisition of Nuclear Weapons.

The hope that the possession of nuclear weapons will discourage hostile

external intervention (including that of USSR and Cuba) into South

African domestic affairs.

The belief that technical superiority in armaments can compensate for

the numerical inferiority of the white population.

1-21
The hope that by acquiring nuclear weapons, South Africa would raise

the potential cost of a conflict to

Africans, either on their own or at

agree to an accommodation acceptable

such a high level that black

the behest of the superpowers, will

to the white population.

The knowledge that South Africa is diplomatically and spiritually

isolated from the West and is unlikely to receive any outside

assistance against threats to its security.

3. Disincentives to the Acquisition of Nuclear Powers.

Doubts about the utility of nuclear weapons in fighting the kind of

war that South Africa is likely to face.

The possibility that construction of nuclear weapons would impel

one or

of its

likely

more of the Black African states to acquire a nuclear capability

own. At a minimum, a South African weapon would seem

to further exacerbate the relationship with Black Africa.

Fear that the acquisition of nuclear weapons would result in the complete

rupture of economic and technical relations with the West.

The hope that the West may yet help the white regime if it is faced with

a Soviet supplied and Cuban led invasion, but that this slim possibility

is muted if South Africa were to become a nuclear power.

I-22
4. Technical Capabilities.

South Africa was one of the

World War II era and the country

early sources of uranium for the post

has

the world uranium market ever since.

extraction technology and is capable

remained an important supplier in

It has a long history of uranium

of producing nuclear grade material.

In the early 1970’s South Africa announced that it would mount a major

effort to develop an enrichment capability. By enriching uranium prior

to export, South Africa hopes to earn $500,000,000 annually in foreign

exchange beginning in the mid-1980’s. While the specific enrichment

technique and any other details on it remained secret for many years,

information now available suggests that the

of the aerodynamic nozzel. Indications are

has provided some 90% of the technology and

method is a variant form

that South African industry

support for this process,

the remaining coming from foreign sources, available in “normal channels”.

Intentions are that a commercial enrichment plant will be in operation in

1984 and full capacity of 10,000 metric tons SWU/ year 1)

will be attained

by 1986. A major portion of this output will almost certainly enter the

world market to supply the growing number of LWR'S.

South Africa sees itself as a supplier of nuclear fuel and has

indicated that its needs are for export earnings rather than atomic

weapons. It must be recognized, however, that imbedded within these

commercial steps is the potential for a weapons program. According to

recent reports, the pilot plant at Valindaba can enrich uranium to weapons

grade levels.

1) metric ton = 1,000 kilograms

I-23
In addition, South Africa has made a major investment in nuclear power

research and development projects. The American designed Safari-1

research reactor has been in operation since 1964 and although American

supplied enriched uranium fuel has been necessary for operating the reactor,

South Africa is or soon will be capable of independent fuel production and

reactor operation. In 1981, the first of several French supplied commercial

nuclear power reactors are expected to begin operation. While these

reactors will add little directly to South African nuclear weapons

capability, they provide added experience in handling nuclear material

and facilities and are a possible source of plutonium. The U.S. is

committed to supply enriched uranium to fuel these reactors between 1981

and 1984 during which time U.S. safeguards will apply. But given South

Africa’s projected nuclear independence by the mid-1980’s, safeguards may

become moot.

The state of technology and industry is such that there is no

barrier from that quarter to development of nuclear weapons. Since

its nuclear weapons potential is based on uranium enrichment, rather that

plutonium separation, South Africa faces fewer technical difficulties in

the fabrication of a weapon than do other countries. Uranium weapons are

more easily constructed and detonated than plutonium weapons. A minimal

supply of highly enriched uranium sufficient for a single weapon may

have already been produced during the development and prototype operation

of the enrichment process.

I-24
5. Net Assessment.

At present the incentives for South Africa to acquire an overt

nuclear weapons capability are probably insufficient to outweigh the

very real disincentives. Nuclear weapons would be of little use in

fighting a war against insurgents or in suppressing a domestic revolt.

A South African weapon would place immense pressure on Black African

states to acquire a countervailing capability or at least a nuclear

guarantee. An expanded war in which both sides have access to nuclear

weapons would place South Africa, with its predominantly urban population, at a disadvantage.

On the other hand, the pressure on South Africa by the African

nationalists, the general strategic and diplomatic isolation of South

Africa and the difficulties in maintaining internal stability all place

the country in a desperate situation in which it may feel that it has

little to lose in overtly “going nuclear”. Events in Rhodesia as that

country is subject to increasing attack supported by the Soviet Union

and its allies tends to strengthen the South African view that its position

will become increasingly precarious. Nuclear weapons may be viewed as

a means of keeping the Soviet Union and Cuban forces at a distance.

Given these considerations, South Africa may conclude that its

interests are best served by remaining poised at the nuclear threshold.

This posture based on a clear technical capability to fabricate nuclear

explosives may enable South Africa to maximize its bargaining power with

the U.S. and the Black African nations without incurring the liabilities

associated with the overt acquisition of a weapon. The implicit threat

to assemble and detonate a nuclear weapon is more useful to

than the demonstration of nuclear capability through a test

South Africa

detonation.

I-25
Consequently, South Africa may become a second country following the

path ascribed to Israel above, collecting the potential for deploying

nuclear weapons on short notice, letting rumors and speculation leak out

that such a weapons arsenal has been readied, but never detonating such

a warhead in a test, or explicitly confirming possession of nuclear

explosives in any public statement.

6. Circumstances that might alter the relationship between incentives

and disincentives.

Among the circumstances that could alter the relationship between

incentives and disincentives are the following:

An increase or diminution in Soviet activity in Southern Africa

Changes in the perceived orientation of U.S. policy toward the

conflict between whites and blacks in Southern Africa;

Incentives could be strengthened by the fall of white rule in

Rhodesia and the intensification of guerrilla operations within

South African territory.

An attempt to impose a great power settlement on South Africa to bring

about majority rule would strengthen incentives.

A Great Power guarantee of a political settlement acceptable to the

white minority would strengthen disincentives.

In the event of an accommodation between whites and blacks in South

Africa, any incentives for the development of nuclear weapons

would largely disappear.

A black revolt within South Africa that forced the European government

out of power before it could complete development of nuclear weapons

would reader the entire question moot.

I-26
South Korea

1. Background

South Korea is a country of 35 million people, located south of the

39th parallel on the Korean Peninsula. Its government is headed by an elected

president who rules through a premier and a cabinet with the assent of a

national assembly. The assembly is composed principally of the President’s

party, the Democratic Republic Party although other parties are represented

as well.

The South Korean constitution vests strong executive authority in the

President acting through a premier and cabinet that is responsible to the

President rather than to the popularly elected National Assembly. While the

President must, in theory, maintain enough popular support to gain periodic

re-election and while opposition parties exist, the South Korean government

has become increasingly repressive forcibly suppressing dissent and opposition.

A policy favored by the President will generally be adopted and implemented

by a Presidentially-led bureaucracy and military. That means that a presidential decision to acquire nuclear weapons need not be publicly debated nor

even become public knowledge.

South Korea is a moderately industrialized nation whose population is

employed in mining, agriculture and industries manufacturing light consumer

goods for home consumption and export. It is a relatively prosperous country

with a high rate of literacy amongst the population and is engaged in mining, agriculture, and industries manufacturing light consumer goods for home consumption

and export. It is a relatively prosperous country with a high rate of literacy

amongst the population and is in the process of developing steel and machinery

products.

I-27
South Korea is abutted by the Democratic Republic of North Korea

at the 38th Parallel, with the Soviet Union and the People’s Republic of

China in close proximity. Japan, along with the U.S., the principal trading

partner of Korea, lies offshore. The Soviet Union and the Peoples’s Republic

of China maintain strong military, naval and air forces capable of quick and

direct intervention in the Korean Peninsula. Some forty thousand American

personnel are still stationed in Korea providing combat ground and air forces

to guarantee the security of the country and the integrity of the demilitarized zone at the 38th parallel.

Both the Republic of Korea and the Democratic Peoples’s Republic of

Korea claim to be the legitimate rulers of the Korean Peninsula and seek the

reunification of that peninsula under a single government. The intractable

problem of the reunification of the two Koreas is constantly at the forefront

of both North and South Korean policy.

A constant fear of a North Korean invasion, backed by China or the

Soviet Union has made South Korea highly dependent on United States military

assistance. The declining ability of South Korea to persuasively present

its case for continued support to the U.S. public, however, strengthens the

government’s inclination to increase its capability to defend itself. The

South Korean cause has been steadily losing support in the U.S. due in large

part to the increasingly dictatorial nature of the Park regime, the persecution of opposition party leaders, and the activities of the Korean Central

Intelligence Agency in the U.S.

Meanwhile, the withdrawal of the U.S. from South Vietnam and Cambodia and the

removal of military units from Taiwan has increased South Korean fears concerning

the strength of U.S. support. The announced intention of the Carter Administration

I-28
to withdraw U.S. ground forces from the Peninsula will probably reinforce that

insecurity. Despite whatever security guarantees that may accompany it, such

a withdrawal will probably stimulate South Korea’s interest in acquiring

nuclear weapons. In South Korea, it is assumed that withdrawal of U.S. forces

will be followed by a North Korean invasion of the South. Whether or not that

assumption is well-founded, it is the premise upon which the present government

in South Korea operates and North Korean propaganda has done little to counter

it. Nuclear weapons may be seen as a deterrent to invasion, as an important

defensive weapon in the event of such an invasion, and as a means of deterring the

Soviet Union or China from assisting North Korea.

South Korea has signed the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty but has not yet

ratified it. Whether the signing of the treaty was in response to U.S. pressures

or to a genuine concern about nonproliferation is not clear. If it was a

consequence of the former, any perceived weakening of the U.S.

tee would weaken South Korea’s commitment to the Treaty.

time, any hint that South Korea had set out to acquire nuclear

security guaranAt the same

weapons would

bring forth condemnation for the U.S., the U.S.S.R. , the PRC and many of

South Korea’s Asian and European trading partners and would strengthen the

view of those who already view the regime with distaste. Proliferation, or the

hint of it, could be expected to strain the already fragile security guarantees

by the United States and hasten the dissolution of that arrangement. This

fact constitutes an inhibition against overt South Korean proliferation as

long as there is some chance that the U.S. security guarantee will be honored.

In addition, any restraints that the Soviet Union and China may have placed on

North Korea could be weakened by an overt South Korean nuclear weapons program.

The development of nuclear weapons may be viewed as a preclude to a South Korean

attempt to reunify Korea by force.

I-29
2. Incentives for the Acquisition of Nuclear Weapons

•

Fear that North Korea will once again attempt to unify Korea

by force.

Uncertainty regarding a continued U.S.military presence in the

Far East and the viability of U.S. security guarantees.

Necessity to offset North Korea’s military support from China and

the Soviet Union.

● Desire to establish South Korea’s standing as an independent nation

commanding international attention and respect.

● Possibility that a South Korean nuclear weapon capability would make

a new Korean conflict so dangerous as to compel superpower intervention

to preserve the status quo.

Belief that nuclear weapons would bolster the confidence of the South

Korean population in the country’s future.

Desire to demonstrate South Korea’s industrial and technical superiority

over North Korea.

3. Disincentives to the Acquisition of Nuclear Weapons

● Prospect that proliferation would alienate the United States

sufficiently to cause a withdrawal of all U.S. forces (including air

forces) form the Peninsula and an end to all U.S. military assistance.

Likelihood that Japan would be sufficiently concerned by proliferation

to take diplomatic and economic measures against South Korea. The

most direct effect might be upon the 26% of total South Korean exports

that go to Japan and the Japanese assistance to Korean industrial

development.

Fear that proliferation would harden the attitudes of China and the

Soviet Union in support of North Korea.

● Fear that a nuclear armaments would be discovered by the North Koreans

prior to actual completion of any weapons and precipitate on a preemptive attack from the North.

South Korean nuclear arms may induce North Korea to seek its own

nuclear weapons capability.

4. Technical Capabilities

South Korea is a rapidly industrializing nation that has already begun the

construction of two nuclear power plants near Pusan. Long range plans call for

1-30
the construction of 25 plants by the year 2000. While Korea has the technical

engineering personnel for the development of nuclear weapons, it is entirely

dependent on foreign sources for fuel, fuel reprocessing and reactor components. Acquisition of the facilities for the development of nuclear

weapons is not beyond the financial reach of South Korea, but the expense

would require a major re-allocation of existing resources that are presently

devoted to industrialization.

The first Korean power reactor is scheduled to begin operation in 1977,

and is fueled with enriched uranium. In 1975, Korea signed an agreement

for the purchase of a CANDU reactor which is fueled with natural uranium and

is more conducive to the production of weapons grade plutonium than light

water reactors. The reactor is covered by Canadian restrictions on the use

of the technology or materials for development of explosive devices. Two

research reactors, furnished by the United States, a TRIGA Mark II and a

TRIGA Mark III, are operated by the Korean Atomic Energy Research Institute.

These reactores are not suitable for plutonium production and there is no

evidence of fuel reprocessing, or plutonium production, even on a laboratory

scale.

Given South Korea’s lack of separation or fuel reprocessing facilities

and of a nuclear reactor designed chiefly for plutonium productions it is

unlikely that it could develop nuclear weapons in less than five years even

with some outside assistance. Under strong U.S. pressure, South Korea abandoned efforts to purchase a French designed reprocessing plant. Without any

outside assistance, it appears unlikely that South Korea could acquire a

nuclear device in less than ten years. A significant arsenal of nuclear

weapons would require an even longer time.

1-31
5. . . -. Net Assessment

At present incentives and disincentives appear to be closely

balanced with the latter slightly preponderant. The obstacles to proliferation are chiefly political, technical and administrative. It

would be difficult for the Korean government to initiate a clandestine

program given its dependence on foreign suppliers for equipment and

material and with the presence of U.S. military forces in Korea. Open

pursuit of a nuclear weapons program would raise intense objections by

the superpowers and other nations, like Japan, strongly opposed to

proliferation.

On

support

nuclear

In

the other hand, fear of a North Korean invasion and declining

from the U.S. provide strong incentives for a South Korean

weapons program.

sum, South Korea has considerable political-military incentive to

“go nuclear” but lacks the material means to do so. The strength of the

incentives to proliferate will be primarily dependent on the presence

or withdrawal of the American commitment to the defense of South Korea.

6. Circumstances that might alter the relationship between incentives

and disincentives

Among the circumstances that could alter the relationship between

incentives and disincentives are the following:

. The incentives would be greatly strengthened by a withdrawal

of all U.S. forces from South Korea.

. A rapprochement between the Soviet Union and the People’s

Republic of China would increase the fear of North Korean

attack and strengthen the incentive to proliferate.

● A Japan, U.S., and South Korean alliance guaranteeing the

status quo in the Korean Peninsula would strengthen the

disincentives to proliferation.

I-32
Japanese acquisition of nuclear weapons would tend to

strengthen the incentive to proliferation.

Changes in the relationship among North Korea, the

Soviet Union and the Peoples’s Republic of China can

strengthen or weaken the South Korean requirement for

nuclear weapons.

I-33
MAJOR REFRAINERS

The Federal Republic of Germany

1. The Security Perspective of the Federal Republic of Germany

Since its creation as an independent state following the Allied Occupation at

the end of World War II, the FRG has been presented with a unique set of security

problems. In their most acute form, these problems have revolved around the need to

deter a Soviet ground assault in the heart of Europe. In view of the enormity of this

task, as well as the firm European and Soviet opposition to independent German

rearmament, German security perspectives have been dominated by the alliance relationship with the United States and NATO. At the same time, as a defeated power whose reentry into European politics was a cause Of considerable controversy within the ranks

of the NATO allies, the FRG has feared that it would be relegated to the position of

a junior partner within the Alliance, and has since struggled for equal status.

2. The Nuclear Debate

With various exceptions, the Bonn regime has found that the best mix of solutions

for these problems has been to renounce any German possession or control over nuclear

weapons, while asking the United States to remain committed to the use of its own

nuclear weapons if a Soviet attack should ever come. Such a mix would work to deter

Soviet attack, while not panicking Moscow or Paris or Bruxelles with the prospect

of a German nuclear force.

While renouncing any right to produce nuclear weapons in one of the several

treaties associated with the ending of the Allied occupation in 1954-55, the FRG

was nevertheless anxious to obtain modern weapon systems, including nuclear capable

systems, lest it be perceived as a second class power within the NATO hierarchy.

At the same time, the Soviet Union began to reach a level of strategic parity with the

U s . As a result, doubts concerning the reliability of the U.S. nuclear commitment

to Europe’s defense began to surface on the continent. FRG officials grew increasingly

uneasy; this unease stimulated FRG desires for a “Finger on NATO nuclear trigger,”

as Franz Joseph Strauss and the CDU party put it. No leading West German political

leader, however, has ever seriously suggested that Germany consider acquiring nuclear

weapons of its own; and when German efforts to gain a direct and acknowledged

I-34
share in the NATO nuclear decision-making process in the MLF proposal produced

sharply unfavorable reactions throughout Western Europe, even that objective was

abandoned.

Given West Germany’s industrial power and technical ability, it has the clear

capability to develop nuclear weapons, should it ever choose to do so. Germany has

made a major commitment to nuclear power and supports a large nuclear energy research

and development program, including breeder reactor research. German scientists and

industry have developed the jet nozzle uranium enrichment process, which has been

sold to Brazil, and were active in the development of the gas centrifuge process to

be used to enrich uranium in Europe.

German scientists, however, are led by a group which signed a pledge in 1957

not to participate in any research of military value, and the Germany Defense

Ministry has few ties with nuclear research. While W. Germany is capable of developing

an independent closed fuel cycle (with the exception of the initial uranium supply),

it will acquire enriched uranium through URENCO, a European consortium and its

small fuel reprocessing laboratory is tied to France. By becoming involved in

multilateral nuclear fuel facilities, W. Germany has sought to allay fears of a covert

nuclear weapons program based on nuclear power plants. Furthermore, all German

reactors use slightly enriched uranium fuel, which is less than optimal for the

production of weapons grade plutonium. A covert German nuclear weapons program

would run the risk of exposure by Eastern. agents who have succeeded in penetrating

the German security system on numerous occasions, and revelation of such a program

theoretically could result in the loss of W. Germany sovereignty.

West Germany signed the NPT in 1969, but ratification was delayed until 1974.

This five-year delay was a result of misgivings and divisions within Germany

concerning the effect of the NPT, although it should not be taken as an indication

of a desire for a German nuclear weapons development program. Germany’s continuing

moral debt, public and scientific opposition, certain retaliation from both East

and West, the cost, and low utility of a small German nuclear force all weigh against

I-35
such a desire.

Initial German hesitation to sign the NPT was based on an uneasiness about the

intentions of the Soviet Union, which was at that time still seen as a major threat

to national sovereignty; on the fear that Germany ratification of the NPT could

disrupt European integration; and a more general fear that the NPT would interfere

with the development of industrial nuclear facilities. When Winy Brandt became

Prime Minister and initiated the Ostpolitik policy, he signed the NPT and when

safeguards agreements between Euratom and the IAEA were negotiated, the NPT was

ratified. In addition, by that time, renunciation of nuclear weapons was not seen

as resulting in an inevitable relegation to the level of a third-rate power and loss

of international status.

I-36
Japan

1. The Security Perspective

Since Japan has a highly developed island economy deficient in indigenous resources, the import of resources and the export of semiprocessed and

manufactured goods is essential for the maintenance of a high level of output

1

and continued growth. Thus, to foster and maintain Japan’s economic well-being,

access to foreign sources of raw materials and other commodities, open routes

of transportation, and unimpeded access to export markets are essential.

Although the security of the sea-lanes has traditionally been viewed as a

significant consideration, the energy crises of 1973-74 demonstrated the

vulnerability of some of the other factors which are essential for Japan’s

economic well-being. 2

The military threat to Japan is considered less acute than the economic

threat. Japan is not likely to be confronted with a major invasion of its

islands by conventional forces, but would be vulnerable to nuclear weapon

strikes delivered by USSR or PRC missiles or aircraft.

2. The Nuclear Debate

The strong moral aversion to nuclear weapons voiced by the

Japanese public may have decreased somewhat in recent years, but a large

segment of the population remains opposed to the acquisition of nuclear

arms by their country.

1

Yuan-li Wu, U.S. Policy and Stra Interests in the Western

pacific, p. 102 (New York: Crane, Russak & Company, Inc., 1975).

2 Ibid.

I-37
One U.S. scholar has observed that

has perhaps been overrated or taken too

the Japanese “nuclear allergy”

much for granted since 1945.3 George

Quester acknowledges a great deal of sincere Japanese revulsion to

nuclear weapons in the aftermath of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. But he is

also of the opinion that there has been a conscious exploitation by the

Japanese of the guilt feelings of the United States and other nations with

regard to the first and only use of these weapons. Manifesting an aversion

to nuclear weapons contributed to Japan’s goal of reacquiring respectability

in the aftermath of World War II.

The Atomic Energy Basic Law, enacted in 1955, explicitly prohibits

Japan from developing nuclear weapons

military purposes. Constitutionally,

missible to Japan, but this provision

or applying nuclear technologies for

“defensive” nuclear weapons are peris subject to grave difficulties in

interpretation and application. A credible nuclear deterrent today assumes

possession of a second-strike capability, which, in turn, implies deployment

of SLBMS. These missiles, by current Japanese definition, must be considered

offensive weapons. Thus, although the possession of nuclear weapons is

theoretically permitted under the Japanese Constitution, the types permitted

are so limited as to make their acquisition impracticable under current

circumstances. Nevertheless, this appears to be a surmountable barrier. If

conditions appear to call for a Japanese nuclear deterrent, the government

could simply "clarify" the meaning of “defensive” as it applies to nuclear

weapons. A 1970 Defense white paper stated the official view that the development of tactical nuclear weapons would not violate the Japanese constitution. 4

3 George H. Quester, The Politics of Nuclear proliferation, p. 111

(Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press, 1973).

4 Yoshiyasu Sato9 “Japan’s Response to Nuclear Developments: Beyond

‘Nuclear Allergy’”, in O. Marwah and Schulz, Nuclear Weapons and the

Near Nuclear Countries, (Cambridge, Mass.: Ballinger, 1975 p. 229)

I-38
While a few Japanese defense analysts have advocated keeping a more

“open mind” on whether Japan might not be better off with nuclear weapons

in its arsenal, most have been firmly opposed to such a

One of their principal arguments is the claim that

the badge of strength and prestige for over two

development.

nuclear weapons,

decades, are now of little military value in an era in which diplomacy is

the key to security in a multipolar setting. Another argument is advanced

the premise that, although nuclear weapons might

cannot prevent small conflicts. 5 It is further

nuclear force would be too small for deterrence

wars.

prevent a major war, they

on

postulated that any Japanese

and irrelevant for local

The scientific elite of Japan has similarly been staunchly opposed to

such possibilities, steering junior colleagues away from any “open-mindedness”.

One might note that this has been in marked contrast with the senior scientists

of France and India, or indeed at times of Australia Germany, and Argentina.

Due to the strong hierarchical structure of Japanese university life it is

difficult for

with those of

to any junior

junior scientists to hold independent views which are at odds

the “establishment”. Thus scant tolerance has been extended

scientists voicing “open-minded” opinions on nuclear weapons

for Japan. This anonaly has implications for any clandestine efforts to

develop nuclear weapons because of its impact on the ability to recruit

covertly the essential minimum number of scientists that would be required

for developing a nuclear weapons program.

To be meaningful a Japanese nuclear force posture would have to

possess an assured second-strike capability. If China is postulated

5

Fred Greene, Stresses in U.S. - Japanese Security Relations, P. 93

(Washington, D.C.: Brookings Institution, 1975).

I-39
as a potential enemy, it is noteworthy that the largest 1,000 Chinese

settlements hold only 12 percent of the population, and China has an

extensive civil defense program. There is a vast asymmetry in the vulnerability of densely populated, insular Japan vis-a-vis the People’s Republic

of China. About 32 percent of Japan’s total population is concentrated in

three circular areas with radii of about 30 miles each, centered on the

cities of Tokyo, Nagaya, and Osaka. 6

Thus the cost of an assured secondstrike capability would appear to be prohibitive. Any smaller Japanese

nuclear weapons capability could leave Japan more vulnerable than it is

now, for the development of any Japanese nuclear force is likely to lead

to a withdrawal of U.S. security guarantees provided under the U.S.-

Japan Security Treaty.

While it is assumed that Japan is under the “U.S. Nuclear Umbrella,”

detente between the U.S. and the Soviet Union, normalization of U.S.-

Chinese relations, reduction of U.S. military power in the Far East, the

proximity of Soviet naval and air power to Japan, and Peking’s growing

nuclear arsenal casts Japan’s future position in doubt. The desire for

7

an” ‘autonomous diplomacy’ is frustrated by the sensitivity of its

foreign trade to international political issues and by its military weakness. The simple issue of Japanese fishing rights in its own waters has

remained largely unsettled since before World War 11 and has become increasingly critical with the growth of the Soviet fishing industry.

6 Adelphi Paper No. 92, East Asia and the World System: Part II: The

Regional Powers. Papers from the Ste. Adele (Quebec) Conference,

(London: The Institute of Strategic Studies, Nov., 1972), p. 24.

7 Asian peace and Japanese Diplomacy,’l Senkai (Tokyo), August 1970; and

“Rogers Statement. . . Should Counter with Autonomous Diplomacy Argument,”

Yomiuri (Tokyo), August 13, 1972.

I-40
Japan’s military and naval forces are not adequate to the defense

of the home islands nor for providing security to Japan’s maritime traffic.

Japan is therefore dependent on the good will of its neighbors, the validity

of the U.S. security treaty, and the continued orderly operation of the

world’s commercial arteries.

While eschewing nuclear weapons development, Japan has invested

heavily in nuclear power generating facilities. Japanese technology is

highly advanced, and the increasing demand for electric power, coupled

with the lack of domestic energy sources, has led to a growing reliance

on nuclear power. Japanese scientists have gained a great deal of experience handling nuclear materials, and there are apparently no significant

technical barriers to the development of nuclear weapons in Japan. At the

same time, however, it must be noted that Japan has relied solely on light

water reactors for power production and has not as yet constructed a fuel

reprocessing plant. A major nuclear weapons program would require an entirely

new set of nuclear reactors suitable for the production of weapons grade

plutonium and a plutonium separation plant. Any such program would place

Japan’s energy production system in jeopardy, however, as Japan is dependent

on outside sources of uranium and enrichment services which might be cut off

were Japan to develop nuclear weapons. This would then jeopardize the entire

Japanese economy.

Japan is a party to the Non-proliferation Treaty, having signed it in

1970, and having ratified it six years later. The long interval between

signature and ratification indicated serious misgivings on the part of some

Japanese towards the treaty. The nuclear industry had first successfully

opposed the treaty, fearing a competive disadvantage due to the safeguards

system. By 1975, however, the industry realized that further delay would

1-41
actually hurt the growth of nuclear power in Japan, and supported the

NTP. The remaining opponents of ratification were unwilling to give up

Japan’s nuclear weapons option. Eventual Japanese ratification signified the importance attached to economic rather than military uses

of nuclear technology. After six years of discussion and debate, the

Japanese understanding of and commitment to the NPT and its provisions

is among the strongest of the

3* Special Circumstances

Nuclear weapons may hold

badge of great-power status.

overwhelming. In addition to

non-nuclear states.

some attraction to Japan as a deterrent and

The offsetting disadvantages are, however,

public resistance at home, a Japanese nuclear

force could be expected to intensify accusations abroad concerning the

“remilitarization” of Japan and might even precipitate a movement to form

an anti-Japanese military alliance among nations which suffered Japanese

occupation in World War II. Tokyo has to be sensitive to world opinion

because of the vulnerability of its trade, and a wide spread

movement could result in economic discrimination, closing of

ways, or similar problems.

anti-Japanese

vital water1-42
Sweden

1. Security Perspective

Neutrality in World War II enabled Sweden to emerge from the conflagration as

politically stable, economically unscarred, and militarily capable. Thus, the

country had every incentive to maintain a credible form of armed neutrality in the

late 1940s. Sweden’s experience differed from the other Nordic powers, all of which

had suffered military defeat.l

dent

that

Throughout the postwar era, Swedish foreign policy has sought to chart an indepenneutral course between NATO and the Warsaw pact. It is recognized, of course,

Sweden would be unable to withstand an attack by either coalition. The concept

behind the organization of Swedish defenses is that any attack on the country could

be so costly in terms of lives and equipment because of the resistance offered that

2 Accordingly, the Swedish any invader would consider the effort unworthy of return.

government has provided deep shelter for important industries, protected military

communications centers, maintained modern well-equipped forces, constructed extensive

combat fortifications, and instituted a system of universal military training.

2. The Nuclear Debate3

The way in which the Swedish nuclear power program was established reflected an

official desire to keep the nuclear weapons option open. A.B. Atomenergi, the semiprivate corporation charged with nuclear development, opted for domestically designed

and produced natural uranium reactors. This decision was apparently motivated by an

1. Egil Ulstein, Nordic Security, Adelphi “Paper No. 81 (London: The International

Institute for Strategic Studies, 1971), pp.6-7.

2. “In Defense of Sweden”, International Defense Review, Vol. 111, No. 4

(December 1970), p. 395.

3. The section on the nuclear debate is summarized from Jerome Garris, “Sweden’s

Debate on the Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons,” Cooperation and Conflict, Vol.

VIII (1973), pp. 189-208.

I-43
intention not to commit scarce resources to the development of an enrichment process.

It also meant that Sweden would be able to produce materials needed to support

a weapons program without reliance on an external source of supply.

At the same time, the leadership of the ruling Social Democrats was uncomfortable

with the prospect of acquiring nuclear weapons, and--for over a decade--resisted

efforts by the military and their Conservative Party allies to force a

to begin nuclear weapons development.

While the option remained open, advocates of a nuclear capability

decision

based their

arguments on the need for tactical nuclear weapons deployed defensively to maintain

Sweden’s neutrality. As popular opinion began to shift in favor of non-acquisition,

the military-Conservative coalition scaled down its demands, and urged a military

research program which might keep the option open. The Social Democrats and their

allies of the Liberal and Center parties continued to delay a decision and, in the

meantime, pursued an active policy of supporting international efforts at disarmament

and arms control. By the late 1960s, opponents of a national nuclear force were

clearly ascendant: The Swedish Riksdag ratified the NPT in December 1968,

debate and no opposition.

Several factors appear to have contributed to the decision to refrain

exercising the nuclear option:

• The Social Democrats exercised great restraint in resisting early

pressures to proliferate.

• The government undertook a commitment to the goals of international

disarmament and arms control.

• The nature of Swedish coalition politics, which makes compromise

easy but decisions on controversial issues difficult, militated

against the coalition supporting the acquisition of nuclear weapons.

• The Swedish public witnessed a real debate over the issue that

spanned over a decade.

• Some military personnel concluded that increased conventional forces

were more useful to Sweden than nuclear weapons.

Ž The perceived threat emanating from the East receded with the first

stirrings of U.S.-Soviet detente.

with little

from

1-44
3. Special Circumstances

The waning Swedish interest in acquiring nuclear weapons can be traced to

several strategic developments in the 20

Atomenergi and ratification of the NPT.

U.S. and Soviet nuclear arsenals and the

The kind of armed neutrality that Sweden

1940s and early 1950s simply became less

NATO and Warsaw Pact capabilities grew.

years between the creation of A.B.

The first was the enormous growth of the

growth of the two great military pacts.

could seriously entertain in the late

credible as the Cold War went on and as

The national defense burden also increased

with the growing cost and complexity of modem arms and equipment. By the early

1970s, the Swedes openly admitted that there would be no follow-on to the Viggen

fighter-bomber, the pride of the Air Force.

As the relevance of Swedish military forces shrank it became evident to the

leadership in Stockholm that Swedish security interests were best served by striving

to reduce East-West tensions, thereby minimizing the risk of confrontation and conflict

in Europe. It is probably that the Swedes see

potential assest in mediating disputes between

their continued neutrality as a

Washington and Moscow.

1-45
Conclusion

Japan, Sweden and the Federal Republic of Germany have each refrained

from proliferation despite the technical and industrial capability that

places nuclear weapons easily within reach of those countries. All three

countries have extensive civilian nuclear power programs and each faces

potential adversaries whose military strength and strategic position are

threats to their independence.

Japan is party to a security treaty with the United States which is

intended to deter strategic nuclear attack; the Federal Republic of Germany

is a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization that is pledged

to assist any of its members who are attacked; and Sweden is neutral,

although it is assumed within Swedish defense circles that a Soviet attack

on Sweden would be part of a general attack on NATO and that therefore

NATO would in fact become an ally of Sweden under those circumstances.

The considerations that dictate nonproliferation for the three

countries are chiefly political. Each eschews nuclear weapons, in part,

because of their intrinsic qualities and because of the disapprobation

that such weapons elicit among their citizenry. For Japan and Germany,

there is the additional consideration that any nuclear weapons program would

carry overtones of militarism reminiscent of the time when both countries

were bent on conquest. Sweden on the other hand, cherishes a role as a

neutral and an advocate of peace and reconciliation, a position that would

be compromised by possession of nuclear weapons. Beyond that, the military

utility of national nuclear forces for each of the three countries is

problematical. Japan and Germany are allied to nuclear powers, implying

that nuclear weapons would be available for their defense in the event

I-46
of war, while none of the three countries can reasonably

hope to deploy nuclear forces sufficiently adequate to defend against a

determined attack by its potential adversaries. None of the three

countries wishes to challenge its nuclear-armed adversaries, and both

Japan and Germany are careful to respect the nonproliferation policy

for their ally, the United States.

For the three refrainers examined here, the acquisition of nuclear

weapons within the current context on international affairs would bring

unwarranted changes on their circumstances in the international community

without strengthening commensurately their respective defensive capabilities. Such is not the case with some other nuclear-capable countries.

I-47
Apppendix II. Peaceful Nuclear Explosions

by Barbara G. Levi
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XVI.

Peaceful Nuclear Explosions

Table of Contents

Historical Background .

Provisions of Article V

Effect of PNE’s on Test

U.S. Program on PNE’s .

Contained Applications:

Increased Production of

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USSR Program on PNE’s . . . .

USSR Excavations . . . . . .

USSR Contained Applications .

PNE Interest in Other Nations

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APPENDIX II

Peaceful Nuclear Explosions

The potential of nuclear explosions for both destructive and beneficial uses has posed a persistent arms-control dilemma: What measures

can be taken to deny nuclear weapons to a nation without also denying it

the possible benefits of peaceful nuclear explosions? A happy solution

seemed to have been found in the Non Proliferation Treaty (NPT) , which

forbids non-nuclear weapons states to develop nuclear devices of any type,

but which simultaneously promises these nations any benefits from peaceful

nuclear explosions (PNE’s) on a non-discriminatory, low-as-possible cost

basis. Hence, the non-weapons states would never have to develop the

technology to produce nuclear explosives, which is essentially identical

to the technology for producing nuclear weapons.

Since the signing of the NPT, however, the hopes for benefits from

PNE’s have continued to fade while the concern over their abuse has continued to intensify. India underscored this concern in 1974 by detonating

a nuclear blast which she claimed was for peaceful purposes. Other nations

have noticed that India suffered very few repercussions for her actions.

Nations who are parties to the NPT are of course constrained from following

India’s example. Nevertheless, they could potentially feel disappointed

that none of the promised wonders of PNE’s have been made theirs, and

resentment has been expressed over the discriminatory approach of the NPT.

These factors could put an additional strain on nations’ willingness to

abide by the NPT.

The present dilemma might then be rephrased: What measures can be

taken to prevent PNE’s from being used as either an excuse or an incentive
II - 2

for weapons development? Suggested solutions range from a complete ban

on PNE’s to an international regime that would provide them to all nations.

The selection of any solution should be made only after a study of what

hopes the various nations have placed on PNE’s and whether these aspirations

are well founded.

Historical Background

The promotion of the peaceful nuclear applications of nuclear power

began in the 1950’s, with President Eisenhower’s “Atoms for peace” speech

in 1953 perhaps symbolizing the start of the era. Scientists at the

Lawrence Livermore Laboratory (LLL) helped initiate the government sponsored

Plowshare Program in 1957 to research commercial and civil engineering

projects that could be undertaken with nuclear explosions. Some critics now

feel these scientists may have been too committed to their work in nuclear

1

explosives to take a sufficiently dispassionate view of PNE’s. No matter

what the motive, however, there clearly were legitimate reasons for exploring

the idea that nuclear bombs could create as well as destroy.

The optimism of the early researchers was reflected in their presentations at various international conferences from the late ‘50’s to the early

‘70’s. Peaceful nuclear explosions were first mentioned at the second

of four Conferences on the Peaceful Uses of Atomic Energy (1955, 1958, 1964,

1971) sponsored jointly by the U.N. and the IAEA, and were further described in the last two of these conferences. The U.S. conducted four

symposia (1957, 1959, 1964, 1970) as part of the Plowshare Program. At

all these meetings the various nations in attendance were stimulated to

dream of grandiose nuclear engineering projects that might develop their

domestic resources at a low cost.
II - 3

These high expectations for PNE’s had to be recognized when the NPT

was drafted. The Treaty allowed non-nuclear weapons states to receive

the benefits of PNE’s even though they would not be permitted to develop

their own nuclear explosions. Any nation that was truly serious about

its plans to use PNE’s should have welcomed this provision of the NPT, for

most non-weapons states lack the sophisticated nuclear technology to develop

an explosive with the stringent requirements of one intended for domestic

applications. Such devices must be manageable small, yield minimal amounts

of radiation and bear a low price tag.

Provisions of Article V

The specific provisions for peaceful applications of nuclear explosions

are contained in Article V of the NPT, which reads as follows:

“Each Party to the Treaty undertakes to take appropriate

measures to ensure that, in accordance with this Treaty,

under appropriate international observation and through

appropriate international procedures, potential benefits

from any peaceful applications of nuclear explosions will

be made available to non-nuclear-weapons States Party to

the Treaty on a nondiscriminatory basis and that the charge

to such Parties for the explosives used will be as low as

possible and exclude any charge for research and development. Non-nuclear-weapons States Party to the Treaty shall

be able to obtain such benefits, pursuant to a special international body with adequate representation of non-nuclearweapons States. Negotiations on this subject shall commence

as soon as possible after the Treaty enters into force.

Non-nuclear-weapon States Party to the Treaty so desiring

may also obtain such benefits pursuant to bilateral agreements.”

The wording of Article V of the NPT has created some problems with subsequent interpretation. From the start, the U.S. was concerned over what

2

it viewed as an open-ended commitment implied in the Article. To what extent

does it obligate the nuclear powers to provide the peaceful benefits of

nuclear explosions? Should they be actively developing and promoting the

applications of PNE’s or more passively providing the PNE’s only if their

benefits are unambiguously determined? It is also unclear whether a nuclear
II - 4

power must provide PNE’s to a nation when they are either hazardous, uneconomic

or in some way inappropriate to the job proposed.

A second uncertainty about Article V concerns the exact nature of the

“special international agreements” and the identity of the “appropriate international body”. Some may have envisioned that an agency would be promptly

established to provide nuclear explosives and services for any peaceful

domestic projects. The actual implementation of Article V, however, seems

to be evolving slowly. perhaps because of the continued uncertainty over the

relative merits and demerits of PNE’s.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) was perhaps the natural

candidate to be the “appropriate international body” mentioned in the NPT.

In 1971, the U.N. Secretariat asked the IAEA to “exercise the functions of

an international service for nuclear explosions for peaceful purposes”.

The statement did not clearly define what those functions would be and

suggested that the IAEA study the ways and means to carry out this task.

So far the IAEA seems to have defined its role as a fairly limited one.

It has developed procedures for the international observation of peaceful

nuclear explosions, as called for in Article V. It has further sought to

gather and disseminate technical information about the nonmilitary application

of nuclear devices. It has done so through the sponsorship of a series of

international technical meetings (1970, 1971, 1972, 1975, 1976), through participation in the International Nuclear Information System and most recently

through the establishment of an office to handle the information exchange

and service requests.

In 1974 the IAEA developed procedures for responding to requests for

PNE-related services. The services envisioned to date are assistance with

preliminary, pre-feasibility and feasibility studies. In fact, a team from
II - 5

IAEA, at the request of Egypt in 1976, did conduct a preliminary review of

the possible use of nuclear explosions in connection with the construction of

a canal from the Mediterranean Sea to the Qatarra Depression. No procedures

have been defined for responding to requests for services beyond the feasibilitystudy stage , Such longer-range plans will be on the agenda of the Ad Hoc

Advisory Group on Nuclear Explosions for Peaceful Purposes, created by IAEA in

1975. One of the tasks of this group is to advise the Board of Governors on

the question of an international service for PNE’s as well as on the structure

and content of the “international agreements” mentioned in Article V“.

In general, the IAEA seems to see its role as that of an intermediary -

facilitating exchange of information and providing a liaison between those

nations requesting PNE services and those nations willing to provide consultation or actual explosive devices.
11 - 6

Effect of PNE’s on Test Ban Treaties

PNE’s have complicated negotiations for test ban treaties.

The only test bans that have been negotiated between the U.S. and the

U.S.S.R. are the 1974 Threshold Test Ban (TTB) Treaty and its associated

1976 Treaty on Underground Explosions for Peaceful Purposes (the so-called

PNE Treaty, which is till not ratified but which was a prerequisite for

implementation of the TTBT). Both have been criticized for blocking

rather than paving the way toward a comprehensive test ban.

The major objection to the Threshold Test Ban Treaty is that is poses

very little hindrance to weapons tests: the upper limit of 150 kton is

10 times the size of the bomb dropped on Hiroshima. The PNE Treaty places

the same limit on the size of nuclear explosions for peaceful applications

as the TTB does on nuclear weapons tests. This provision was necessary

because both sides admitted during the negotiations that no one can verify

that PNE’s are not being used for weapons development--even with the on-site

observations that constitute a unique feature of the PNE Treaty.

The unfortunate aspect of the PNE Treaty is that it is a separate

treaty. It was negotiated separately largely in deference to the Soviets,

who claim an active interest in a PNE program. (Ironically enough, it was

the Soviets who, thirteen years earlier, had opposed U.S. efforts to exclude

PNE’s from the Limited Test Ban Treaty. ) The existence of a PNE Treaty

legitimatizes a separate status for such peaceful nuclear devices and invites

other nations such as Brazil to use the same excuse for nuclear weapons

development as India did. Furthermore, the PNE Treaty will complicate any

attempts to reduce the upper limit on tests set in the TTB. Because the

treaties have recognized the indistinguishability of weapons and PNE tests,

no reduction in weapons tests is likely as long as interest remains in larger

PNE tests.
II - 7

In view of these complications in arms control introduced by the concept

of beneficial applications of nuclear devices, it is necessary to examine

whether any of the potential benefits are worth this price.

U.S. Program on PNE’s

In the nearly twenty years since the start of the Plowshare Program,

many beneficial applications of nuclear explosions have been extensively

studied in the U.S. Despite the initial enthusiasm over the Program, most

of the recent reports manifest decreased optimism. The U.S. budget for PNE’s

reflects the same trend: After having spent $160 million on PNE experiments,

the U.S. currently has alloted about $1 million per year for PNE’s. Of that,

$300,000 is earmarked for research on using PNE’s to create storage cavities

for radioactive wastes. The remaining funds are for the purposes of fulfilling

the obligations of the NPT.

The Plowshare Program investigated both of the two general categories

of nuclear explosions for peaceful purposes: excavation projects and contained

explosions. (See Table I for a chronology of the Plowshare Program.) One

of the more prominent excavation projects-- the construction by nuclear means

of a sea level canal to supplement the Panama Canal--was studied by the

Atlantic–Pacific Interoceanic Canal Study Commission, appointed in 1965. In

its final report in 1970, the Commission gave the concept a rather negative

assessment. A major finding was that the technology of nuclear excavation was

not yet sufficiently advanced. In addition, the necessity of locating the

canal route far from population centers to avoid seismic and radiation damage

raised costs above those estimated for construction with conventional explosions.

Although there are some locations where the economics are more favorable
II - 8

for nuclear excavation projects, the other factors that hindered the

isthmian canal project are still present. The technology knowledge does

not yet allow precise predictions of crater depth and width or of crater

lip stability. Furthermore, the trough created by a given nuclear explosion

must be accepted as is, for the area is too radioactively hot to permit

immediate modifications, as is possible with conventional explosions. Even

if these technical problems could be surmounted, the health and environmental

problems still remain Seismic effects. air blast and radiation from a nuclear

detonation are severe enough to necessitate evacuation of the local population,

often for extended periods of time. Research on bomb design has resulted in

“cleaner” bombs--ones that shield the neutrons and that have a large

thermonuclear component to minimize the production of biologically significant

fission products. The research has resulted in order-of-magnitude

decreases in radiation, but some radioactivity is released.

The radiation releases constitute a political as well as a health constraint

on excavation applications. The Limited Test Ban Treaty of 1963 forbids any

nuclear explosion for any purpose that would spread radioactive debris beyond

the border of the nation conducting the explosion. Wishing to abide by this

treaty and discouraged by the many negative factors of nuclear excavation

projects, the U.S. halted this phase of PNE research in 1969.

Contained Applications: General Factors

Although hopes for nuclear excavations are dead in the U.S. , interest

in contained nuclear explosions is still alive. One reason is that nuclear

explosions have a far greater energy density than conventional chemical

explosions. Thus, the size and weight of a nuclear explosive can be about

1/10,000 of the size or weight of a chemical explosive that would accomplish

the same job. This logistic advantage also leads to an economic advantage:
11 - 9

The cost of a nuclear device has been estimated to be about 1/10 that of

a comparable chemical device, for those with a yield of 10 kt or higher

(these estimates are somewhat speculative). In addition, the cost of the

nuclear explosion does not increase much as the yield goes up. A 1,000

kt device costs little more than a 100 kt device. This fact tends to favor

5

applications with large yields.

The exact pricetag on a nuclear explosive is technically a military

secret. Current estimates are that it would be somewhere between $400,000

and $1,000,000.6 The costs associated with its use - such as device emplace7 

ment, monitoring, evacuation - roughly double the cost of the device. Non e

of these costs reflects the research and development expense, most of which

has been covered by the weapons program8 and the AEC Plowshare Program.

Some additional interest in PNE’s has

energy crisis. The emphasis on decreasing

been stimulated recently by the

our reliance on foreign sources

petroleum products and the increased cost of such energy sources has made i

of

-t

worthwhile to develop domestic reserves that were previously ignored. It is

hoped that nuclear explosions might stimulate production from tight gas

formations, assist in retorting oil shale in situ or perhaps create underground

storage caverns for oil, gas or liquified natural gas (LNG).

A detailed evaluation of these and other possible applications of nuclear

explosions in the U.S. was completed by the Gulf Universities Research Consortium

(GURC) in 1975.9 Their task, commissioned by the Arms Control and Disarmament

Agency, was explicitly to project the use of PNE technology up to the year

1990. They found that the technical uncertainties surrounding most of the

proposed projects were so large as to preclude any economic analysis except

a range of cost estimates. Nevertheless, even with the most optimistic assump-
11 - 10

tions, the GURC study concluded that any PNE application before 1990 was highly

unlikely. Their report underscores some general factors that all PNE applications have in common:

“1. Technical uncertainties. The impact of a nuclear explosion

in particular circumstances can not yet be accurately predicted and the results vary with such factors as the type

of rock, depth and size of explosive. Technical uncertainties

also surround the non-nuclear aspects of most of the proposed

applications. Finally, the quantity, quality and properties

of the resource to be exploited are rarely known with great

certainty.

2. Economic uncertainties. Until the technical questions are

fully answered, firm cost estimates of various applications

are difficult to make. The GURC report could make economic

predictions only by assuming success for each of the various

development stages. On this hypothetical basis the report

found that some applications of nuclear explosives might be

commercially competitive.

3. Regulatory Questions. A major factor in preventing or at least

retarding the application of PNE’s is the public opposition to

it. Already two restrictions loom as handwriting on the wall,

especially against the background of resistance that has been

faced by the nuclear power industry. One of these restrictions

is a state constitutional amendment that was passed in Colorado

in 1974 to ban the conduct of any nuclear tests unless approved

by a statewide referendum. (Colorado was the site of two contained
II - 11

4.

nuclear experiments and possesses considerable quantities of

gas and oil shale that are being proposed for development

by PNE’s.) Separately, Congress in 1974 passed a provision

in the ERDA budget that prohibits funds from being used for

PNE tests. If further public resistance developed to any

attempt to accelerate the PNE program, it would produce

considerable delays and would raise the costs.

Supply of PNE’s. Nuclear explosives are necessarily a

government monopoly and would have to be supplied to the

industry by the government if an actual PNE program developed.

Some of the proposed applications envision several hundred

PNE’s per year, and the industry would have to be assured of

a reliable supply. The government would presumably have to

establish a production line to provide the required number at

a reasonable cost. Close coordination with the intended user

would have to be maintained, especially in the early phases

of production start-up. Another problem could conceivably be

the competition of the PNE program with the Defense Department

10 and the nuclear power industry for a supply of nuclear fuels.

5* Environmental Effects. Seismic damage is a limiting factor for

most contained PNE applications. The damage to buildings and

necessity of evacuation restricts the use of such techniques to

areas of low population density. Repeated detonations in the
II - 12

same area might also cause appreciable ground rise and

additional damage to structures. While the radiation

from a contained explosion is not released in large

quantities

amounts of

Some might

into the air, as with an excavation, small

radioactivity can still find their way out:

be vented to the air, some can seep into the

ground water and some might be mixed with the product being

mined or extracted. Finally, the ever present though small

risk of accident becomes multiplied by the large number of

explosions required for most of the PNE uses.

6. Success of Competing Technology. Almost every task proposed

for PNE’s can be accomplished by other techniques. Often

the alternative is either more costly or in an early stage

of development, but research on less controversial techniques

may advance more quickly.

Increased Production of Gas Resources

A look at the most frequently discussed PNE proposals gives insight

into how all these general factors operate in particular circumstances. One

application that has received considerable attention is the stimulation of

tight gas formations. These formations are regions where the permeability is too

low to allow the gas to flow into wells at sufficiently fast rates. If the

permeability could be increased by using a nuclear explosion to fracture

the rock, the rate of recovery might be appreciably improved. A series of

three such explosions were conducted in the Rocky Mountain states. The first

two - Gasbuggy (a 29 kt explosion in 1967) and Rulison (43 kt in 1969) -

produced some positive increases in gas flow. The third one - Rio Blanco
II - 13

(three devices of 30 kt each in 1973) - was a disappointment and has been

one cause of general disillusionment with PNE’s. The objective of the

Rio Blanco test was to connect three lenticular regions by exploding three

blasts simultaneously at different depths. Tests indicate the chambers did

not connect as planned and gas yield was lower than expected. A fourth

planned test of gas stimulation has not been scheduled.

The Rio Blanco test failure illustrates the lack of knowledge of

critical parameters. The permeability of the rock and the amount of gas

may not have been well enough known. The effect of the blast on the rock

evidently were not predicted correctly. The unknown effects include the height

of the chimney (perhaps underestimated in this case), the fracture patterns

and the rate of healing of the fractures, which would slow production over

a period of time.

Even if the technology did succeed, this application of PNE’s would

face some environmental problems. The gas produced might have some radio–

active contamination (albeit at a low level) that might affect its marketability. This application also calls for a larger annual number of PNE’s

11

(as many as 450 per year) than most other proposals.

The major competitor to PNE’s for gas stimulation is the technique of

massive hydraulic fracturing (MHF). A mixture of sand and water at high

pressure is pumped into the rock to fracture it. The sand prevents any healing

of the fractures. Estimates are that PNE’s are cheaper than MHF for the

stimulation of gas reserves but by a margin that is less than the range of

12

uncertainty in the estimates.

Stimulation of Oil Wells

The use of nuclear explosions to stimulate production from oil reservoirs
II - 14

is less promising than gas stimulation. There is virtually no interest in

this application in the U.S. Many fear it might result in long-term

damage to the reservoir, and several alternatives for enhanced oil recovery

13

are available.

Extraction of Oil from Shale

A third potential use for nuclear explosions is to assist in the

recovery of oil from the shales in the Rocky Mountain Basin. The amount

of oil that might be ultimately recoverable exceeds the cumulative domestic

14

production of crude oil up to 1974. The recovery of this large resource

poses equally large problems. The petroleum is present in the shale

in the form of an organic compound called kerogen which must be heated to

8

-- . . . 800 F before it turns into a fluid that can be extracted.

The best known method for extracting the shale oil is open-pit mining

above ground retorting. A perhaps preferable variation is to replace

open-pit mines with underground mines. Still both methods have severe

and

the

problems. The above ground retorting requires large amounts of water whereas

15

the surrounding areas are typically quite arid. It also results in an

accumulation of depleted shale above ground which presents a disposal

problem. Finally, it requires relatively high quality shale.

To avoid these problems of above ground retorting, several in-situ

techniques are being studied. In the Garrett process, an underground

cavity is mined. A conventional explosion is detonated in this cavity

to create a rubble-filled chimney. A combustion front is then started at

the top of the chimney and continues to advance downward as air is fed in.

The liquid product, similar to crude oil, forms in a pool at the bottom and

is pumped to the surface. Gaseous products are also collected. The low

Btu liquid usually requires further processing at the surface.
II - 15

An alternative to the Garrett process is to use a nuclear device to

create the rubble-filled chimney. This application may require explosives

ranging from 30 to 130 kt for depths of detonation from 900 feet to 1900

feet.fi Perhaps 100 PNE’s per year might be required if this application became

fully developed. 17

Many problems plague both in-situ retorting processes. Some features

that- need to be researched are the percentage of oil that might be recovered

(optimistic estimates are 60%), the extent to which the void space in the

rubble might be closed by such phenomena as exfoliation of the rock, and

the pressure drop through the length of the chimney (the pressure drop affects

a critical cost element - compression of the air). Some experimental data

is being provided by an experimental 150-foot retort created by non-nuclear

techniques and operated by the Bureau of Mines. However, it is not clear

how one should extrapolate these data to the much higher chimneys and

perhaps different rubble-size distribution to be created by a nuclear

explosion.

The behavior of the shale following a nuclear explosion is a major

uncertainty as PNE’s have never been tested in this unique medium. It is

critical to predict accurately parameters such as the chimney height, void

space (now estimated at 121⁄2%), and rubble size.18

As in other PNE applications there would be some radiation and seismic effects.

The surface rise might be appreciable and could affect such high–investment

19 structures as processing plants for the shale oil.

The application of nuclear explosions to recovering oil shale is

restricted to a limited portion of the shale region by several siting requirements. The explosives must be used in beds with an overburden of at least
11 - 16

1000 feet to avoid venting of radiation. They must be spaced far enough

apart to avoid a blow-by, in which the chimney created by one explosion

interferes with that from another. This latter spacing requirement may mean

20

that only 25% of the oil shale in a given region may be fractured by PNE’s.

The retorting process in turn can extract at most 60% of the oil in the

fractured shale, further reducing the yield. 21

Prospects for above ground retorting now

economics and environmental impacts. In situ

explosives appears better on both counts, but

appear poor because of unfavorable

retorting using conventional

is in a substantially earlier

stage of development. If oil shale is to be exploited, one or both of

these techniques will be utilized well before the PNE concept can be realized. 22

Creation of Storage Cavities

The furthest developed application of PNE’s is the creation of underground

storage cavities. The first contained Plowshare explosion, dubbed Gnome,

was a 3.1 kt blast in a salt formation that produced a cavern with few cracks

and glazed walls. Such a volume could be used for storage of gas, oil,

liquefied natural gas or even for permanent storage of chemical or

radioactive wastes. Salt domes or salt formations are probably the best

media for such cavities, although other rocks such as clay, clay shale or

some sandstone may also be quite adequate. Hard rock tends to fracture into

large cracks when subjected to nuclear explosions.

The usefulness of nuclear explosions for creating such storage chambers

will depend in part upon the number of locations that can be found with just

the right combination of circumstances: salt domes situated far from population centers but near strategic points with respect for the marketing

or transportation of oil and gas. These requirements frequently conflict

24 with one another.
II - 17

One alternative to nuclear-created storage cavities is to construct above

ground containers of steel or concrete, but these are often more expensive than

underground vaults created by nuclear means. Solution-washed salt cavities may be

cheaper but they are limited to regions near salt water for washing and the

25 ocean for disposal. Perhaps the least costly alternative for storage is

to use abandoned mines or aquifers. There may be enough of these at appropriate locations to eliminate the need to carve new caverns with nuclear

26

explosions.

Leaching of Copper Ore

A fifth beneficial application of nuclear explosions might be

to assist in the mining of copper deposits. A nuclear blast could be used to

fracture the copper ore to facilitate a leaching process. The ore is leached

with water that is saturated with oxygen in order to convert the insoluble

copper sulfides to soluble sulfates. The problem is to have the temperature

high enough (around 200°F) and the circulation rapid enough for the sulfate

to remain in solution long enough to be extracted. Research on using PNE’s

for this technique began in 1967 with Project Sloop and is now being

27

conducted jointly by LLL and the Kennecott Copper Company.

As in the case of in situ retorting of oil shale, uncertainties

must be resolved concerning the non-nuclear as well as the nuclear aspects

of the copper leaching technique. Some of the unknowns include the degree

of oxygen saturation required, the temperature gradient (because of the

reaction rate is a function of temperature) and the composition of the ore

itself. Once these questions are answered one must determine the size
11 - 18

and distribution of the

which in turn affect the

The seismic damage

rubble created in the ore by the nuclear explosion,

28

reaction rate and the speed of fluid flow.

may rule out some applications of this technique

because significant copper deposits are located quite near to populated

29

areas. Further restrictions might result from possible contamination

of the copper with small amounts of ruthenium-106, an element with a half

life of about one year. A final factor limiting the use of PNE's is that

the economics will remain quite marginal unless the prices of copper rise.

These five applications for PNE’s are only a few in a long list of

proposals, but the others have received considerably less attention. No application is close to being realized in the U.S. In all cases there appear to be

viable alternatives, but in some cases, PNE’s seem to offer substantial

cost savings. As illustrated above, however, a great many uncertainties

must be resolved before commercial use

USSR Program on PNE’s

The Soviet interest in beneficial

was increasing as that in the U.S. was

that the USSR may now be going through

can be contemplated.

applications of nuclear explosions

declining. Some observers feel

a period of questioning with regard

to PNE’s similar to that experienced by the U.S. ten years ago. Some

representatives of the USSR over the past few years have expressed

30 serious doubts about the prospects of PNE’s. Experiments are continuing,

however, and at

Soviet delegate

represent one of

energy.”

The outcome

the August 1976 Conference on Complete Disarmament the

declared that “nuclear explosions for peaceful purposes

the new and very promising avenues of the use of nuclear

of any deliberations over engineering applications of

nuclear explosions in the Soviet Union will depend upon the same types of
11 - 19

factors as those in the U.S. but these factors may operate in different

ways. The U.S.S.R. is unlikely to face severe public opposition to PNE’s

although environmental groups do exist (Such a group succeeded recently in

changing the development plans for Lake Baikal.) . The concern over the

seismic damage and the radiation releases is not as great because the U.S.S.R.

has vast unpopulated regions in which it envisions many of the proposed

appli-cations. The economics are difficult to evaluate as the U.S.S.R. has

not published any studies and the accounting procedures may be very different.

The technical aspect of PNE’s have as many uncertainties in the U.S.S.R.

31

as in the U.S. The Soviets do have an active experimental program and are

investigating a wide variety of applications and types of geological materials.

From 1965 through November 1973, the Soviets conducted 16 nuclear explosions

which they claimed were for industrial or experimental purposes. (See Table

2.) An additional 17 seismic events have been identified (by either ERDA

or by the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute) as nuclear

explosions outside the normal weapons test areas; these events are classified

32

as probable PNE tests. Two such tests were monitored in 1976, the more

33

recent being a blast in Central Siberia on November 5.

U.S.S.R. Excavations

One of the applications of PNE’s that has received much attention is

the construction of a canal to link the north-flowing Pechora River with the

south-flowing Kana River. The goal is to increase the water flow into the

Caspian Sea, whose level has dropped in recent years because of dry weather and

heavy water demand. The Soviets have proposed the use of nuclear explosives

to dig a 65–km section of the 112.5-km canal that traverses the most mountainous

terrain. This application calls for 250 explosives of up to 150 kt each.

(See Table 3.) They have tested three 15 kt explosions in the water-saturated
II - 20

alluvium soil that forms part of the canal route. (The effect of nuclear

blasts on the rocky portions are believed to be better understood.) The

tests resulted in a crater that is perhaps shallower and smaller in cross

section than planned, but the Soviets claim it is adequate for their canal. 34

Another excavation project for nuclear explosions in the U.S.S.R. is

the creation of water-storage reservoirs, especially in the Central Asiatic

35

Republic. One such reservoir was created by a nuclear blast of more than

100 kt that was set off adjacent to a river bed. The crater lip formed a

dam across the river and a reservoir behind it. A canal was subsequently

dug to connect the crater with this reservoir. In this test and others,

the crater lip tended to slump following the explosions, creating a wider

but shallower crater, but was stable thereafter.

36The Soviets seemed pleased

37

with this project but later let the water drain.

A final excavation proposal is to remove the overburden from large

deposits of non-ferrous metals. It is estimated that perhaps more than

half of the deposit can be made accessible by nuclear techniques at a savings

of over one billion rubles .38 The area is described as being similar to

39

the far north but with high seismicity and frequent earthquakes.

These three plans for excavation experiments in the U.S.S.R.

markable if only because the U.S. has long since discontinued its

projects to comply with the Limited Test Ban Treaty. Indeed, the

are reexcavation

crater

lip dam did produce fallout that travelled beyond the boundaries of the

40

U.S.S.R. The Soviets claim that the radiation releases fall below standards

for radiation protection, but the limit set by the Treaty is zero. This

risk is inherent to excavation projects. Continued Soviet violations may

put a severe strain on the treaty.
II - 21

USSR: Contained Applications

The Soviets are investigating several uses of contained nuclear explosions

in the category of resource recovery. They have claimed success in increasing

the production of two oil fields by a series of explosions of 8 kt or less

41

(See Table 2.) They presented too little data for their claims to be verified,

but several U.S. observers feel that it is not clear that the production in42

creases were the direct result of the nuclear explosions.

The U.S.S.R. plans to use PNE’s to simulate gas production as well.

Although they claim to have conducted a test of this application, no details

43

have been forthcoming. The application of the fracturing properties of nuclear

44 explosions to the breaking of ores is also being studied.

As in the U.S., the application that is the most developed is the creation

of underground storage chambers. The first cavity tested (created by 1.1 kt

device exploded in a salt dome) leaked water and radioactivity. A second

(25 kt in a salt dome) proved to have satisfactory storage properties.

The third cavity (15 kt in salt formation) is now in industrial use

45

for the storage of gas condensate.

A proven but limited use for nuclear explosions that was developed in

the U.S.S.R. is the sealing of runaway gas well fires. A 30 kt device sealed

a fire that had been out of control for three years; a 40 kt explosions ex46

tinguished a flame in an adjacent well. No other methods had been feasible

or effective.

In the descriptions of all their various programs, the Soviets seem

optimistic, but close examination reveals that few of the PNE uses (except

perhaps the control of runaway gas well fires) are really proven both

technologically and economically.

The intensity of Soviet interest in its PNE program is difficult to assess,

especially as divergent voices are still expressed within the scientific community.
11 - 22

Most of the applications are being promoted more by technocrats than politicians.

Which would win out if the U.S.S.R. ever had to decide whether it would forego

the benefits of peaceful nuclear explosions in order to gain a comprehensive

test ban? A very remote possibility is that the PNE program is being kept

alive simply as an excuse not to enter into a complete test ban.

PNE Interest in Other Nations

Among the nuclear weapons states, the U.S. and the U.S.S.R. have by

far the most active programs. France has expressed some interest in underground

storage, especially under the ocean, and in the stimulation of hydrocarbon

resources. However, she is limited from extensive PNE applications by her

dense population. Great Britain faces similar limitations and has virtually

47

no plans to use PNE’s. The plans of China are not known.

Although India claimed her nuclear detonation was a test for peaceful

purposes, she has never elaborated in detail what her hopes for PNE’s are.

The Indian delegate to the IAEA technical meeting in 1975 spoke only vaguely

about interest in stimulating production from oil wells (an application that

48

is nearly rejected in the U.S.) and in the mining of non-ferrous metals.

Among the non-nuclear nations, the most publicized peaceful applications

of nuclear explosions are excavation projects. Perhaps these nations cannot

think in terms of contained applications, which frequently would require hundreds

of explosives per year and necessitate a reliable source of PNE’s. Three

canal-building proposals are summarized in Table 3. The Columbian project

was considered the most favorable route evaluated by the Atlantic-Pacific

Interoceanic Canal Study Commission. Little mention of it is made in recent

literature.

Both Venezuela and Thailand have proposed canals that are estimated to
II - 23

be cheaper with nuclear than conventional explosions by significant margins”

The Venezuelan plans involve smaller devices but would require the evacuation

49

of two villages. The Thailand project calls for very large blasts and would

certainly spread radioactive debris to its neighbors. In addition, it requires

50 the evacuation of 200,000 Thais for up to 16 months. The feasibility study

was financed privately under a previous government and the new government has

51

adopted a very cautious attitude toward the canal project.

The Egyptians have been investigating the use of nuclear explosions to

help excavate 68 km of a canal that would link the Mediterranean Sea with the

Qatarra depression. Water flowing from the sea into the depression could drive

a 300 MWe (1200 Mwe peak) hydroelectric plant. The plans require some 213 explosions and evacuation of less than 25,000 people within 80 km of the route. Use

of the nuclear explosions is estimated to reduce the total project cost by almost a

factor of three. 52

The likelihood of these or any other PNE proposals for non-nuclear

nations depends strongly upon the resolution of technical uncertainties by

53

research in the U.S. and U.S.S.R. It also depends upon the need for the

particular application, the availability of alternatives, the socioeconomic

54 effect treaty provisions and the environmental impact. If these factors were all

resolved in favor of PNE’s, then institutional questions would arise regarding the

source, cost and conditions of the nuclear explosives. 35 The suppliers of PNE’s are

likely to be either the U.S. or the U.S.S.R., as they can presently manufacture

the type and quantity of explosives required. However, other nuclear weapons states

56

could quickly develop the technology to produce them as well.
II - 24

Conclusions

None of the proposed applications of nuclear explosions has been

unambiguously determined to provide net benefits.Even the most optimistic

estimates do not envision large scale applications in the near future. At the

same time, few applications have yet been disproven.In the face of such ambivalence

the present course has been to proceed with a low level of research on major

uses of PNE’s and move only slowly and cautiously toward providing PNE services

to NPT signers.

One danger of this course is that the separate status accorded PNE’s

hinders progress towards a comprehensive test ban.The present course also

provides justification for non-nuclear weapons states to develop nuclear

explosives. Several seeds of discontent have been sown by PNE’s: :Many nations

feel disappointed that earlier promises of PNE’s have not yet been fulfilled.

They also resent the reluctant pace at which provision for PNE services has been

moving. For a nation such as Egypt, which has not ratified the NPT and which

has proposed a PNE application,these feelings may contribute to a decision not

to enter into the Treaty. Nonsigners may conclude they have more to lose than

to gain by signing.

be the excuse for a

own nuclear weapon,

Even if PNE’s are not the real motive they might at least

nation to remain outside the NPT and even to develop their

as India has done.

One step out of the present course would be to call for a temporary ban

57 on the conduct of all nuclear explosions for peaceful purposes. Such a

moratorium might be palatable in light of the findings of the GURC report

that few applications of PNE’s are likely to be feasible before 1990. Research

on PNE’s need not be halted along with the tests themselves because many nonnuclear aspects of each application need to be fully investigated.
11 - 25

The moratorium could be conditional upon either an unambiguous demonstration

of a beneficial and viable application of PNE’s or upon the outcome of an

international conference to assess the practicality of PNE technology at that

future date. Other international conferences have dealt with various aspects

of PNE technology but none has tried critically to evaluate and balance all

58,59

factors--technical, economical, sociological, environmental and political.

A permanent ban on PNE’s is a more drastic and perhaps premature step.

The Soviets would be unlikely to accept it, even as a price for obtaining

a comprehensive test ban, given their current announced interest in beneficial

applications of nuclear explosions. Non-nuclear nations who have been led to

believe in the real promise of PNE’s, may also object to such a proposal. They

might justifiably claim it violates Article V of the NPT. Even in the U.S.,

industry seems to want to keep open the door for some possible far-future

development of peaceful explosions.

A step in the opposite direction but aimed at the same result is to

establish an international service to provide nuclear explosions for peaceful

60,61 purposes to all nations, regardless of membership in the NPT. This action

might prevent non-NPT nations from developing nuclear weapons and labeling them

peaceful devices. With an international service to provide PNE’s cheaply, no

nation need make its own. Opponents of this plan argue that it is premature

and that any sanctioned nuclear explosions makes a CTBT very difficult to

achieve. The danger exists that such an institution as an international PNE

service might be tempted to develop and promote various beneficial applications

to justify its existence.

Any new course undertaken to deal with PNE’s must be charted to steer away

from the three major dangers they now present: Hindering progress towards a CTB,
11 - 26

retarding membership in the NPT and providing excuses for nations to test

their own nuclear bombs. The present course runs into all three dangers.

Each of the alternate routes avoids primarily one of the dangers. The proposed

temporary ban on PNE’s would eliminate an obstacle to a CTB, while a provision

for PNE services would remove the possibility that PNE’s could be used as an

excuse. A decision between either of these courses then depends upon the

area of greatest concern as well as upon the probable effectiveness and

possible negative side effects of each action. The choice is not clear.
1.

2.

3.

4.

5*

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

110

12.

13.

14.

15.

16.

17.

18.

19.

20.

21.

22.

23.

24.

25.

26.

27.

28.

29.

300

31.

32.

33.

34.

11 - 27

William Epstein,

Ibid., p. 174

Ibid., p. 173

Footnotes

-The Last Chance, (The Free Press, 1976), p. 172.

Program on Science, Technology and Society, Cornell University, An

Analysis of the Economic Feasibility, Technical Significance and Time

Scale for Applications of Peaceful Nuclear Explosions in the U.S. , with

Special Reference to the GURC Report Thereon, April 1975, p. 201.

Ibid., pp. 3, 4.

Gulf Universities Research Consortium, Peaceful Nuclear Explosion Activety

projections for Arms Control planning, ACDA/PAB-253, April 1975, Volume

.

II, p. 201.

Program on Science, Technology and Society, pp. 3, 4.

Herbert Scoville, Jr., Peaceful Nuclear Explosions - An Invitation ‘0

proliferation, ed. Anne W. Marks, NPT: Paradoxes and Problems, Washington,

D.C., 1975, p. 50.

GURC, Volume I.

GURC, Volume II, p. 202.

GURC, Volume I, p. 145.

Ibid., p. 80.

Ibid., p. 131.

Ibid., p. 45.

Frank A. Long, Peaceful Nuclear Explosions, Bulletin of the Atomic

Scientist, October 1976, p. 23.

A. E. Lewis, Nuclear In Situ Recovery of Oil from Oil Shale, paper IAEA -

TC-1-4/2, Proceedings of a Technical Meeting, Peaceful Nuclear Explosions

IV, 20-24 January 1975, IAEA, Vienna, 1975 p. 170-

GURC, Volume I, p. 145.

Program on Science, Technology and Society, Cornell University, p. 18.

GURC, Volume 11, p. 22.

Program on Science, Technology and Society, Cornell University, p. 18.

GURC Volume 1, p. 71.

Program on Science, Technology and Society, Cornell University, p. 19.

GURC, Volume I, p. 197.

Ibid., p. 105.

Ibid.

Program on Science, Technology and Society Cornell University, p. 190

GURC, Volume I, p. 126.

Ibid., p. 127.

Frank A. Long, p. 27.

V. S. Emelyanov, “On the Peaceful Use of Nuclear Explosions”, Stockholm

International Peace Research Institute, Nuclear Proliferation Problems,

MIT Press, Cambridge, Mass., 1974, pp. 215 - 224, and William Epstein,

P“ 177.

GURC, Volume I, p. 181.

Milo Nordyke, “A Review of Soviet Data on the Peaceful Uses of Nuclear

Explosions,” Annals of Nuclear Energy, Volume II, Pergammon Press, 1975,

p. 671.

W.K. Benson, Energy Research and Development Administration. Personnel

communication, November 9, 1976.

Milo Nordyke, p. 661.
35.

36.

37.

38.

39.

40.

41.

42.

43.

44.

45.

46.

47.

48.

49.

50.

51.

52.

53.

54.

55.

56.

57.

II - 28

Energy Research and Development Administration,

Explosions, ERDA-44, April 1975, p. 18.

Milo Nordyke, p. 659.

Herbert Scoville, Jr., p. 48.

Milo Nordyke, p. 663.

Ibid., p. 662.

Herbert Scoville, Jr., p. 48.

Milo Nordyke, p. 666.

GURC, Volume II, pp. 129-135.

Milo Nordyke, p. 667.

Ibid., p. 669.

Ibid., p. 667.

Ibid., p. 663.

Technology Committee Proceedings, IAEA,

January 20-24, 1975.

Ibid.

ERDA-44, p. 23.

Ibid., p. 25.

Technology Committee Proceedings, IAEA.

Peaceful Nuclear

Peaceful Nuclear Explosions IV.

Harry Otway, IAEA Interoffice Memorandum to the Director General,

Report of Project Qatarra Fact Finding Mission, Egypt, April 25 to

May 2, 1976.

GURC, Volume I, p. 179.

Ibid., p. 178.

Ibid., p. 179.

W.K. Benson

Herbert Scoville, Jr., p. 50.
11 - 29

5 8 .

59.

60.

61.

Herbert Scoville, Jr., p. 54.

William Epstein, “The Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons,” Scientific

American, April 1975, p. 18. ,

William Epstein,

William Epstein,

The Last Chance, p. 172.

“The Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons,” p. 18.
II - 30

TABLE I

PLOWSHARE CHRONOLOGY

L Program Milestones

Date Event

NOV. 26, 1956 Commission approved in-house conference on peaceful uses of nuclear explosives. Lawrence

Radiation Laboratory, Livermore (LRL-L), had been informally studying the question

during previous years. (Staff Paper 81 1/4)

February 1957 First Plowshare Symposium held at LRL to discuss Industrial Uses of Nuclear Explosives.”

June 27, 1957 Commission approved the establishment of a program in the Division of Military

Applications to investigate nonmilitary uses of nuclear explosives. (Staff Paper 811/6,

dated June 13, 1957)

July 1957 LRLL-L formaIIy establish Project Plowshare to investigate the nonmilitary applications of

. nuclear weapons.

, September-1957 Project Rainier, the first US underground detonation of a nuclear exp!osive. A chimney of

featured rock was formed which provided data on possible” underground engineering

applications of nuclear explosions.

October 1957 :

Dec. 10, 1957

July 1, 1958

Aug. i5, !958

Sept. 9, 1958

October 1958

Dec. 15,1958

January 1959

May 13–15, 1959

November 1959

January 1960

August 1961

September 1961

Dec. 10, 1961

1962

April 1962

July 1962

Sept.-Oct. 1963

October 1963

The US Corps of Engineers agreed to supply support services for the Plowshare Program.

‘General Advisory Committee to AEC recommended that a study group be formed to

investigate peaceful uses of nuclear explosives for the production of isotopes and for large

earth-moving projects.

Responsibilities for operations and industrial contacts delegated to San Francisco Operations

Office (SAN). SAN established Special Projects Group to oversee program.

Plowshare support efforts established at Albuquerque Operations Office (ALOO) and Oak

Ridge Operations Office (OROO). “

US Geological Survey agreed to conduct support studies for Plowshare Program.

US Bureau of Mines agreed to cooperate on Plowshare Program.

US began voluntary moratorium on all nuclear testing.

Formation of Peaceful Nuclear Explosives Branch in DMA to supervise Plowshare Program.

Joint AEC/Bureau of Mines Oil Shale Symposium at Dallas, Texas. Presented material on use

of nuclear explosions to recover oil from oil shale.

The Second Symposium on the Plowshare Program was held in San Francisco, California,

with 495 attendees. The symposium was open to the public including international

participation.

Sandia Laboratories Plowshare research and development effort established.

In 1960 the Panama Canal Company reviewed and updated the 1947 studies in collaboration

with the AEC.

The Plowshare “Program was removed from DMA and the Division of Peaceful Nuclear

Explosives established to administer the program.

The US voluntary test moratorium of two years and 11 months duration was ended.

Project Gnome, the first Plowshare experiment was conducted December 10, 1961. near

Carlsbad, New Mexico. The explosive yield of this multipurpose experiment was 3.1 kt.

US Corps of Engineers established Nuclear Cratering Group at LRL to cooperate with AEC

on ( 1 ) projects concerning collateral high explosive experiments. (2) the development of

engineering concepts relating to construction in fracture zones, and (3) studies of slope

stability and related engineering considerations.

The President requested the AEC and Corps of Engineers to jointly assess the feasibility of

using nuclear excavation for canal construction. This led to the 1964 card studies.

Savannah River Operations Office initiated support studies for Plowshare Program.

Team of Australian scicntists visited US to review Plowshare Program and study the

scientific. engineering and safety aspects of nuclear explosives.

The Limitcd Test Ban Treaty Was ratified by the Presidcnt, with conscnt of the Senate. The

treaty prohibits nuclear cxplosions in the atmosphcrc, in outer

from “PNE Activity Projections for Arms Control Planning”

for US ACDA by GURC.

space and under water.

ACDA/PAB-2531 prepared
I I - 3 1

April 21-23, 1964

May 1964

Sept. 22, 1964

Feb. 14, 1967

Dec. 10, 1967

March 8, 1968

March 12, 1968

April 14–16, 1969

Jan. 14– 16, 1970

Feb. 11-17, 1970

March 5, 1970

March 2-6, 1970

March 16. 1970

also prohibits any underground explosion “which causes radioactive debris to be present

outside the territorial of the limits of the state under whose jurisdiction or control the explosion

is conducted.”

The Third Plowshare Symposium, “Engineering with Nuclear Explosives,” was held at the

University of California, Davis, California. Several hundred visitors including representatives from the United Kingdom, France, Australia, Canada, Mexico, Switzerland,

South Africa, Israel and the International Atomic Energy Agency attended.

The US Atomic Energy Commission released a policy statement and projected charges for

Plowshare thermonuclear explosives for use by industry in conducting studies of economic

and technical feasibility:

10 Kilotons-S 350,000

2 Megatons-S600,000

Public Law 88-609 was signed by the President “to provide for an investigation and study to

determine a site for the construction of a sea-level canal connecting the Atlantic and

Pacific Oceans,“ and authorized establishment of a Commission to carry out provisions of

. the Act. The Atlantic-Pacific interoceanic Canal Study Commission was established on

April 18, 1965, to study sites for construction of a sea-level isthmian canal connecting the

Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, and methods of construction. Studies included the feasibility

of excavating a sea-level canal with nuclear explosives.

Treaty for the prohibition of nuclear weapons in Latin America WaS signed in Mexico City.

The treaty establishes Latin America as an area in which the participating nations will not

manufacture or otherwise acquire nuclear weapons (explosives), but permits these nations

to collaborate with third parties such as the US for the purpose of carrying out nuclear

explosions for peaceful purposes.

Project Gasbuggy, the first cooperative industry-government experiment, was conducted on

December 10, to investigate the use of a nuclear explosion to stimulate a IoW producing

gas field. The nuclear explosion of approximately 29 kt., which occurred 4,240 feet

[1,292 meters] beneath the earth’s surface, created a chimney about 335 feet [ 102

meters] high and 160 feet [49 meters] in diameter.

The Commission assigned the technical direction for Project Rulison to Los Alamos

Scientific Laboratory.

Project Buggy. the first nuclear row charge experiment. The explosion. which involved the

simultaneous detonation of five, 1.1 kt. explosives placed 150 feet [45.7 meters] apart at

a depth of 135 feet (41.1 meters], created a ditch 855 feet [261 meters] long, 254 feet

(77.4 meters] wide and 65 feet [19.8 meters] deep.

The first of a series of US/USSR bilateral technical talks took place in Vienna, Austria, on

“Peaceful Applications of Nuclear Explosions.”

An “Engineering with Nuclear Explosives” symposium sponsored by the American Nuclear

Society was held in Las Vegas, Nevada. Sixteen foreign countries participated or attended.

France, for the first time, presented technical data on their “Plowshare” Program.

The second US/USSR bilateral technical talks took place in MOSCOW on “Peaceful Uses of

Nuclear Explosions.” The talks, just as those in April 1969, were restricted to technical

aspects.

The Nonproliferation Treaty; was put into force. Article V of the Treaty pertains to making

available to non-nuclear-weapons states any benefits from peaceful uses of nuclear

explosions.

An IAEA panel meeting on the peaceful uses of nuclear explosives was held in Vienna,

Austria. The participants included France, Japan, Sweden, Australia, India. USSR, United

Kingdom, and the US. At this meeting the Soviets, for the first time in public, discussed

the USSR “Plowshare” Program which goes by the title, Nuclear Explosives for the

National Economy,”

The Rulison Court decisior, by the US District Court for the District of Colorado (Judge

Alfred A. Arraj) ruled that: the flag phase of Project Rulison does not present a threat

to public health and safety: the AEC has planned its activities and is curry in: them out

with all due regard for health and safety: and radiation dose from flaring will be within

radiation Standards.
I I - 3 2

Dec. 1, 1970 The Atlantic-Pacific interoceanic Canal Study Commission transmitted to the President its

find report on December 1, 1970, and stated: “.. . although we are confident that

someday nuclear explosions will be used in a wide variety of massive earth-moving

projects, no current decision on US canal policy should be made in the expectation that

nuclear excavation technology will be available for canal construction. . .“ It was

recommended that ''. . . the US pursue development of the nuclear excavation technology,

but not postpone Isthmian Canal policy decisions because of the possible establishment of

feasibility y of nuclear excavation at some later date.”

11. Contained Experiments and Study Projects Related to Industrial Applications

Date

September 1957

August 1960

Nov. 5,1964

Dec. 6,1966

August 1967

Oct. 24, 1967

Dec. 10, 1967

Project or Study

Rainier-The first US underground detonation of a nuclear explosive. This weapons test

formed a chimney of broken rock which provided data on possible underground engineering applications of nuclear explosives.

Pinot-HE experiment in oil shale near Rifle. Colorado.

Handcar-Plowshare nuclear explosion experiment

Yield–12 kt.

Depth of Burial-1,320 ft [402.3 m].

Medium-dolomite (carbonate rock)

Site–Nevada Test Site

Chimney dimensions-radius 69 ft (21 m]; height 233 ft [71 m]

Objective-Study effects of nuclear explosions in carbonate rock.

Project Dragon Trail Study–Joint natural gas stimulation experiment proposed by

Continental Oil Company and CER Geonuclear. In May of 1969, Continental advised the

AEC that they did not plan to move forward in this project because of the added expense

of drilling to greater depths than they planned. Also they felt the information from

Gasbuggy and Rulison would answer many of their questions.

Project Ketch Study–A joint feasibility study begun in 1965 was completed by the

Columbia Gas System Service Corp., US Bureau of Mines, Lawrence Radiation Laboratory,

and the San Francisco Operations Office-AEC to study uses of nuclear explosives to

create underground natural gas storage reservoirs. The study was followed by a proposal

from Columbia Gas to the AEC to conduct a joint experiment to further investigate this

application. However, in 1968 Columbia withdrew the request for state land in

Pennsylvania to look for other sites. It is informally understood that the Company has

decided to defer further action.

Project Bronco Study–A joint feasibility study begun in 1966 was completed by CER Geonuclear, representing some 20 oil companies, the Lawrence Radiation Laboratory, the US

Bureau of Mines, and the San Francisco Operations Office to study the use of nuclear explosions to fracture oil shale for subsequent recovery of the oil by an in situ retorting

process. The study resulted in a proposal from CER on behalf of the oil companies to conduct a joint experiment to test this concept. Although a contract was negotiated in 1968,

it was not accepted by the oil companies. No further action is anticipated regarding this

particular project although studies respecting nuclear application with oil shale continue.

Project Gasbuggy-A first Plowshare joint government-industry nuclear experiment to test

out an industrial application.

Participants-El Paso Natural Gas Company, Department of interior, Atomic Energy

Commission

Technical Director-Lawrence Radiation Laboratory

Yield–29 kt.

Depth of Burial-4,240 ft [1,292 m].

Medium–Sandstone, gas bearing formation

Chimney dimensions-height 335 ft [102 m], radius 80 ft [24.4 m]

Site San Juan Basin, New Mexico 
Sept. 1O, 1969 

Jan. 24.1968

July 30, 1969

Dec. 18.1970

II - 33

Objective-To investigate the feasibility of using nuclear explosives to stimulate a low

producing gas field.

Project Rulison - A joint government-industry gas stimulation experiment

Participants Austral Oil Company. CER Geonuclear Corporation (program manager).

Department of Interior. Atomic Energy Commission

Technical Director Los Alamos Scientific Laboratory

Yield 40kt.

Depth of Burial 8,425.5 ft [2.568, lm]

Medium Sandstone, gas bearing formation

Chimney dimensions --height 270 ft [82.3 m], radius 70 ft [21.3 m]

Site -Garfield County, Colorado

Objective- To investigate the feasibility of using nuclear explosives to stimulate a

low-producing gas field.

Proposed Experiments

Reject Sloop–A joint feasibility study begun in 1965 by the Kennecott Copper Corporation,

US Bureau of Mines, Lawrence Radiation Laboratory, and the San Francisco Operations

Office-AEC to consider the overall feasibility of using nuclear explosives for fracturing

low-grade copper ore bodies for subsequent recovery of copper by conventional in situ

leaching methods was completed. Upon completion of the study. Kennecott-Copper

Corporation proposed a joint experiment to the AEC to test this concept. The company is

re-evaluating the project with regard to the current price of copper vs. the lack of available

funds in both government and industry.

Wagon Wheel–This is a Plowshare gas stimulation project in the Pinedale area of Wyoming to

demonstrate stimulation of formation at depths of 10,000 to 18,000 feet [about 3,000 to

5,500 meters] . meters]. The industrial sponsor, El Paso Natural Gas Co., has entered into the

project definition stage. Execution is planned in late 1972 or early 1973.

WASP- A joint venture of companies and individuals interested in a Plowshare gas

stimulation project in the Pinedale area of Wyoming. Oil and Gas Futures, Inc., of Bellaire,

Texas, is the operating company for this group. The project is currently in the project

definition stage. The project execution date is not expected before 1973 or 1974.

Rio Blanco-The feasibility study prepared by the industrial sponsor (CER Geonuclear, who

is using lands obtained under joint venture agreement with the Equity Oil Co.) was

accepted as a basis for entering into joint project definition activities with CER. This is to

be a gas stimulation project in western Colorado, possibly using two or more nuclear

explosives in the same emplacement hole. Execution is planned for late 1972.
11 - 34

TABLE II

Soviet excavation PNE applications.

Water Resource Development:

1003

1004

Proposed reservoir

T - 1

T - 2

Proposed Pechora-Kama

Canal

Pechora-Kama row crater

1- 1 kt

125 kt

T WO 150-k t

0-2 kt

Three 0-2-kt

250 explosives

Three 15-kt

Cratering shot in siltstone.

crater in river produced two lakes,

1° 6 x 107 m (13, 000 acre-ft)

“Proven "Proven Technology”.

TO form 3 x 1 0

7 m

s (24, 000 acre-ft)

reservoir.

Cratering shot in sandstone

calibration for T-2.

Row-charge cratering shot “model

of Pechora-Kama”.

Divert Pechora River into Kama

River and thence to Caspian Sea.

Experiment at southern end of

Pechora-Kama Canal alignment

to gain data on cratering characteristics and stability in saturated,

alluvial medium.

Overburden Removal:

Proposed mining project -1-Mt row Will remove 900,000 m3 of

charge overburden at 5 kopecks/m3

Soviet contained PNE applications.

Application Explosives Comments

Control of Runaway Wells:

Urtabulak .30 kt

Nearby gas field 40 kt

Oil Stimulation:

Field A T WO 2-3-kt +

ore 8-kt

Field B TWO 8 kt

Proposed Field C Three 20-30 kt

Gas Stimulation:

Underscribed .

Proposed gas condensate Three 40-kt

field

Underground Storage of Oil or Gas:

Salt Dome A 1-1 kt

Salt Dome B 25 kt

Unidentified cavity

Gas condensate storage 15 kt

facility

Proposed - layered salt TwO 35-kt

Proposed - tuff uncle? Three 40-lit

permafrost

Mineral Development:

“Granddaddy Shot” 1 kt

Proposed ore breaking 1-8 kt

$75 million lost over 3 years

“Proven Technology”

26% internal rate of return in U.S.

“Proven Technology”

Designed to break barrier so underlying water will push oil out

Statement that such an application

Was carried out

Expect increase from 7-5 x 106

to 100 x 106 ft 3/day

Salt dome - leaked water and radioactivity

106 -bbl storage at 1/6 surface gas

storage and 1/3 washed cavities

cost

Tested with oil and gas at 6 MPa

(50 atm)

300, 000-bbl storage facility in

industrial use at a gas condensate

deposit -- working pressure 8 MPa

(80 atm)

Require 2 x 106

-bbl storage for gas

condensate

Require 2-5 x 109 ft 3 storage for gas

at 7 MPa (70 atm)

Granite shot similar to Hardhat

-Will break -106 m

s of ore in situ . —

“A Review of Soviet Data on the Peaceful Uses of Nuclear Explosions” by Milo

Nordyke (LLL), Ann. Nucl. Energy Vol. 2, pp. 657-673, Pergamon Press 1975.
Appendix III

Non-State Adversaries
Appendix III

NON-STATE ADVERSARIES

Table of Contents

A. The Potential Nuclear Non-State Adversary

1.

2.

3*

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

11.

12.

13.

14.

15.

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Causes of Increased Concern About the Potential

Nuclear Non-State Adversary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Growth of International Terrorism . . . . . . . . . . . .

Will Terrorists Go Nuclear? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Organized Crime as a Potential Non-State Adversary . . . .

The Record of Nuclear Incidents . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Nuclear Hoaxes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Response Planning for Threats . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Approaches to the Study and Analysis of the

Non-State Adversary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

How Many Attackers -- How Many Defenders? . . . . . . . .

Employee Surveillance and Reliability in Relationship

to the Potential Nuclear Non-State Adversary . . . . . . .

Conclusions on the Nature of the Nuclear Threat of

the Non-State Adversary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Footnotes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Annex- Incidents Involving Large Numbers of Deaths

1968-1976 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

B. Nuclear Non-State Adversary Actions (Nuclear Terrorism),

With Special Reference to the Rand Corporation Draft of

January 6, 1977 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

1. Most Nuclear Maleficence is Not Difficult Technically . . .

1

5

10

17

28

35

44

57

65

69

78

87

94

97

99

101

102

*
Table of Contents, Continued

Page

2. Probability of Successful Attempts . . . . . . . . . . . . 103

3. A Perspective to the Topic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109

4. Attaining Closure on Sustainable Nuclear Policy . . . . . 113

5. Reviewer Comments on Rand First Draft of January 6, 1977 . 116

6. References . . . . . . . . . . . . ● . ● . ● . ● ● ● ● ● ● 125

c. Civil Liberties Implications of U.S. Domestic Safeguards . . . 127

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

A General Perspective on Civil Liberties Issues . . . . . 129

Projections of the Size of the Plutonium Recycle Industry 134

An Analysis of Likely Safeguard Measures and Their

Civil Liberties Consequences . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137

A Presentation of Three Positions Widely Held in U.S.

Society as to the Civil Liberties Risks of Plutonium

Recycle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149

Observations and Comments on the Three Positions . . . . . 164

Footnotes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173

Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175

i i
APPENDIX III-A

THE POTENTIAL NUCLEAR NON-STATE

ADVERSARY

The RAND Corporation

Brian Michael Jenkins

Joseph L. Krofcheck
III - 1

I. INTRODUCTION

This report discusses the potential nuclear non-State adversary.

This somewhat awkward term is meant to emcompass any individuals or

nongovernment groups who seek to acquire a nuclear capability -- a

nuclear explosive or dispersal device -- and those who might help

them. Nuclear non-State adversaries include those who might attempt

to steal a nuclear weapon; to pilfer or steal nuclear material to sell,

ransom, or use to make a nuclear explosive or dispersal device; to

illegally purchase, fence, or smuggle nuclear material or otherwise

participate in a nuclear black market; or who claim to possess nuclear

devices to extort concessions or cause alarm. The Office of Technology

Assessment, for the purpose of this report, has also included in the

definition of the nuclear non-State adversary those who might undertake

malevolent actions against nuclear facilities. This would include

those who might threaten or actually attempt to sabotage a nuclear

reactor or other nuclear facility or transport vehicle, or who might

seize temporary control of a nuclear facility. Appropriately we should

limit this to serious sabotage resulting in the potential release of

toxic radiological materials and exclude token acts of violence and

minor incidents of vandalism or sabotage that do not imperil the public,

although we want to examine the latter for indications of trends in the

direction of more serious sabotage.

These adversaries are often referred to collectively as criminals

and terrorists although all are criminals in that their actions violate

an existing law -- for example, against arson, theft, extortion. The

term criminal, however, generally implies a purely profit motive while

the term terrorist implies political objectives. The spectrum of

potential adversaries who might somehow participate in the actions

described above actually is much broader. It may include:

a. criminals, who are considered to be primarily profit-motivated

and theoretically apolitical. They may or may not be part of organized
III - 2

crime, and they are more likely to be interested in theft than sabotage.

They are likely to avoid publicity. They are skilled burglars and armed

robbers. They are willing to use armed force, but try to avoid taking

too many risks of armed confrontation and capture.

b. terrorists, who are considered to be primarily politically,

not profit-motivated. They may be interested in sabotage of facilities

or the theft of SNM to build bombs or dispersal devices and to do or

threaten damage. They are probably more interested in using nuclear

terror to obtain concessions than in causing destruction for its own

sake. They might seize political hostages at a facility or engage in

extortion. They desire publicity. Their capabilities include knowledge

of tactical operations, weapons, and explosives. They are probably not

as skilled in the techniques of theft as professional criminals, but are

likely to be more heavily armed and more willing to take risks and to

engage in gunplay.

c. “eco-guerrillas,” whose desire would be to halt nuclear programs

or construction at specific sites by demonstrating inadequacies of security, threatening damage, or carrying out low-level acts of sabotage.

d. disgruntled employees, who might be a potential danger during

periods of labor strife,

e. lunatics, who are those individuals with personal motives of

revenge, for example, of saving the world, or following God’s instructions.

A bomb threat or nuclear hoax is the most likely form or action.

f. foreign agents and saboteurs, who might become an adversary in — .

anticipation of war or during wartime. In peacetime, they are more

likely to be concerned with intelligence than sabotage. On the other

hand, they conceivably might secretly instigate terrorist or criminal

groups to engage in acts of sabotage to disrupt nuclear power programs

or turn nuclear weapons into political liabilities.

g. political factions within government, who are included for the

sake of completeness. This category of adversary really approaches the

level of diversion by a government.
III - 3

The non-State spectrum of potential actions ranges from simple

hoaxes to the construction and detonation of a homemade nuclear explosive

device which could kill thousands of people.

At the low end of this spectrum are bomb threat calls, hoaxes,

token acts of violence not aimed at producing serious casualties or

damage, but which, if publicized, could disrupt essential routines, alarm

the public, and discredit nuclear programs and safeguards measures. How–

ever, these actions pose little direct danger to public safety.

Further up the scale are actions that could result in serious

damage, perhaps the disabling of a nuclear facility, and could endanger

on-site personnel, although they would not necessarily pose a threat to

public safety.

At the high end of the spectrum are actions, the ultimate conse–

quences of which could be civilian casualties and significant material

damage and radioactive contamination. It is the latter we are most concerned

with here.

The threat posed by the non-State adversary has become an issue of

considerable discussion and debate. Many see it as the principal argument against increased reliance on nuclear energy in the United States

and the spread of nuclear technology abroad. Others counter that the

danger of criminals or terrorists going nuclear is grossly exaggerated,

and that adequate safeguards can be provided. Much of this debate is

theological. Arguments are advanced about the inherent malevolence of

Man or the perfectibility of social institutions. Whatever position

one adopts must be accepted largely on faith for there is virtually no

evidence.

Apart from a handful of low-level incidents, none of them involving

any deaths, no incidents of nuclear terrorism have occurred. No nuclear

facilities have been seriously sabotaged to the point that public safety

was in peril (in France two nuclear reactors were damaged by bombs in

1975, and in 1973 in Argentina a reactor under construction was briefly

occupied by urban guerrillas), no overt thefts of nuclear weapons or

of weapons grade material have occurred, and insofar as anyone knows,
III - 4

no amounts of special nuclear material are known to have been secretly

diverted, although large quantities are unaccounted for. But this is

negative evidence; the lack of a history of incidents does not allow

the inference that no such event will occur, especially in light of

the increased level of violent crime and political violence and increased

public attention to nuclear issues.

This report examines some of the reasons why, despite the lack of

any serious incidents, the threat posed by the non-State adversary has

in recent years become a topic of increasing public concern. It looks

at the worldwide increase in terrorism and explores the various reasons

why political extremists might be attracted to nuclear targets or use

nuclear material as well as at some of the disincentives. The report

then looks at the incidents that have occurred thus far involving nuclear

facilities or material as well as at nuclear hoaxes. The report identified current schools of thought on the subject, the areas of apparent

consensus, and the areas of continuing debate. It discusses the specific

problems of employee surveillance and response planning and concludes with

general observations on the potentiality of nuclear actions by non-state

adversaries.
III - 5

II. CAUSES OF INCREASED CONCERN ABOUT

THE POTENTIAL NUCLEAR NON-STATE ADVERSARY

If there is an unwritten law of human behavior that no serious

preventive measures will be taken until after the first catastrophe

occurs, that law does not apply in the area of nuclear safeguards.

Concern about the potential non-State adversary grew in the late

1960s although no criminal or politically-motivated terrorist had

ever carried out any action against nuclear programs or involving

nuclear material. Concern has continued to grow, although, apart from

a handful of minor incidents, no serious action has occurred. Judging

by the number of hearings, studies, reports, and articles on the topic,

and by the increased security measures, the possibility that terrorists

or criminals might carry out some action is being taken seriously.

This is not to say that security measures are adequate. Nor is it to say

that all those in government agencies and the private components of

the nuclear industry equally accept the notion that there is a real

threat, or that they have enthusiastically supported measures to improve

security. They have been embarrassed by some obvious deficiencies that

have been revealed, and in some cases they have been forced to adopt new

security measures. Many, however, still view their problem as one of

compliance, not one of security against a threat they are not convinced

exists. Asked what he regarded as the biggest threat to his nuclear

facility, one director of security replied, “A dedicated and determined

band of NRC inspectors.”

The fear that some subnational group or private individual might

“go nuclear” is not a new one, as Roberta Wohlstetter pointed out in

her recent article in Survival. “In a memorandum to President Truman

of 25 April 1945, Henry Stimson predicted that ‘the future may see a

time when such a weapon may be constructed in secret and used suddenly

and effectively with devastating power by a willful nation or group
III - 6

against an unsuspecting nation or group of much greater size and material

power."l

The current concern seems to result from a confluence of several developments in the late 1960’s and early 1970’s. Foremost among these is the rapid

growth, actual and projected> of nuclear power plants and the attendant

fuel-making, reprocessing and nuclear waste disposal facilities. Increased

demands for energy, the impact of the Arab oil embargo in 1973, the rapid

rise in oil prices, all have given impetus to developing nuclear power as an

alternative source of energy. In the United States, at the end of 1974, it

was anticipated that there would be over 1000 nuclear reactors in the

country by the end of the century. The 1975 OECD and IAEA projections

anticipated over 2000 nuclear reactors world wide by the year 2000. (See

Volume 1, Chapter X, page 244).

Reactors produce plutonium as a by-product. With the increase in

the number of reactors will come an increase in the worldwide production

of plutonium, the stuff atomic bombs are made of. In 1975, the annual

worldwide production of plutonium was 20,000 kilograms. By 1983, it has been

estimated that annual production will reach 70,000 kilograms (plus or

2

minus 15-20 percent to provide for uncertainties). By the year 2000,

annual plutonium production may reach 400,000 kilograms, a quantity

roughly sufficient for 40,000 bombs. The proliferation of nuclear

facilities with the increasing availability of and traffic in plutonium

will, it is feared, provide numerous opportunities for sabotage and theft.

Although diversion of plutonium by a government for military purposes may be more likely than diversion or theft by a non-State, it is

the latter which may be perceived as the more worrisome problem by the

general public. That Argentina or Pakistan may eventually acquire a

nuclear weapon does not seem to cause great alarm (except perhaps to

citizens of neighboring countries). People have come to accept the

presence of nuclear weapons and have grown accustomed to living with

the possibility of nuclear war. One nation more or less with nuclear

weapons does not seem to make a lot of difference. In contrast, the
III - 7

possibility that some band of criminals or terrorists may acquire a

nuclear capability causes a great deal of anxiety. This is no matter

of remote debate by military deterrence strategists. Crime and terrorism affect people very personally at a daily-life level. They come to

us nightly in the form of human dramas on our television screens in

which the audience participates as vicarious victims.

Concurrent with the expansion of nuclear power, the environmentalist movement gained strength and was something new. The word

“environmentalist” does not even appear in dictionaries that are ten

years old. “Environmentalists,” although they were not called that,

have always existed in America primarily as a local phenomenon to preserve a specific piece of landscape. A national environmental movement

is a relatively recent development and represents a new and powerful

voice in modern society. Environmentalists have challenged some of the

basic tenets of modern society: continuous economic growth, industrial

expansion, the concept of progress itself which had somehow come to be

synonymous with technological advance. Although at first nuclear power

seemed to be a solution to environmentalists concerns about the pollution resulting from the use of fossil fuels, many began to question the

effects of nuclear power on the environment. They worried about thermal

pollution, the amount of radiation emitted during normal operations or

that might accidently be released, the disposal of radioactive wastes.

The initial focus on the adverse side effects of nuclear energy shifted

to concern about accidents. How safe were nuclear reactors? What would

happen if the system designed to meet emergencies failed? Later, they

gave increasing attention to the possibilities and consequences of

deliberate malevolent actions by terrorists or criminals. Man’s

malevolence became a major philosophical premise of the foes of nuclear

energy, or, as David Comey put it, “No longer is one calculating the

chances of malfunctioning machines; one is guessing the probability of

malfunctioning human beings. One does not have to be a psychiatrist

to realize that probability is high: one need only read the newspaper. 113

Nuclear power is bad because man is bad.

This struck a responsive chord in the public mind. There is undeniably a degree of anxiety in the mind of the public concerning nuclear
III - 

power. Nuclear power is guilty of original sin. The nuclear age began

with a bomb not a power plant, and the word “nuclear” recalls Hiroshima

not Indian Point. Nuclear power is the most potent, and to many the

most sinister, force known to man. However, nuclear power plants (light

water reactors) are not nuclear bombs. Successful sabotage could theoretically result in a release of radioactive material, but a reactor

cannot be turned into a nuclear bomb. Only recently has some of the

public come to understand this point.

If people are already uneasy about nuclear power and worried about

terrorists, it is not difficult to frighten them with a forecast of some

kind of nuclear action by terrorists. The mere proximity of the words

“terrorist” and “nuclear” induce fear.

If there was any doubt about man’s maliciousness, it could be dispelled by reading the newspapers or turning on the television -- news

or drama. There is no convincing evidence that violence on television

or in the movies causes people to be violent, but it may affect one’s

view of the world. Those who are regularly exposed to violence on the

4

screen tend to see the real world as a more violent place.

It is, however, not simply the portrayal of violence that altered

perceptions in the 1960s. Crime, particularly violent crime, often

random, needlessly violent crime,increased by epidemic proportions.

Political violence in the form of international terrorism also increased

in the late 1960s and by the early 1970s had become a serious worldwide

problem. Assassins, kidnappers, and bombers were no longer remote figures

associated with the Russian Revolution and wartime serials. They regularly kidnapped government officials and businessmen, hijacked airliners,

gunned down passengers in airline terminals, murdered Olympic athletes,

set bombs off in restaurants and railroad stations. Their violence was

no longer confined to guerrilla struggles in remote colonies or insurgences

in Third World countries. Terrorists crossed national borders to carry

out their attacks on virtually every continent. No country was neutral,

no citizen safe.
111 - 9

Events of the past fifteen years also have made it difficult not

to have lost some confidence in our social, political, and economic

institutions. Social mores were challenged. Basic lifestyles were

changing. Within 13 years, five men have held the office of president:

one was assassinated, one virtually abdicated, one resigned in disgrace,

and one was not elected. In addition to one successful assassination

of a president, there were two more attempts against a president’s life,

and two presidential candidates were shot, one fatally. American military involvement in the war in Indochina led ultimately to disaster.

At home, news from Indochina triggered and provided the rationale for

violent protests, bombings, and ultimately the appearance of genuine

domestic terrorist groups. For the first time, it seemed (though not

in reality for the first time) that there was political violence in the

United States. Looking back, the passage to America’s third century

was a very rough ride.

This turbulence was not a uniquely American phenomenon. Japan

and the nations of Western Europe suffered from bad cases of political

scandal and upheaval, and also from domestic political violence unprecedented since the thirties. Corporations too were shown to have lied,

misled, bribed, and yielded to blackmail.

Such revelations do not inspire confidence in claims by government

or industry that nuclear safeguards are adequate now, or that the increased measures of security considered necessary to protect nuclear

programs would not be abused or that governments indeed would be able

to prevent diversion or theft or protect their citizens against nuclear

terrorists. There was and is reason for doubt and fear. Doubt and

fear are selling well anyway. There seems to be a popular market for

doom, whether the “light doom” of, for instance, the Club of Rome, or

the “heavy doom” of those who warn people to have a year’s supply of

food and a shotgun at home, or the religious groups who firmly believe

that Armageddon is just around the corner.
111 - 10

III. GROWTH OF INTERNATIONAL TERRORISM

Terrorism can be described as the use of actual or threatened

violence to gain attention and to create fear and alarm, which in turn

will cause people to exaggerate the strength of the terrorists and the

importance of their cause. Since groups that use terrorist tactics

are typically small and weak, the violence they practice must be

deliberately shocking.

Repeatedly, during the last few years, small groups of extremists

have demonstrated that by using terrorist tactics they can achieve

disproportionate effects. They attract worldwide attention to themselves

and their causes; they arouse worldwise alarm, and can create international incidents that national governments are compelled to deal with,

often before a worldwide audience.

Terrorism has in recent years become an international phenomenon.

Modern jet air travel provides terrorists with worldwide mobility and

convenient targets. Mass communications give them access to worldwide

audiences through the almost instantaneous broadcasting of the violent

dramas they create. New weapons have increased their capacity for

violence, while society has become increasingly vulnerable because of

growing dependence on complex systems and often fragile technology

(civil aviation is an example) or technology, such as nuclear energy,

that is potentially dangerous if exploited malevolently.

International terrorism is simply terrorism that has clear international consequences. It includes incidents in which terrorists go

abroad to strike their targets (as in the Lod Airport massacre), or

select victims or targets because of their connections to a foreign

state (as in the assassination or kidnapping of a diplomat), or attack

international lines of communication and commerce (as in the hijacking

of an airliner).

International terrorism took a sharp upswing in the late 1960s.

Latin American guerrillas moved into the cities and adopted terrorist
III - 11

tactics as a means of gaining international attention; the Palestinians

initiated an international campaign of terrorism against Israel; and

small terrorist groups appeared in Japan, Western Europe, and the United

States. Once the utility of terrorist tactics was demonstrated, new

groups –- South Moluccans, right-wing Cubans, etc. -- were inspired t.

employ them and instructed how.

The following figures illustrate this increase. The first, reprinted

from an unclassified CIA report “International Terrorism: Diagnosis and

Prognosis,” shows the total number of international terrorist incidents

that occurred between 1965 and 1975. 5

The second is based on figures

compiled by The Rand Corporation: using slightly different criteria

from those of the CIA, which accounts for the slight difference in totals,

it shows the total number of international incidents by year from 1968 to

the end of September, 1976. Both figures show a peak in the years 1973 and

1974, a decline in 1975, and an increase again in the first nine months

of 1976.

The third figure, a record of the casualties incurred in these

incidents, shows a similar increase to the year 1974, a decline in 1975,

and a rise again in 1976.

These are incidents of international terrorism only. Local incidents

of terrorism -- the murder of Irishmen by Irish extremists in Northern

Ireland, for example -- are not included (although incidents in which

IRA extremists planted bombs in London were arbitrarily counted; although

not international, they did represent an effort to carry out the Irish

struggle “overseas”) .

To respond to the concern that these increases did not reflect an

increase in international terrorism but only improved reporting of a

continuing phenomenon as governments became more disturbed about the

problem, the following graph of “major incidents” of international

terrorism was compiled (Figure 4). The criteria for inclusion as a

major incident were that the incident resulted in at least one fatality,

if a hostage incident that it involved a government official or diplomat,

or if a hijacking that the hijacker demanded more than simply changing

the destination of the airplane. These criteria excluded the numerous
111 - 12

1 I I I I

o

00

o
III - 13

180

160

140

120

100

80

60

40

20

0

150

125

100

75

50

25

0

68 69

Fig.2 —T o

70 71 72 73 74 75 76

Yea r

a I number of incidents of international terrorism

I

68 69 70 71 72 73 74 75 76

Yea r

Fig . 3 -- Total number of deaths in incidents of international

terrorism
III - 14

35

30

I 1 1 1 I I I 1 J

1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976

Fig.4 — Major international terrorist incidents

token acts of violence -- little bombs planted in front of embassies,

numerous kidnappings of business executives, and a lot of hijackings

to Havana. Even by thus excluding most bombings, the category which

has shown the greatest increase, the overall trend is still upward.

Some observers have found encouragement in an apparent decline

of international terrorism in the last year. Judging from the figures

presented here, however, it would be dangerous to conclude that

international terrorism has leveled off or might even be declining;

the data for 1976 show no such decline. If decrease there was, it is

in the eyes of the audience, for terrorism is largely a matter of perceptions. It is not measured solely by the number of incidents or body

counts. Neither sum accurately reflects the amount of terrorism, which

comprises not only the actions of terrorists but also the effects -- the

publicity, the shock, the terror -- that these actions generate.

To illustrate the point, fewer incidents of international terrorism

occurred in 1972 than in 1970; however, two particularly shocking episodes in 1972, the Lod Airport massacre in May and the Munich incident
III - 15

in September, appalled the world and provoked many governments to undertake serious measures to combat terrorism. In the United States, it led

to the creation of the Cabinet Committee to Combat Terrorism.

Similarly, many people labeled 1975 as the “year of the terrorist.”

Certainly, 1975 seemed to surpass previous years in the number of

dramatic and shocking episodes, particularly in Western Europe, and thus

closer to us. Two attempts to shoot down airliners at Orly Field in

Paris, the kidnapping of a candidate for mayor of West Berlin, the seizure

of embassies in Stockholm, Kuala Lumpur, and Madrid, the IRA bombing campaign in London, the assassination of Turkish ambassadors in Austria and

France, the hijacking of a train in The Netherlands, the takeover of the

Indonesian consulate in Amsterdam, and the seizure of the OPEC oil ministers in Vienna, all combined to produce a spectacular effect. However,

measured by the number of incidents and by the number of casualties,

international terrorism had, in fact, declined in 1975. Fewer incidents

of terrorism occurred than in 1973 or 1974, and fewer persons were

killed than in 1974.

To repeat, there were no fewer incidents of international terrorism

in 1976 than in 1975, and 1976 was no less bloody. The primary difference was that 1976 saw more assassinations and murders and fewer hostage

incidents. A hijacking, kidnapping, or other kind of hostage incident

may be in the news for days, even weeks; murder is usually in the news

for a day. Probably more people recall that Croatian terrorists hijacked

an airliner on which no one was killed than recall that Cuban extremists

planted a bomb abroad an airliner that killed 73 passengers.

The actual amount of terrorist violence overall has been exaggerated -- evidence of its success in gaining worldwide attention. Measured

against the world volume of violence, terrorist violence is trivial.

About a thousand persons have died in international terrorist incidents

since 1968; another two thousand have been injured. If we add the

casualties of domestic political violence (as in Belfast or Buenos Aires),

the total number of deaths may ascend to ten thousand at the most. More

than twice that many are murdered every year in the United States. Since

1968, six million people in the world have died in 13 wars.
111 - 16

But terrorism is more appropriately measured by the amount of

attention it receives, by its ability to create national and international crises, by the enormous costs of protection against terrorist

attacks, by the alarm it creates, and the consequences these have for

society. Terrorist tactics are calculated to rivet attention and

create alarm. In this they succeed. This point is important when

examining the incentives and disincentives to nuclear action by

terrorists.

While any forecasts about terrorism in the future are conjectural,

some trends are discernible. Although few terrorists have reached their

stated long-range goals, and in that respect terrorism is a failure,

terrorism has proved useful in getting publicity and occasionally obtaining some political concessions. These limited tactical successes

may encourage terrorists, who are typically short-sighted politically,

to continue to use terrorist tactics. Terrorism is likely to persist

and perhaps increase as a mode of political expression.

Terrorists will remain highly mobile, able to strike targets

anywhere in the world. Recent developments in explosives, small arms,

and sophisticated man-portable weapons will provide terrorists with an

increased capacity for violence. They appear to be getting more

sophisticated in their tactics, their weapons, and their exploitation

of the media. they will continue to emulate each other’s tactics, especially those that win international publicity. Terrorist groups appear

to be strengthening their links with each other, forming alliances, and

providing mutual assistance. One result is the emergence of multinational freelance terrorist groups that are willing to carry out attacks

on behalf of causes with which they are sympathetic, or to undertake

specific operations or campaigns of terrorism on commission from client

groups or governments. Nations or groups unable or unwilling to mount

a serious challenge on the battlefield may employ such groups or adopt

terrorist tactics as a means of surrogate warfare against their opponents.

The problem of terrorism will continue to require a major diversion of

resources to internal security functions. We have already witnessed

this development in the area of civil aviation, and we are now seeing

the same thing in the nuclear industry.
111-1 7

IV. WILL TERRORISTS GO NUCLEAR?

There is no discernible trend in the direction of nuclear action. To

date, no terrorist group has demonstrated that they possess nuclear weapons

material or radioactive wastes, or has claimed they have such material to extort

concessions. Apart from a few incidents of sabotage in France, political extremists have not attacked nuclear facilities, and there is no

evidence that they have sought to acquire special nuclear material.

In attempting to predict whether in the future terrorists will go

nuclear, we must consider a spectrum of potential nuclear actions

that terrorists could carry out. We can then discuss these in terms

of capabilities and intentions.

Only a telephone call or a postcard are needed to carry out a nuclear

hoax. An individual can do it. Acts of saborage can be carried out by one

person but success requires some limited technical knowledge and involves

some risks. The seizure of a control room or other portion of a nuclear

facility could conceivably be carried out by one man, but is more likely

to involve several. Seizures of embassies or other buildings, which

we have seen terrorists do, seem to require a minimum of three men to

guard any hostages, maintain a lookout, negotiate, sleep, etc. The

operation also requires reconnaissance, some planning, the acquisition

of weapons, and the penetration of the security apparatus. But it still

would be within the range of many small groups, for example, a group

the size of the "Symbionese Liberation Army." The overt theft of a

nuclear weapon or special nuclear material would require a small armed assault,

quite possibly the use of automatic weapons and explosives, a means of escape,

and possibly a hideout. While such an operation could conceivably be

carried out by a small group - say, a half-dozen people -- it is likely to

require more in various supporting roles.

The manufacture (as opposed to the design) of a nuclear bomb is a

complex operation demanding considerable effort and continued success through

a number of difficult steps. It would require the accumulation of

sufficient fissionable material (either by diverting small amounts over

a long period of time in order to avoid detection or by overt thefts),
III - 18

the acquisition of convention explosives, a means of moving the radioactive material and storing it, a place to manufacture the bomb without

mishap, its delivery, and its detonation. It would take weeks or months

to do and the entire task would require a number of people, including a few

with technical knowledge. (See Chapter VI of Volume I).

Acquiring sufficient fissionable material is seen as the principal

obstacle to fabricating a clandestine nuclear explosive device. With

sufficient material, there is a consensus that a crude explosive device can be

made. For plutonium and uranium-233 about 5-10 kilograms are needed;

for U-235 about 15-30 kilograms. Light water reactor fuel, which is 3

percent enriched uranium-235, cannot be made into a fission explosive device.

Plutonium and fully enriched uranium-235 are the most practical materials

for the clandestine fabrication of a bomb. (Uranium-233 is a by-product of

high temperature, gas-cooled reactors which have not yet come into widespread

use.) Highly enriched 235U can be found in government weapons programs and

also is used as fuel for research reactors and nuclear-powered naval vessels.

Plutonium is also found in the present nuclear fuel cycle, although it is

currently not being commercially separated in the United Stat-es (it is

in several countries in Europe and Japan), and is available in larger quantities

than either 233U or 235U.

It has been asserted that commercial plutonium is useless for making bombs.

This is not correct. See Chapter VI of Volume I for a discussion of the design

and construction of Nuclear Fission Explosive Weapons.
III - 19

The notion that someone outside of government programs can design

and build a crude nuclear explosive is much more plausible now. In the beginning, the

secrets of fission were closely guarded. However, much of the requisite technical

knowledge has gradually come into the public domain. A growing number of

technically competent people understand this material, and, even without

detailed knowledge of nuclear weapons design, theoretically could design and

fabricate a nuclear explosive. Its

Its yield would be low, probably in

A former designer of nuclear

stances, a few persons, possibly

detonation and performance would be uncertain.

the tenths of a kilotan range.

weapons asserts that “under conceivable circumone person working alone who possessed about

10 kilograms of plutonium and a substantial amount of high explosive, could,

within several weeks design and build a crude fission bomb.”6 Three noted

scientists, in a statement to the National Council of Churches, maintained that

it was impossible for a single person to make a bomb. “At least six persons,

highly skilled in very different technologies, would be required to do so,

7 even for a crude weapon.” They may put it beyond the grasp of any “bright

lunatic,” but the perimeters of the debate are still significantly limited.

It could be done. See the conclusions of Chapter VI, Volume I.

For a dispersal device, the technical and material requirements are

less. Some plutonium, or a quantity of some other available radioactive

material, spent fuel

suffice.

Assuming for the

for example

moment that

9 and a mechanism for dispersal would

it could be done; that there exist in the

world today groups that possess or could acquire the

to carry our the actions described, we are left with

motivations and intentions.

resources necessary

the question of
111 - 20

A nuclear capability would give terrorists unprecedented destructive power. The detonation of even a crude nuclear device in a populated area would kill tens of thousands of persons. This is orders of

magnitude greater than the casualties involved in the largest terrorist”

incidents to date. Deliberate attempts, outside of war, to kill large

numbers of people in a single act are rare, and instances in which

politically motivated terrorists have deliberately attempted to kill

large numbers of people are very rare. In no single incident in the

past half century have terrorists killed more than 150 persons and

incidents involving more than 20 deaths are extremely rare.

If we exclude acts that took place during wars, battles with or

raids by guerrilla groups which produced heavy casualties, or instances

of mass executions of government collaborators by revolutionaries or

of suspected enemies of the state by governments, then in the past half

century there have been perhaps fewer than a dozen instances in which

terrorists have deliberately sought to kill a large number of civilians

(that is, something approaching a hundred). Such incidents would include

the detonation of a bomb at the Sofia Cathedral in Bulgaria in 1925

which killed 128 and wounded 323; the bomb planted by the Irgun at the

King David Hotel in Jerusalem in 1946 in which more than 200 were killed

or injured (although there is some evidence that the terrorists made an

attempt to have the hotel evacuated before the explosion); the bombs

placed aboard an aircraft in which 47 were killed one time and 88 another,

the Lod Airport massacre in 1972 in which 25 were killed and 76 were

wounded; and some of the bombings in the United Kingdom in which large

numbers were injured but few were killed. The most recent incident of

"mass murder" occurred on October 6, 1976, when a bomb placed aboard a

Cubana Airlines jet exploded causing the airliner to crash; 73 persons

were killed. Anti-Castro Cubans claimed credit for the act.

Apart from these rare incidents, the record of modern international

terrorism shows that terrorists have, for the most part, not sought to

carry out mass murder. Of 861 incidents of international terrorism that
III - 21

occurred between 1968 and October 1976, 178 (or 21 percent of them) involved one or more deaths. The rest were token acts of violence, for

example, small bombs planted outside embassies, or hijackings without

casualties, or other acts that did not result in any deaths. Of the

178 incidents in which one or more persons were killed, more than half

(95 of them) involved one death; 26 resulted in two deaths. Approximately 11 percent of the incidents with deaths, or about two percent

of the total number of incidents of international terrorism, involved

10 or more deaths, many of these the result of shoot-outs between

terrorists and members of security forces, both of whom are included

in these totals. Figure 5 illustrates the number of incidents with

deaths and the number of deaths.

To repeat, these are incidents of international terrorism. Local

contests could be more bloody, but a preliminary examination of politically-motivated violence in places like Argentina, Northern Ireland,

and in the United States shows little evidence that terrorism equals

mass murder. The vast majority of the incidents involve none or one

or two casualties.

It is apparent that if any of several large known terrorist groups

had wanted to kill hundreds or even thousands using chemical, biological weapons, or simply conventional explosives, they could have done SO.

If we were to examine all past incidents aimed deliberately at causing

widespread casualties -- such as attempts to poison water supplies --

we would probably discover the perpetrators for the most part to be

deranged individuals or tiny groups sharing serious mental problems.

As an example, two youths were arrested by police in Chicago in 1972.

They had planned to poison the city’s drinking water with typhoid

bacteria. The youths were organizers of a “group” which planned to

inoculate its own members against the disease “to form the basis for

a new master race” after the rest of the population had been wiped out.

It is noteworthy that the police discovered the plot after being tipped

off by a person whom the boys attempted to recruit.

Mass murder may be considered counterproductive for terrorists.

It could alienate sympathizers and potential supporters, provoke
III - 22

Figure 5

Figure V-3.

Number of Deaths per Incident of Terrorism

Involving Any Deaths 1966-1976 (October 6)

Number of Incidents with Deaths

60

40

20

(See appendix II I-A for more information on the death Incidents ) Based upon data supplied by the RAND CUP

(See Annex to Appendix III-A for information on the

high-death incidents. )
III - 23

severe crackdowns that public opinion would demand and support, and

threaten the survival of the organization itself. For these reasons,

any scheme of this type is likely to create disagreement and dissention within the organization contemplating it, thus exposing the operation and the organization to betrayal. In sum, mass murder appears

unlikely to be contemplated by groups capable of making elementary politi–

cal judgments.

While we cannot rule out the possibility of a “large-scale Led,”

the wanton killing of large numbers of civilians, the detonation of a

nuclear device in a populated area appears unlikely, at least on the basis

of the historical record. And the reasons cannot be explained in terms

of limited capabilities. Political extortion based on some type of

nuclear threats, a real one or a clever fabrication, seems more attractive to terrorists. possessing a nuclear device, it seems terrorists

could demand anything. But the idea of nuclear blackmail has some weaknesses.

The whole area of motivations, incentives, demands and conceivably

negotiations in the area of nuclear blackmail by non-State adversaries

merits systematic examination, which it has not received. At present,

we can do no more than speculate about the types of demands non-State

adversaries can, cannot, and are most likely to make. It does not seem

logical that non–State adversaries would resort to nuclear means to make

demands that they have a good chance of achieving without escalating

the threat to that level or making the investment and taking the risks

necessary to obtain SNM and fabricate a nuclear device. If current

tactics are successful most of the time they are unlikely to alter them.

If there is an easier way, they will take it. If they can fabricate

a nuclear threat without fabricating a nuclear device, they will prefer

it. Therefore, nuclear blackmail to obtain a few million dollars ransom

or spring a few prisoners does not seem likely. If they really possess

a nuclear capability, it seems reasonable that they would certainly ask

for something more than they can get now by less difficult means.

However, it is not entirely clear how the enormous capacity for

destruction associated with a nuclear weapon could be converted into

commensurate political gains. Even with a nuclear device, terrorists
111 - 24

could not make impossible demands. They probably could not permanently

alter national policy or compel other changes in national behavior. To

do so would require at a minimum that they maintain the threat. It is

not clear under what conditions and how long they could do so without

being discovered. They could not creat a homeland, at least not without

at the same time offering the victims of the blackmail a set of hostages

of their own. The probably could not persuade a government to liquidate

itself. To carry out a coup d’etat with a nuclear bomb still requires

that the conspirators at some time surface to take control. Then they

become vulnerable. They could not realistically expect to be given more

nuclear weapons by claiming or even demonstrating that they had at

least one. What then could they demand?

They might be able to deter certain acts by threatening nuclear

action. As a hypothetical example, Palestinian leftists, with a credible

nuclear capability, conceivably might have been able to deter Syria from

invading Lebanon.

We must also consider bizarre demands such as the release of all

prisoners in Oklahoma or the distribution of food to the poor. It is difficult to see how the satisfaction of these demands would be seen to

contribute to the achievement of the threatening group’s goals. However,

they could be operating within a mind-set that is totally alien to our

own. No one would deny that such individuals, conceivably even some small

groups whose members share these characteristics, do exist in the world.

However, we are now dealing with the lunatic fringe, not the large ter–

rorist groups who are conceived to have the capability for nuclear theft

and the fabrication of nuclear weapons.

Indeed, there seems to be an inverse relationship between intentions

and capabilities. At the one end are those who in the same of some

bizarre cause, are willing to threaten or cause mass casualties. Individuals or groups that make universal appeals--in the name of “brotherhood,”

“economic justice,” or “world peace” --generally lack any real constituency.

Such a group would not necessarily be constrained by fears of alienating

world opinion. The group’s members would place themselves above world

opinion. An essential ingredient of such a group’s philosophy would
III - 25

permit the negation of existing human values, allowing widespread and

indiscriminate murder. They might claim divine inspiration (or at least

tacit approval by God) to destroy the wicked or the weak--’’the good will

survive” --or might adhere to a racist ideology that would permit genocide.

We are describing here the authors of most hoaxes, and of the few mass

murder schemes that are known to have occurred. Individuals with mental

or emotional disorders, and a certain charisma, have on occasion managed

to become heads of state––Adolph Hitler–- or at least of gangs--Cl]arl(~s

Manson. Fortunately, most such individuals usually lack the capability

to successfully carry out their intentions.

At the other end, we have the large political organizations who

probably can muster the resources to carry out such operations but who

must carefully weigh the benefits and risks: they are compelled to make

political judgments that impose constraints. The same is true of large

criminal organizations which must make economic judgments.

There is some theoretical crossover point where intentions meet

capabilities. As the opportunities for nuclear theft increase, that

point may move toward the lunatics. This perhaps is the most frightening

consequence of nuclear proliferation.

The primary attraction to terrorists in “going nuclear” may not be

that nuclear sabotage or possession of nuclear devices would enable

terrorists to cause mass casualties, but rather that almost any nuclear

action by terrorists would attract widespread attention and cause widespread alarm. The words “nuclear” and “terrorist” in close proximity

achieve a synergistic effect. A terrorist group might threaten to start

fires in highrise office buildings and send authorities a set of blueprints

and a book of matches to demonstrate its capability. But a terrorist believed to have a nuclear device is automatically a successful terrorist.

It would not be necessary for terrorists to take risks and make

the investment necessary to steal SNM and fabricate a nuclear explo–

sive or dispersal device to create an alarming situation. With a degree

of imagination and intelligence, terrorists could do things that demand

less technical skill and less risk on their part but still achieve the

desired publicity or intended coercive effect. A well-publicized hoax

could be as alarming as if the terrorists actually possessed a real

weapon, provided that there is no way of verifying that it is a hoax.
III-26

Terrorists who seized control of a nuclear weapons storage site or a

nuclear power reactor might present little threat to public safety but

the situation would be frightening. Despite the assurance of scientists

and engineers (who in such a situation can be relied on to disagree with

each other), few would want to test their capabilities. The same would be

true of terrorists who claimed to possess a nuclear device bolstered their

credibility with the enclosure of a small sample of SNM. It might be

their entire stash; they might not be able to fabricate a weapon; the device might not work, but again, few would want to run the test.

If we were to lay all of the potential scenarios of malevolent

acts involving nuclear facilities or nuclear material out in order

of increasing consequences (see Figure 6), the curve representing

potential casualties and destruction would sweep up sharply as we move

through the list. This curve would begin with the hoax which would

directly endanger no one but which if publicized might cause panic,

move through the seizure of hostages at a nuclear facility which might

directly endanger the hostages but probably would not result in widespread casualties, through contamination scenarios which might jeopardize the health of hundreds of people, and finally end with the manufacture and detonation of a nuclear explosive device which potentially

could kill thousands. Terrorists typically have operated at the lower

Spectrum of potential “nuclear actions” by terrorists

Figure 6
111 - 27

end of the spectrum where the actual number of casualties is low, but

the dramatic impact, the fear and alarm they create is high.

In sum, the possibility of low-level but alarming incidents in which

nuclear facilities or nuclear material figure as the backdrop or prop

for terrorist action certainly exists. The possibility also exists for

some alarming mass hostage situations in which there is considerable

uncertainty about the capabilities and willingness of the authors of the

threats to carry them out. Mass murder schemes still seem to be the

product of individual lunatics.
111 - 28

v. ORGANIZED CRIME AS A POTENTIAL NON-STATE ADVERSARY — .

Ten years ago, the members of the Lumb Panel examining nuclear

safeguards for the Atomic Energy Commission identified organized criminal

as well as terrorist groups as potential threats to nuclear programs. In

discussing criminal adversaries, they had in mind the thefts and illegal

diversions that take place in other internationally-traded commodities.

If whole shiploads of wheat could be diverted, why not nuclear material?

The members of the Panel no doubt also had in mind the theft of the

fuel rods from the Bradwell nuclear plant in England, which took place

in 1966. A report on the incident is listed in the bibliography of

the Panel’s own report.

Whether organized crime should be counted among the potential subnational nuclear threats remains a matter of some debate. Organized

crime here is defined as an organization dedicated to illegal activities;

its existence transcends any single act; the organization survives its

members. It is more like a business corporation than a gang. Organized

crime should be distinguished from individual groups of criminals that

organized themselves to carry out specific crimes. In the United States

organized crime is generally considered to be a nationwide alliance of

twenty-some “families” of criminals (not all of the members of the families

are actually related). The families are variously referred to as the

Mafia, the Mob, Cosa Nostra, or “the syndicate.” In addition to the

Mafia families, there are non-Mafia criminal syndicates, though by comparison these appear to be of lesser importance. The Mafia families

are linked to each other and to non-Mafia syndicates by understandings,

agreements, and treaties, and by mutual deference to a “Commission”

made up of the leaders of the most powerful families.

Members of organized crime allegedly "control all but a tiny part

of illegal gambling in the United States. They are the principal. loan

sharks. They are the principal importers and wholesalers of narcotics.

They have infiltrated certain labor unions. . .have a virtutal monopoly

on some legitimate enterprises, such as cigarette vending machines and

boxes . They own a wide variety of retail firms, restaurants

and bars, construction companies, truckin g companies , food companies ,
111 - 29

meat packing companies, laundries, linen-s upp 1 y ho us es, garbage colleer.ion routes, and factories. They are alleged to own or indirectly

control a large share of the legal gambling in Las Vegas. More

recently, they have moved into the manufacture and wholesale distribution

of pornography. They also reportedly control a large share of prostitution.

The annual take from these enterprises is estimated to be in the area

of $50 billion with about half of that as net profit.

In addition to organized crime in the United States, there are,

of course, similar criminal syndicates in other countries and these

to varying degrees have connections with each other and with organized

crime in the United States. There are also “families” of smugglers

who each tend to specialize in certain commodities, and there are

illegal international arms traders who conceivably could become involved in the transfer of intact nuclear weapons or SNM. All of these

organizations collectively could be considered as part of vaster

intimation network of organized crime. There is, however, no known

central directorate.

Although some of the most spectacular criminal capers, the Great

Train Robbery in England, the Brinks Robbery in Boston, were not carried

out by members of organized crime as described above, it is generally

thought that only organized crime, with its vast resources and connections,

has the organization, capital, access to the skills, and international

connections necessary to steal, fence, smuggle special nuclear material,

organize and operate an international black market. in stolen nuclear

material, or acquire the material and fabricate its own weapon. Or, it

is believed that at least at some point, even a band of independent thieves

would have to seek organized crime’s approval for a nuclear heist, fence

the stolen material to organized crime, or seek the assistance of organized

crime in some manner. This presumption is challengeable.

At issue is not the capability of organized crime to steal nuclear

material or fabricate 3 nuclear device, but their interest in doing so.

L. Douglas DeNike suggests, “Armed with plutonium or high level waste

in storage, organized crime might demand federal assurances of non-interference with their operations. Punishment for non-cooperation might be
III - 30

the loss of Washington, D. C., as a habitable center. Nuclear thieves

could demand large sums of cash, control over policy or special conces10

sions from national governments.” Willrich and Taylor offer a similar

view:

... .possession of a few fission explosives or radiological

weapons might place a criminal group rather effectively

beyond the reach of law enforcement authorities. A criminal

organization might use the threat of nuclear violence against

an urban population to deter police action directed against

its nuclear theft operations. The organization might also

use nuclear threats to extort from the government a tacit

or explicit relaxation of law enforcement activities directed against a broad range of other lucrative criminal operations.ll

Willrich and Taylor, however, go on to point out that “criminal

groups primarily interested in money are likely to be politically conservative , and that they would not develop a black market in a commodity

such as nuclear material which could have revolutionary political impli–

cations. Moreover, a large nuclear theft might prompt a massive governmental crackdown and lead to a widespread public outcry, whereas the

continued existence of organized crime on a large scale might depend on

the susceptibility of some government officials to corruption and on a

12

degree of public indifference.”

Jenkins agrees that:

Extortion is a classic crime and nuclear programs certainly

open new avenues for extortion. Plutonium and certain

other fissionable materials would be highly marketable

commodities raising the possibility of a profitable black

market traffic in these items. . however, one should be

cautious about overestimating the attractiveness of engaging

in nuclear extortion or trafficking in fissionable material

to the criminal underworld, especially to organized crime. . .

organized crime is a conservative service–oriented indus -

try. It provides gambling, prostitution, and narcotics,

The profits from the provision of these services are good

and, perhaps more important, steady.. There is a willing

market for such services, and despite the social harm they

cause , they may not be perceived by the public as a direct

threat to individual or collective security. Indeed , the
III - 31

existence of organized crime depends a great deal on

tacit public acceptance or at least indifference and

therefore it has tended to avoid criminal ventures--

for example, in this country kidnappings for huge

ransoms-- that are likely to arouse public anger. Nuclear blackmail would bring tremendous heat on the

organization and provoke crackdowns that could interrupt

the flow of large steady profits from socially more

acceptable crimes.13

James E. Lovett is very skeptical of the likelihood of organized

crime involving itself in nuclear diversion.

Organized crime will attempt nuclear diversion under one

and only one condition, that it will bring more money.

Organized crime has no use for nuclear material either

as a blackmail threat or as a potential defensive or offensive weapon system. Nuclear material is of value to it

only if it has a buyer.14

Lovett, however, concedes that a non-weapon State or a terrorist group

might employ an organized crime syndicate to divert nuclear materials

in return for financial payment. But a non-weapon State or wealthy

enough terrorist group would not necessarily have to rely on organized

crime. The could also recruit a band of independents.

In 1969, the Atomic Energy Commission asked Wright, Long & Company

to study the possibility of nuclear cargoes being hijacked by the Mafia

and other organized groups. Since the researchers were likely to have

little direct contact with members of the Mafia, they used an indirect

approach, interviewing police chiefs. The study itself is classified

but speaking before a meeting in Los Alamos, New Mexico, one of the

investigators said that “the Mafia appeared more interested in cigarettes

and television sets than in uranium and plutonium.” He noted, however,

“It is possible. . . that some foreign tyrant might offer a deal of some

kind to any racketeer who would divert enriched uranium.” Hijacking

trucks was something organized crime is skilled at. Ominously the

researcher told the audience that “on a list of 735 so-called Mafia

members, 12 are or were owners of trucking firms, two are truck drivers

and at least nine were union officials." 1 5
III - 32

In private discussions with Jenkins, law enforcement officials

generally found it hard to imagine organized crime going into nuclear

extortion or theft. "It would bring too much heat on them." "They

work with the people in power not against them." "In a case of nuclear

theft or nuclear blackmail, judges are likely to become rather liberal

in authorizing wiretaps, searches, and arrests. They wouldn’t like that."

"Their annual take is in the billions. What do they need nuclear for?"

If not nuclear extortion or theft, WOUld organized crime fence stolen

nuclear material? If there was a market for it, possibly they would

so long as it was not likely to be used where they lived.

The authors of the 1975 study by the Mitre Corporation, seven of

the twelve of whom were former FBI officials disagree that organized

crime’s alleged conservatism in politics or business would dissuade it

from action involving nuclear material. In a florid style that characterizes the entire report, its authors concluded:

A veritable army of criminals and hoodlums in this country

is waiting and willing to undertake any activity, including

murder, if the profit justifies it. Their ruthlessness

and sophisticated techniques and methods have been convincingly demonstrated in thousands of skillfully executed

crimes. ...They have corrupted and compromised men in all

walks of life. They have links with many foreign countries.

Their greed knows no bounds.

. . . .They are interested solely in acquiring more money and

power for themselves and there is no evidence that they

have or ever had any motivation such as patriotism. . . .

There is little question that, for a sufficient amount

of money, members of organized crime would take a contract

to acquire special nuclear material for another party.

.*. . Organized crime shows little interest in its public

image and would not be likely to be deterred from stealing

nuclear material because the public might be outraged.

If there is any area of consensus within the debate, it is that no

one who has commented on the topic seriously believes that organized

crime lacks the resources, skills, patience and force necessary to steal
III - 33

special nuclear material or engage in an illicit international trade

of the commodity. Putting it another way, no one views current safe–

guards as sufficient to deter or prevent nuclear theft by organized

crime. The deterrents, if there are any, lie elsewhere in fears by

the leaders of organized crime that such actions would provoke public

outrage and lead to severe responses that would seriously damage organized

crime’s other profitable enterprises. The idea that organized crime would

attempt to deter such countermeasures with a nuclear threat is apparently

accepted by only DeNike. Willrich and Taylor point out that “like nuclear

war between nations, if the deterrent failed and a criminal group either

used nuclear weapons or failed to use them, the group itself would prob-

.17

ably not survive the crisis as an organization."

At the same time, even those who believe that the risks to organized

crime of involvement in nuclear theft or nuclear extortion probably

exceed the perceived benefits appear unconvinced that if a worldwide

market for nuclear material develops, and if the price is right, organized

crime, without becoming directly involved in the theft of nuclear material

might act as a “fence” or broker for the stolen goods.

It seems not surprising that the attraction of nuclear material to

organized crime is its intrinsic monetary value as a commodity, not its

strategic attribute, which only increases the handling risks. Thus, the

possible involvement of organized crime in nuclear theft or illicit trade

in nuclear material would seem contingent upon (1) the continued expansion

of the nuclear industry worldwide-–a seeming certainty; (2) a restricted

market in special nuclear material, which will keep the value of the commodity high; (3) the consequent necessity and profitability of an illicit

trade; (4) a sufficient number of suppliers and buyers to sustain a

market as opposed to an occasional one-shot deal; and (5) sufficient laxness

in the area of security and safeguards to allow a sufficient seepage of

material for trade.

If the deterrents to nuclear theft or other nuclear action by

organized crime lie in its natural concern about its other investments and

its own survival, that may be an approach to explore. The question might

be asked, apart from increasing security and safeguards, which many at
III - 34

present consider to be woefully inadequate measured against the capabilities attributed to organized crime, what could be done to insure

that the leaders of organized crime fully understand that any involvement in nuclear action, like an armed attack upon the nation itself,

would inevitably provoke an unprecedented attack on organized crime

which it would not survive.
III -35

VI. THE RECORD OF NUCLEAR INCIDENTS

Between 1969 and 1975, there were 288 recorded threats or incidents

of violence at nuclear facilities in the United States. This figure

does not include nuclear hoaxes. The vast majority of these (240) were

bomb threats against government or licensed nuclear facilities. Twentytwo were incidents of arson, attempted arson, or suspicious fires.

Most of the arson in idents occurred in office buildings where the

Atomic Energy Commission rented space, or were directed against university research facilities such as the Lawrence Radiation Laboratory at

Berkeley, California. Ten of the arson incidents took place at this

location. The same facility also received five bomb threats. Investigators believed the perpetrator or perpetrators to have been an individual, perhaps a former employee with a personal grievance, or militant

students.

The most serious incident of arson occurred at Consolidated Edison’s

nuclear generating plant at Indian Point, New York. On November 4, 1971,

a fire caused $10 million in damage to the facility, but did not affect

the reactor. Later, in a letter to the New York Times, a group calling

itself “Project: Achilles’ Heel” claimed that “Indian Point guerrillas”

were responsible for the incident. The letter implied that the action

had been motivated by concern for the environment; however, the arsonist

who was later apprehended turned out to be a former employee of the

company who was undergoing psychiatric treatment at a local veterans’

hospital. The fire delayed the plant’s opening for three months.

There were four incidents in which bombs or explosives were found

at nuclear facilities. Again, research facilities were the principal

target. There were 10 actual bombings. Eight of the bombs exploded

at federal office buildings or university research facilities, and it

is not clear in all cases that nuclear programs were the target. (One,

for example, exploded at the High School in Oak Ridge, Tennessee; it is

not at all clear why this incident is included in the government’s list
III - 36

of incidents other than the school’s proximity to the government’s

research facilities at Oak Ridge.)

However, in two episodes, the targets clearly were nuclear. On

December 7, 1971, two bombs exploded near the experimental linear

accelerator at Stanford University in California causing heavy damage

to the electronics equipment that controls the facility. A caller

later claimed credit for the explosions, but no manifesto were issued

and no suspects were ever arrested. It was, however, a period of student

unrest and there had been other incidents of violence on campus by student militants.

The other action was carried out by an avowed foe of nuclear power.

On February 22, 1974, a 400-ft. meteorological instrument tower at a

proposed nuclear power plant site in Montague Center, Massachusetts, was

toppled by a saboteur who simply loosened the turnbolts on the tower.

The perpetrator, who turned himself in to the police, claimed in a

written statement that his action was motivated by opposition to the

future construction of a nuclear power plant at the site and t-o the

danger this would impose on the community. “I held no malice toward

the tower itself. . . ,“ he wrote. “Symbolically, however, it represented the most horrendous development this community could imagine.”

The remaining incidents consist of forced entries and intrusions,

shots fired at guards or at transmission towers, or deliberate breaches

of security. In one incident, a student with a record for doing odd

things cut through a fence to gain access to the area around a university research reactor simply to prove that it could be done.

The only known diversion of nuclear material in the United States

occurred at the Kerr-McGee fuel. fabrication plant in Oklahoma. On

November 5, 1974, a plant employee who had previously complained that

working conditions at the plant were unsafe, was found to have been

contaminated with plutonium. Put on administrative duties the following day, she was, when routinely checked, found again to be contaminated.

A further check of her apartment, 25 miles from the plant, revealed

some contamination, and her roommate. was also found to have a low level
III - 37

of contamination on her body. Urine and fecal samples taken after

the first contamination also revealed contamination but not at levels

consistent with that found later during an autopsy.

She was

killed in an automobile crash eight days after the first incident

while on her way to a meeting with a union official and newspaper

reporter. Her death left numerous questions unanswered and the episode was investigated by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and the

Government Accounting Office.

A month later at the same facility, uranium dioxide pellets (containing low-enriched uranium) were found on the grounds Of the Plant

outside the production area. There was no way they could have gotten

there accidentally. The perpetrator was suspected to be a plant

employee who wished to embarrass the company. While neither incident

involved more than minute quantities of nuclear material, they did

raise serious questions about the security of the facility and the

possibilities of a more serious diversion.

None of these incidents, with the exception of the fire at the

Lawrence Radiation Laboratory, the fire at Indian Point, the bombing

of the Stanford linear accelerator, and possibly the removal of nuclear

material from the Kerr-McGee facility could be called “serious.” There

were no casualties; public safety was not imperiled. (Douglas DeNike

in “Radioactive Malevolence” states that in August 1971 an intruder

entered the grounds of the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant and fled

18

after wounding the night watchman. This would be the only casualty.

Curiously, the incident is not included in the lists released to the

public by the Energy Research and Development Administration and the

Nuclear Regulatory Commission.) With the exception of the Indian

Point, Lawrence Laboratory, and Stanford incidents, all could be classified as minor incidents -- bomb threats, token acts of violence,

low-level sabotage, etc. Many are nuclear incidents only in the administrative sense, for example, office buildings, campus science buildings.

There is no evidence that such incidents are occurring with increasing frequency. They go up sharply in 1970, probably due to better
III - 38

reporting, and remain relatively steady until 1975 when the total number

of incidents again increases, again perhaps due to better reporting.

(Figures for 1976 are not yet available.) They tell us that the nuclear

industry is not immune to the bomb threats that have become commonplace

in all businesses and industry, to arson, to incidents of low-level

sabotage, and to an occasional bombing. The Bank of America and

Safeway Stores fare no better.

64

40

51 44

12

I I I I I I I I

1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976

Fig. 1 —Threats and incidents at nuclear facilities in the United States

The government list is not complete. It is unbelievable that

no incidents of any type took place before 1969. There is the omission

of the Vermont incident referred to by DeNike. During the summer of

1974 there were some incidents of low-level sabotage at the Zion

nuclear power plant in Illinois which are not included in the list.

They appear to have been the work of angry employees. There were also

several bomb threats reported at the Zion plant in 1974, but the list

mentioned only one that year. It appears that not all bomb threats

are reported. The list makes no mention of several known thefts of

radioactive material. (Not all such threats come under NRC or ERDA

jurisdiction.)

In August 1973, 21 capsules of radioactive Iodine-131 were stolen

from a hospital in California. In June 1974, a device was stolen containing strontium-90 which is used to measure the density of roadbeds.

The thief, who was never apprehended, was in clear danger because prolonged exposure to strontium-90 can be fatal. In August 1974, nine
III - 39

radioactive radium needles were stolen from a hospital in California.

This theft was carried out by a night porter who worked at the hospital. He was later apprehended. In September 1974, approximately

100 radioactive copper plates were stolen from the Lawrence Radiation

Laboratory. They had just been removed from the laboratory’s cyclotron. No perpetrators were apprehended. In December 1974, two cesi~um137 gauges were stolen from a plant in New Jersey. These were found

in damaged condition after an anonymous phone call led to their location. Other such thefts are known. Often it is reported that burglars

involved in these thefts may not always know what they are stealing

and may ditch the instruments or material when they are found not to

be marketable.

Several more serious incidents of theft have occurred abroad. In

November 1966, twenty uranium fuel elements in canisters were stolen

from the Bradwell nuclear power station in the United Kingdom. The

theft was carried out by two men, one of whom worked at the plant.

Both were later arrested and the fuel elements were recovered. They

said that a man in London had offered them “twenty quid” for the elements. The London connection was never identified. The rods contained

only low-enriched uranium and could not have been used to make a bomb.

In April 1974, a uranium smuggling operation was uncovered in

India. All of the details of the incident are not available, but it

appears from the rather sketchy press accounts that uranium was being

removed from the Jaduguda plant in Bihar, India, and was being smuggled

to Nepal. From Nepal, it was smuggled to Hong Kong where reportedly

Chinese or Pakistani agents took delivery. It is believed that as much

as $2.5 million worth of uranium may have been involved. The plot came

to public attention when five persons involved in the operation were

arrested in India and 3.5 kilograms of low-enriched uranium were recovered. In October of the previous year, a scientist attached to the

plant disappeared. It was speculated that his disappearance had something to do with the smuggling ring. Another man believed somehow

connected with the operation was killed near Katmandu. The episode is
111 - 40

extremely interesting for it reveals the possible existence of an

embryonic international black market for nuclear material.

There are no complete chronologies of incidents involving nuclear

facilities or material elsewhere in the world. From the reports of the

incidents that are known, they do not differ markedly from those in

the United States and consist mainly of bomb threats, hoaxes, incidents

of vandalism and low-level sabotage. In the last few years, however,

a few more serious incidents have occurred in Europe.

Several serious incidents of sabotage occurred in France in the

last two years. On May 3, 1975, two bombs exploded at a nuclear power

station under construction in Fessenheim, France. The explosions

started a fire which damaged a nonoperative area of the nuclear reactor

complex. The reactor itself did not contain fissionable material. In

the months preceding the bombings there had been some local opposition

to the construction of nuclear power stations in the area. The bombings, however, could also have been politically motivated. Shortly

before the bombs exploded, a caller identifying himself as a member

of the "Meinhof-Puig Antich Group" warned everyone at the site to

evacuate the area. The "Meinhof-Puig Antich Group" had never been

heard of before. Ulrike Meinhof was one of the leaders of the anarchist

Baader-Meinhof Gang in West Germany. Puig Antich was an anarchist

executed by the Spanish government. It is possible that anti-nuclear

extremists used the cover of political extremism to gain publicity

for their act.

Two more bombs were detonated at French nuclear facilities in June.

A group calling itself the "Garmendia-Angelo Luther Commando," also

previously unheard of, claimed credit for the incident. Again, the

group may have been a political cover for foes of nuclear power. One

bomb was placed at Framatome’s main computer center in Courbevoir,

France; it destroyed half of the input terminals. The second bomb

was planted at Framatome’s workship in Argenteuil and caused some

damage at the valve testing shops.
III - 41

In August 1975, two bombs exploded at a nuclear power plant at

Mt. D’Arree in Brittany, France. The bombs caused minor damage to

an inlet for cooling water for the reactor and to an air vent on the

building in the power station. The reactor itself was not damaged,

but it was ordered shut down pending an investigation. No one claimed

responsibility for the attack, but police suspected that the attack

had been carried out by a Breton separatist group responsible for other

acts of sabotage in the area.

In early November 1976, a bomb exploded at the Paris offices of

Cerca, a manufacturer of nuclear fuel elements. The blast caused

heavy damage but no casualties. Responsibility for the attack was

claimed by a man identifying himself as a member of the “Commando of

Opposition by Explosives to the Self-Destruction of the Universe” --

COPEAU.

Less than a week after the Paris blast, two bombs were detonated

at the Margnac Uranium Mine in Southwestern France. The bombs destroyed

four pump compressors causing an estimated $2 million damage. The mine

would have been flooded had not workers been able to get emergency

pumps working within three hours. At any rate, the mine, which accounts

for about one-eighth of France’s annual production, was put out of action

for about two months. COPEAU claimed credit and warned of further action.

Further incidents of violence against nuclear programs in Europe

may be anticipated. Demonstrations against the construction of new

nuclear power stations in West Germany, where anti-nuclear forces appear

to have merged with extremist political movements, have resulted in

violent confrontations with police. (We are not quite sure here whether

political radicals have adopted the anti-nuclear cause, or political

radicals and anti-nuclear forces overlap in membership or what the

nature of the leadership of the demonstrations is, if any.) On one

occasion, police used water guns and tear gas to prevent some 3000 demonstrators armed with clubs, rocks, and Molotov cocktails from storming

the construction site. A number of people were arrested and injured.

In Sweden, where nuclear power has met similar resistance, a bomb

containing 44 pounds of dynamite was found next to a nuclear power
III - 42

station at Ringhals in November 1976. A note to a local newspaper

told police where to locate the device. The note, which was signed

“M,” said, “This is the last warning. Next time we will level the

station to the ground.” The bomb, which was defused by police, would

have damaged transformers but not the two reactors.

There have been two incidents involving the use of radioactive

material as contaminants. On April 16, 1974, an anonymous caller in

Austria calling himself a “justice guerrilla” warned that certain

train coaches had been deliberately contaminated with radioactive

material. Investigators found strong but not lethal traces of radioactive material of a type normally used for medical diagnosis (Iodine131). The episode attracted widespread publicity in Austria and provoked a number of hoax calls and threats. The “justice guerrilla” who

was later arrested, turned out not to be a member of any extremist

group as was first feared, but rather an individual with a history of

insanity. He intended his actions to be a protest against the treatment of the mentally disturbed in Austria.

In October 1974, Italian government officials announced that they

had discovered a plot by rightwing terrorists to poison Italy’s aqueducts with radioactive waste material stolen from a nuclear research

center in Northern Italy. The alleged threat was associated with

revelations of a planned assassination and political coup by rightwing

elements. An engineer at the research center was named as a conspirator, but the allegations were never substantiated and the case became

tangled in legal technicalities. Whether the alleged plot, which received widespread publicity in Italy, was real has never been determined.

A single incident is known to have occurred in Latin America. On

March 25, 1973, fifteen members of the People’s Revolutionary Army, a

Trotskyist urban guerrilla group in Argentina, occupied an atomic power

plant under construction at Atucha, 62 miles north of Buenos Aires.

They overpowered the guards, painted slogans on the walls, raised their

own flag over the facility, and stole weapons, but they made no demands

for the release of hostages and did not attempt to enter the reactor area

or damage the facility itself.
III - 43

What can we conclude from these incidents? For the most part,

they were not serious: only one incident involved a minute quantity

of plutonium (the Kerr-McGee episode); public safety was not imperiled. Most

were low-level incidents -- vandalism, token acts of violence, lowlevel sabotage, minor thefts. We can safely predict more of such

incidents as the nuclear industry continues to expand. The publicity

surrounding the incidents was not that extensive. In only a few incidents did the incident attract international attention. The perpetrators were diverse. They included disgruntled employees, common thieves,

political extremists, foes of nuclear power, and a few authentic lunatics. Their motives included protest, greed, revenge, or desire for

attention. The perpetrators included insiders, external groups, and

combinations of confederates.

For the most part, however, the perpetrators were probably individuals; a few were small groups. The smuggling ring in India with

contacts in at least three countries shows the most organization.

The combination of anti-nuclear elements with political extremists,

as in France and Germany, seems to be the most dangerous combination, that

is, the one most likely to lead to violence. Further violence and perhaps some escalation seems possible, particularly in Europe. On the other

hand, there is no evidence in these incidents that any criminal or terrorist group has made any attempt to acquire special nuclear material or

radioactive waste for use in an explosive or dispersal device. And no

individual or group has demonstrated such a capacity.
111 - 44

VII. NUCLEAR HOAXES

“On 27 October 1970, the Orlando Police Department received

a note threatening the City of Orlando, Florida, with destruction by a ‘hydrogen bomb.’ The note was accompanied by a

diagram of the bomb. The anonymous author of the threat demanded $1 million in cash and a guarantee of safe passage out

of the country. The city was given 24 hours to comply -- or

risk annihilation. Authorities judged the threat to be a hoax,

and police later apprehended a 1Oth grade student who admitted

authorship. There was no nuclear device.” 19

This threat and others, including those made in other parts of the

world, exemplify that portion of the spectrum of adversary actions

classified as hoaxes. For the purpose of this report a nuclear hoax

is defined as a threat to cause harm by detonation of either a

radiologic dispersal device, a homemade atomic bomb, or a nuclear

weapon, but where the threatener lacks the capacity of which he boasts

or the dedication necessary to carry out the threatened action. Although persons have made threats alleging that they indeed had a nuclear

capability, there is no evidence to date that any of them actually

possessed such a capability. While it is theoretically possible that

someone had a nuclear device, but for some reason changed his mind

and decided not to follow through with the threatened action, there

is no basis in fact to believe that this has been the case. None of

the threats to use nuclear material studied to date have proven credible.

Therefore, they have all been classified as nuclear hoaxes.

Nuclear hoaxes have been seen in the form of extortions containing

a range of demands from political concessions to $40 million in cash.

However, the threat was not always coupled with a demand. In some
III - 45

cases it was in the form of a warning that damage would be done using

a nuclear capability. Excluding the cases of extortion for money,

justifications for the threatened damage were often given (such as

opposition to nuclear development or testing and protest against U.S.

participation in the Vietnam war). Other reasons or justifications

given were vague, irrational, or poorly developed, and in a few Cases

no reason was given.

Whether the threat was an extortion device or a warning, the

apparent intent of the perpetrators could be generally categorized under

one of three major headings: expressive, disruptive, or coercive. Some

threats appeared to be poorly thought out, nonspecific, and often irrational and confused. It was as if the author of the threat was struggling with an intrapersonal problem which he externalized and which took

the form of a threat to cause harm, using the fantastically devastating

force of a nuclear bomb. The delivery of such a threat especially if

it lacked provision for communication between the adversary and the

recipient of the threat seems to have been for the purpose of expressing a strong feeling? making a political statement, or eliciting some

sort of reaction.

The second category of hoaxes is made for disruptive purposes.

These hoaxes, as a group, were more organized than the first type in

design, rationale, and content. They specified targets, dates, nature

of the action threatened, nuclear capability, time frame (how much

time t-he recipient had to comply with the demands), and if demands were

made, t-hey were more carefully described. Since the adversary committing

a hoax lacks the capability to follow through with his threat, one

cannot be certain of his level of dedication. Even a hoax, however,

inflicts a certain cost on a sector of society in the form of investigation, public anxiety, work stoppage, etc. There is a similarity between

this type of hoax and a “conventional” bomb scare in that both threats

are structured to force a response by the recipient which usually results

in disruption of the normal state of affairs for persons involved with

the threat-.
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The third type of hoax may be described as coercive in that the

perpetrator is serious in his intent to carry out an extortion using

a nuclear threat as the means for coercive compliance to his demands.

Since he lacks the capability stated in his threat, the perpetrator

must rely upon the way he has structured his message and implemented

the threat to “con” the “extortionee” into compliance. Since his intent

is to have his demands met, provision is usually made for communication

with the extortioner to ensure compliance. The major problem faced by

the perpetrator who is “conning” the extortioner is to convince the

extortioner that he, the perpetrator, has the nuclear capability and

level of dedication necessary to carry out the threat if his demands

are not met.

It is difficult to determine the motivation for making a nuclear

threat. Without direct observation and study of perpetrators who engaged in nuclear threats, one must be cautious about attributing motives

to these adversaries. Those who would engage in nuclear threats may be

different from, or a special subset of, non-State adversaries. An assumption prevalent in the literature is that the non-State adversary would

use nuclear capability if it were available to him, based mainly upon

the logic that any adversary might utilize new technical advances for

his purposes. The advantages and constraints associated with a nuclear

capability are more complex than just increased destructive capability

and the adversary who would contemplate the use of this level of force

may have completely different perceptions of the world and different

values or political objectives than have been demonstrated by adversaries thus far. It is sufficient for this section to raise questions

about “nuclear” motivation and insert a caution against projecting the

use of a nuclear capability by what are generally regarded as non-State

adversaries. (The foregoing is not meant. to imply that there are not

persons who would carry out a nuclear threat if the means to do so were

available to them.)

Based upon a study of nuclear hoaxes, apparent motivation can, like

apparent intent, be classified into three categories: political, criminal,
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psychotic. A careful reading of threat messages and study of the related

circumstances indicates mixed motivation in most of the cases studied.

In addition to the likely presence of more than one motive in a given

hoax, there is also the possibility that the initial motivation will

change as the event unfolds. Existing data do not permit the conclusion

that a nuclear hoax extortion, which initially appeared to be politically

inspired, was in fact just that and not of criminal origin. For classification purposes, a political motive was ascribed to the perpetrator when

he demanded that certain political actions be taken or concessions made.

In cases of political extortion, the coercion was directed against the

U.S. Government (except for a couple of instances when certain foreign

governments were cited to share with the U.S. the possible consequences

if the threat demands were not met). There were no instances of a threat

made against one government where compliance was demanded from a second

government.

Demands for money, with or without safe passage to a foreign country,

were assessed as a criminal motivation (personal gain) especially if there

were no associated political demands. However, some of these cases had

threat messages that demonstrated disordered thinking by the author.

A significant percentage of the nuclear hoax messages were disorganized in content, contained irrelevant statements or had other bizarre

features. This group was evaluated as having a psychotic motivation.

Some of these threats were implemented in such a way that the identity

of the perpetrator was not difficult to establish--several of the perpetrators identified had a history of diagnosed major mental illness or

hospitalization.

An interesting question for which there is not yet a good answer

is, does the adversary perpetrate a hoax because he has no nuclear capability? If he had the capability to carry out a nuclear threat, would he

choose to make a “real threat” rather than a hoax? Interpretation of

available data is that there are those who would carry out a real nuclear

threat if they had the capability. For example, in August of 1974, a

large explosion at the Los Angeles International Airport killed three
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persons and wounded thirty seven others. Shortly thereafter, the

Los Angeles Police Department received a taped message

listing a series of

demands which were to have been met or further bombings would occur.

Demands ranged from easing restrictions on U.S. immigration laws to

liberalization of sex laws. Because he was attempting to draw attention to injustices suffered by immigrants, the selected list of targets

spelled out the word ALIEN, the first target, an airport corresponding

to the letter “A.” He was subsequently named the “Alphabet Bomber” by

the press.

It was later learned that prior to the airport bombing he had placed

an incendiary bomb in the car of a police commissioner and set

fire to his home. There were additional acts of fire bombing that he

committed which served to demonstrate his dedication to carry out his

threats. He had access to all of the ingredients to make

nerve gas at the time he was arrested by the Los Angeles Police Department. There is little doubt in this author’s mind that he would have

used it or any other capability which could cause much destruction if it

had been available to him.

These hoaxes demonstrate that persons are at least thinking seriously

about using nuclear material as the coercive basis of a threat. It also

appears that while the psychotic individual a. . more attracted to a

nuclear threat than the politically or criminally motivated person, his

ability to acquire SNM and carry out such a threat is greatly compromised.

However, there have been instances (such as the Alphabet Bomber) when a

person, although basically psychotic, has had the knowledge and skill to

use materials available to him in a rather spectacular and destructive

manner.

To date, it would appear that those who are dedicated enough to carry

out a real nuclear threat have not been able to gain access or to acquire

the necessary nuclear material . The nuclear hoax offers an alternate

way for this type Of person to pursue his objectives still within the

context of a nuclear threat. Neurologic or bacteriologic agents as the
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basis of a “massive threat” have not been popular thus far, although

more easily available than nuclear material. Why the threatened use of

nuclear material rather than these other agents as a basis for threat

is an interesting question that should be studied. It is important to

note that the hoaxes studied were all threats to use nuclear material.

However, it is interesting that none of these were double threats--

that is, threats to use nuclear material against a nuclear target. If

a future threat is made to use nuclear material against a nuclear target,

it would represent a significantly different type of threat.

It is obvious and logical that if the intent of an adversary is to

damage or destroy a target that he would alert the target only in those

instances when he was so confident of his capability to cause such

damage that an alert could not neutralize his action. Therefore a

warning-type threat is either a hoax or the perpetrator has laid his

plans in such a manner that even with prior notification he believes no measures

can be taken to stop his action. An extortion threat includes prior

notification and the implication that the target cannot protect itself

because the adversary has successfully placed at risk something highly

valued (such as human life). In addition, the threat is created to be

dramatic and cause high levels of fear in those associated with the

target. Placing human life in the balance or causing terror are tactics

used by adversaries. In both cases, the terrorist (especially the political terrorist) and the perpetrator of a hoax, as initiators Of these

acts, have limited resources compared to the level of possible consequences. The use of tactics which terrorize tend to compensate for

the lack of resources and maximize the capability possessed by the adversary, The observations about the types of adversaries who have made

nuclear hoaxes, their motivations and objectives, strongly suggest that

hoaxes will continue to be used by individuals who lack sufficient capability to mount real threats, but who wish to carry out an action within

the means available to them.

It is a serious and often a difficult problem to assess the credibility of nuclear threats and to distinguish a real threat from a hoax.
III - 50

In December 1976, the Canberra Police Department investigated “.. .a

threat to explode nuclear devices in Australia’s two largest cities as

a protest against continued mining and export of uranium.” “The bomb

threat was contained in letters to Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser and

Labor opposition leader Gough Whitlam. . . from a group of environmentalists calling themselves the Group of Six.” The messages “further

threatened to contaminate water supplies in the two cities if attempts

to explode nuclear devices failed.” The police states: “We have no

option but to take it seriously.”20

The development of procedures and techniques to assess credibility

and differentiate a real threat from a hoax have been and continue to

be the responsibility of ERDA and NRC. The FBI by federal statutes is

the lead investigative agency in all cases where threats are made involving radioactive material. The nuclear aspects of threat assessment

have been delegated to the Energy Research and Development Administration

(ERDA).

Current assessment of a nuclear threat consists of both a technical

evaluation of all information related to the alleged nuclear device by

ERDA nuclear scientists and a psychological evaluation of the threat

message and the context in which it originated by the FBI backed up by

ERDA capability.

ERDA is currently involved in augmenting and enlarging its capability

for nuclear threat assessment and increasing the parameters for evaluation. This will also be available for direct support, at the field level,

of the FBI’s investigative responsibilities of an incident and of the

deactivation of any device by explosive ordnance disposal teams which may

be associated with a threat.

As part of the total threat assessment process, an inventory of SNM

is carried out, when relevant; however, there is some question as to the

significance of a finding that " all SNM is accounted for." Because of

the problem of measurement and checking SNM or any other substance, an
III - 51

(material unaccounted for). Only a very small percentage of the total

material is reflected in this measurement error. If, however, that

material is special nuclear material, that small amount “unaccounted

for” could be extremely significant. The inference is drawn that the

adversary does not have the nuclear capability of which he boasts if

the inventory check shows that all SNM is accounted for. This appears

to have been the case thus far.

In any event, the usual approach has been to rule out the possibility of a credible threat. If the assessment found that the threat

was not credible, an assumption was usually made that it was a hoax.

Positive criteria for diagnosing a hoax are being developed. When this

has been accomplished, the “default” approach (i.e., if the threat is

not found credible, it must be a hoax) will be replaced by specific

criteria for establishing that a threat is in fact a hoax.

Because of the diversity of motives and objectives attributed to

perpetrators, it is not useful to identify any particular hoax as typical of the group. However, there are certain characteristics shared by

nuclear hoaxes which can provide a basis for a composite hoax:

Targets identified in the various hoaxes ranged from capitals

of several countries, including the United States, to major

U.S. cities. Federal buildings and certain large corporations

and banks were also named as targets. Some hoaxes specifically

identified the target while others made general references

to “a big city in the U.S.,“ for example. Multiple targets

were spelled out in a small percentage of the cases.

Associated with the demand was usually an explanation or

justification for the threatened action and ranged from concise specific statements to long and rambling diatribes. A

few hoaxes specifically made reference to nuclear matters as

being the cause of the perpetrator’s concern.
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Representatives of the news media and law enforcement agencies

and certain major political figures were the most frequent

recipients of threat messages.

The U.S. Mail Service was the most frequently used means for

delivery of the message. In a few instances the threat was

made via telephone and on one occasion the caller was apprehended while still talking to the recipient of his threat in

a distant state.

In a little over two-thirds of the cases studied, the perpetra -

tors alleged an identity and two-thirds of these claimed to be

a group.

The amount of time granted by the perpetrator for compliance

with his demands or before the alleged device would be detonated

ranged from one day to several months with two to 15 days the

most frequently mentioned period.

The perpetrator did not validate his allegations of possessing

a nuclear capability by sending a sample of his SNM or by

demonstration by detonation. However, he usually attempted, in some way, to

convince authorities that he did in fact possess the alleged device. In a

few instances, crude drawings of the device were included with

the threat message which were easily assessed by experts as not

capable of fission.

In a few of the cases, the media carried stories dealing with

things nuclear within a two-week period prior to receipt of the

threat. In one instance, the diagram of the alleged nuclear

device included with a threat was similar to the diagram of an

atomic bomb contained in an article of a national news magazine. The perpetrators who seemed to be set off by media stories

about nuclear matters demonstrated a significant degree of
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disorganization and confusion in the content of their hoax

message. Some of these individuals had a history of mental

illness.

The cost of evaluating, investigating and reacting to nuclear threats

is not insignificant. An increasing number of persons are acquiring information and technical expertise in nuclear matters as a result of the

growth of the nuclear industry. If one such person

were to initiate a hoax, it would be difficult to negate its credibility

from a technical and behavioral assessment only. In instances of nonnuclear extortion, where the perpetrator did in fact possess the capability or valued commodity (such as a kidnapped victim or prized painting)

which was the basis for his coercive threat, the extortionist usually

did provide evidence of that fact and thereby removed all questions as

to whether the basis for coercion was real.

In those cases, the question of the adversary’s determination to

carry out the threat, should his demands not be met, became a critical

aspect of threat assessment. If we are unfortunate enough to encounter

an adversary who demonstrates that he actually has the capability which he

describes and his threat is therefore verified as credible, then the

ability to assess motivation, intent and dedication will become essential

in order to conduct successful communications or negotiations--should that

prove necessary.

At this time, we are still concerned with distinguishing between real

threats and hoaxes. A great deal of emphasis is placed upon evaluating

technical aspects of the threat and accounting for current supplies of

SNM. Even if it were possible to rely heavily on inventory methods and

ignore the problems of "MUF," we still have the problem of a possible

foreign source of SNM being used in a threat mounted in the U.S. The

emphasis of U.S. nuclear security has been on nuclear materials under

direct control of the U.S. at home and abroad. The production of SNM

or high-level wastes by foreign governments potentially constitutes a

source of supply of nuclear material to the non-.State adversary of both
111 - 54

the domestic and foreign variety.An effective security system must

deal with the possibility of a foreign source of nuclear material and

any comprehensive system of nuclear threat assessment must also recognize that even if all U.S. sources of nuclear material are accounted

for, the adversary could have imported material from abroad,

In a spectrum of adversary actions,hoaxes can be viewed as entry

level acts used by the emerging or relatively unsophisticated adversary.

However, this does not mean that a hoaxer will graduate to a perpetrator of a real nuclear threat.Just as symbolic bombing is used by adversaries because it is easy to do,does not require a high degree of

exposure or risk of death or capture (except in the assembly, transport

and placement of the explosive) ,allows a wide range of target selection,

multiplies limited capabilities into large payoffs in terms of publicity,

and is very difficult for law enforcement to prevent, so too nuclear

hoaxes allow an adversary with limited capability to levy a cost on the

social system in excess of what his real capacity is (see Figure 6).

If one were to project the gradual increase of sophistication and capa–

bility in adversary capability which has been observed over time in other

situations, we can assume a similar learning curve in the production and

use of hoaxes as weapons--to create high levels of fear in the public or

to attempt to disrupt growth or development of the nuclear industry.

To date, no adversary in the U.S. has been successful in using the

media to escalate the public’s fear or alarm associated with a nuclear

hoax. It is not difficult to conceive how the media could be compelled

to inform the general public of a nuclear threat and thereby increase the

amount of fear and disruption. Cooperation of the media with law enforcement in this regard is an essential part of a reasoned response to a

nuclear threat. The alleged purpose of a nuclear threat is to cause

harm to a large number of people, destroy cities or render large areas

of land unusable; however, some of those things can be done without the

use of atomic devices. It seems then that the choice of a nuclear capability with which to threaten harm has an added dimension which other

capabilities lack; that is, the culpability to instill fear and terror in

the general population who may not be the direct target of the adversary

threat.
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Relationship of Effectiveness of a hoax wit-h its Purpose

High

Efectiveness

of

Hoax

Low

Express ion Disrupt ion

1 1

Purpose of a Hoax

Coercion

Figure 7
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While it may be possible to anticipate adversaries who would use

nuclear terror as a means of coercing a political response from a

nation or as a means of obtaining large sums of money, it would be

extremely difficult to predict what psychotic person may be attracted

to nuclear power as a capability for widespread damage whatever his

irrational beliefs. It seems that the attractiveness of a nuclear

threat (real or hoax) for an adversary with political or criminal

motivation is use as a tactic of terror rather than terrible destruction.
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—VIII. RESPONSE PLANNING FOR THREATS . . - ... —- —

A major problem area not addressed by the literature surveyed for

this report is response planning for a nuclear extortion or nuclear

warning threat. Other facets of adversary actions are discussed but

the problems associated with threats to cause damage using nuclear

material have not received adequate attention, at least in the open

literature. A nuclear extortion or a nuclear warning is that threat

where an adversary claims to have the nuclear means to cause great damage

either by detonation or dispersal of nuclear material. The significance

for this section on Response Planning is that an adversary claims to

have a capability to inflict damage and not whether his threat is credible or a hoax . The determination of validity of a nuclear threat is

discussed in the section on nuclear hoaxes (section VII).

An element common to both these types of threats is notification

prior to the threatened act, but only in the case of extortion is it

theoretically possible to avoid the destruction alleged by the adversary.

The situation where an adversary claims responsibility for a nuclear

act already carried out is not discussed here. However, because of the

magnitude of possible destruction and disruption, the motivation for

initiating such an act, its purpose, and post-event consequences warrant

careful study.

The focus of this section is on extortion (those threatened acts

where prior notification is given and the opportunity exists to exercise

options either to neutralize the threat or to take damage-limiting

action). Obviously, if the threat is a hoax, it is extremely important

to assess it as such before protective measures, for example massive

searches or wide scale evacuations, are implemented o

Preemptive action directed at potential nuclear non-State adversaries does not appear to be a feasible approach for protection of the

public at this time. Although there is little disagreement that it would

be better to stop an adversary before he can make a threat or take action,

it is difficult to acquire the information about such potential adversaries. The problems associated with identifying individuals or small
III - 58

closed cells of adversaries operating within society but not necessarily

having the dominant values and beliefs of that society and the problems

associated with conducting an investigation without violating laws protecting personal privacy create real barriers to developing the option

of preemptive action. The arguments for rights of personal privacy versus

the rights of society to be protected from harm should be balanced by

an assessment of the availability of plutonium and other SNM in a world

economy increasingly in need of energy. Another possibility which should

not be overlooked is the use of a foreign source of nuclear material to

launch an adversary’s threat in the U.S. (The author is not addressing

those debates dealing with societal risks where the location of nuclear

power facilities near population centers is postulated as a threat.)

In addition to preemptive action, another general category of response planning is the prevention or deterrence of adversary actions to

steal, by force or guile, SNM or to sabotage facilities (SNM in transit

is recognized as a target with peculiar characteristics). The emphasis

in this category of response planning appears to be placed upon defensive capability and tactics designed to defeat, contain, or delay an

adversary once an action has started to allow time for additional assistance (response forces) from local law enforcement to arrive at the scene.

One aspect of response planning as it relates to nuclear extortion is

to consider including nuclear threats --both extortions or warnings--in

the Atomic Weapons and Special Nuclear Materials Rewards Act (Public

Law 93-377; 88 Stat. 472). Currently, the legal basis for prosecuting

a person who perpetrated a nuclear threat rests mainly upon whether an

extortion has been committed. PL 93-377 does “not” contain a provision

for payment of a reward to assist in dealing with nuclear threats. It

is beyond the scope of this section to deal with legal issues; however,

the usefulness to law enforcement of including nuclear threats in the

Atomic Weapons and Special Nuclear Materials Rewards Act should be considered, if it has not already been done.

A third category of response planning, which is the primary concern

of this section, is the response to a threat to use nuclear material as

part of an adversary action. The capability to assess whether a nuclear
III -59

threat is real or a hoax is extremely important to the development of

a response plan for these types of threats. Deployment of special search

teams or the evacuation of even a very limited area within a city, such

as a multi-story office building, is both costly and disruptive. The

initiation of damage-limiting procedures in response to a threat is in

itself a major decision, potentially containing serious consequences.

If a nuclear extortion threat is assessed as credible and not a

hoax and the target is identified as a large U.S. city, decisionmakers

could be faced with a mass extortion/mass hostage situation. Although

the adversary may not directly restrain any citizen from leaving the

city, an adversary who threatens to detonate a nuclear device in a large

city, for all practical purposes, has created a mass hostage situation.

The task of carrying out an orderly evacuation of a major U.S. city is

laden with numerous problems.

There are those who believe that successful evacuation of a large

urban area as a means for protecting its citizens from consequences of

nuclear mishap is not realistic when all facets of the problem are examined.

David D. Comey discusses various problems associated with evacuation and

cites specific instances where there has been lack of compliance to established guidelines for evacuation procedures and where mock drills

revealed gaps and breakdowns in carrying out simulated evacuation exerciseso

21

Because of the problems associated with evacuating citizens from a

large city, a nuclear threat assessed as credible does potentially hold

captive tens of thousands of people and could require hostage negotiations

at a level not yet seen. The general area of negotiating or bargaining

for large numbers of persons who are held as virtual hostages is a topic

about which there is little information. Part of the response planning

for nuclear threats should include development of policy and guidelines

for deciding whether to implement evacuation plans. The planning work

to date has dealt mostly with clarifying areas of responsibility and

points of communication.
111 - 60

Questions which should be addressed are:

o What are the criteria for deciding to evacuate a large

building or large urban area in the face of a nuclear

threat?

o What is the extent of the liability of public officials

if they do initiate evacuation procedures and under what

circumstances can they force citizens to comply?

o What risk does a public official take if he fails to

order an evacuation and some untoward event occurs?

o What is applicable to mass hostage situations of what

we already know about hostage negotiations?

o What are the similarities and dissimilarities between

the perpetrators of kidnap/hostage situations (where

one or two persons are involved) and mass hostage situations?

0 If large numbers of residents evacuate their homes and

are relocated in adjacent counties, who provides such

things as food, shelter, medical support, etc. , and who

pays the bill?

A response plan for dealing with nuclear blackmail or threat has

recently been developed for the State of California. Its purpose is

“to summarize federal, state and local responsibilities in the event of

attempted [nuclear] blackmail, threats, attacks involving radioactive

materials, or nuclear weapons.” It also attempts to provide planning

assumptions and guidelines for local agencies to develop operation plans

and SOPS for responding to a nuclear threat; and to protect tile Public

health and safety in the event a nuclear threat is carried out.

.22

This plan focuses on delineating responsibilities and establishing lines

of authority and coordination but does not deal with policy issues. It

was developed with the participation of a wide range of agencies, each

representing its own particular area of jurisdiction and responsibility.
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Shortly before the first meeting of various agencies engaged in

developing the plan, a nuclear threat was made against a major corporate

facility, located in the Southern California area. The threat was forwarded to the FBI which has primary jurisdiction for investigation of

nuclear threats. Their evaluation of the threat and the technical assessment made by ERDA (which provides, at the request of the FBI, technical

assessment of nuclear bomb and radiologic dispersion threats) was that

the perpetrator lacked the alleged nuclear capability. It could not be

ruled out, however, that the perpetrator might have planted high explosives at the target facility. Management of the corporation was understandably concerned with this threat and requested assistance from the

local police department. The Nuclear Emergency Search Team (NEST) of

ERDA was activated at the request of the FBI and was deployed to conduct

a search of the target area with special monitoring equipment. The

deployment of NEST provided an opportunity to test its response capability

in coordination with activities of law enforcement under actual field

conditions. While the operation and performance of the scientific instruments was satisfactory, the interaction between various agencies raised

numerous questions.

One controversy, at that time, was jurisdictional. The FBI conducted

the investigation but who would gather and retain evidence and who would

handle the prosecution should the adversary be identified? The event

occurred within the city limits, but the sheriff had previously been

assigned a central coordination role for emergencies throughout the

county. Although the FBI was conducting the investigation, the mayor of

the city looked to his chief of police to keep him completely informed

since the event could have widespread effects upon the health and safety

of his constituents. The information, if any, that should be given to

the media and who should make press releases when, could have been more

of a problem than it was. These and many other issues regarding questions

of jurisdiction and authority surfaced as the incident unfolded. The

problems which arose were handled well because of the experience and

professional attitude of the participants rather than because of any

established policy or guidelines. (The California response plan had not

yet been developed.)
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The experience of having recently dealt with a nuclear threat

in vivo was of great assistance to this group when they convened to

draft the response plan for California. They had successfully faced

an anxiety-provoking reality and now they were making plans to deal

more effectively should it happen again. Because of the low probability of a nuclear threat being made and because of the potential

large scale destruction and disruption which could attend execution

of such a threat, there is a tendency on the part

faced with planning for this problem to feel that

to prevent or limit damage caused by such an act.

damage-limiting options and responses to conserve

of some persons

nothing can be done

With this mind-set,

resources are not

appealing and often planning this type of major emergency or disaster

is not attended to or completed. This was not the case of the group

that developed the California plan. Because of their experience, the

awesome reality for which they were developing a response plan could

response

not be denied. This experience served to keep the group focused on the

task and may be one reason why some potentially difficult jurisdictional

problems were resolved (this is in no way meant to detract from those

who led the work meetings and the manner in which differences were

resolved). This group’s experience with a real event may be useful to

others who are developing response plans for devastating events which

they believe highly unlikely and from which there is a natural tendency

to shy away.

Because the incident was a hoax, operational issues of a greater

magnitude were not encountered, such as, if large numbers of residents

had to evacuate their homes and be transported to adjacent counties,

who would provide transportation, food, shelter, and medical support?

While it is necessary to work out procedures for such logistics, it is

also necessary to develop guidelines for making these decisions in the

first place.

The identification of issues operating at regional levels and for

which responses must also be planned at regional levels is critical

because until now, most response planning has been done by local or more
III - 63

traditional geopolitical levels of government. However, the consequences from a nuclear detonation pose complex problems which include

jurisdictional questions crossing traditional boundaries of many agencies and city and county governments. In a way, the Tennessee Valley

Authority had to deal with similar inter-agency and inter-regional

issues because the “river of concern” impacts numerous geopolitical

entities. It was clearly not a concern solely for the Federal Government or any single local government. A moving body of water represents

a good analogy for visualizing the impact that a nuclear detonation

could have on various levels of government and various local governing

bodies. The extent of the “area of concern” will change in both magnitude and direction; it will not be bound by geopolitical considerations

within a locale and may even impact several states. The decisions made

by one group confronting the threat (equivalent to the source of this

“river of concern”) may be made on data relevant to their immediate

situation but the consequences of their decision may adversely impact

another group of persons at a different location and at a later time

(equivalent to introduction of contaminants upstream from a population

center supplied by water from the “river of concern”). A regional

approach to the response planning for nuclear emergencies should involve

all entities who potentially would be harmed, in the development of information, discussion and selection of damage–limiting options. A strong

impetus for establishment of the TVA was a real river; the possibility

of devastating outcomes from a threat not yet made may not be sufficient

to coerce similar action to organize regionally for response to threats

or to limit damage associated with nuclear emergencies.

Disaster planning in peace time usually involves preparation for

serious damage which is widespread or for extreme damage to a limited area.

The requirements to deal with either of these forms of disaster can usually

be met by some form of material assistance; namely, food, clothing, shelter and economic assistance.

Tile consequences of nuclear damage introduce new dimensions for

crisis management which must respond with knowledge, skills, and equipment,

some of which are highly specialized and of limited availability. In
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addition to the need for specialized and scarce resources, a unique

management system is necessary to assure that timely communication will

occur between those who must share information for appropriate decisionmaking and implementation. One such system is “Crisis Management.”

Although not an entirely new concept, crisis management principles

could be applied to a regional approach for dealing with the untoward

consequences of nuclear threats. A discussion of crisis management,

especially as applied to national (and international) issues and dealing

with large natural disasters can be found in Science, Volume 187, by

Robert H. Kupperman, et al. The emphasis of timely and damage-limiting

actions, the ordering of competing objectives, and the use of computers

to assist in the analysis of data and communication of information are

a few of the ideas which could find application in a regional management

system to deal with the nuclear consequences discussed in this section.
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Ix. APPROACHES TO THE STUDY AND ANALYSIS . - .

OF THE NON-STATE ADVERSARY

Various approaches have been taken with regard to analysis of the

potential non-State adversary. A number of the reports and articles

have taken for granted that an adversary exists--profit-motivated

criminal., politically-motivated terrorist, demented individual--and

have recommended security measures be increased accordingly. The

report of the Lumb Panel is an example. According to this school of

thought the identity of the potential burglar or his possible motivations

matter little in the design of bank vaults. His existence is assumed;

his objective is presumed (to get in, remove something of value, and

escape); and the problem is prevention or apprehension.

A large portion of the reports and studies are descriptive catalogues of potential adversaries and the possible adversarial actions.

These show the existence of a potential threat; some then recommend

counter-measures. The Mitre Study of The Threat to Licensed Nuclear

Facilities is an example. Some of Theodore Taylor’s work also would

fall in this category. So would most of the clearly anti-nuclear pieces

and most of the journalistic pieces. Some

history-- the 14 year old boy in Orlando, a

proceed to the possible nuclear actions.

Scenarios have been projected to show

of these begin with bits of

real hijacking--and then

possible modes of action by

different adversaries and reveal possible deficiencies in safeguards and

security measures. Some of Theodore Taylor’s classified and unclassified

work and the Rosenbaum report provide scenarios. “Adversarial simulation”

or “black hatting” is taking scenarios one step further. Safeguards and

security measures are tested by setting a team of adversaries (scientists,

engineers, security specialists) against them. Playing the role of the

bad guys, or “wearing black hats,” the adversary team actually tries to

bypass barriers, pick locks, and so on. Of course, the actual use of

armed force in a contest is not possible; so the “black hats” present

their detailed plan of operations or scenario. The plan is then

tested against the defenses, settling the outcome of hypothetical

combat between guards and adversaries, if the plan calls for the use
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of armed force, by computerized models. “Black hatting” is probably

one of the most useful approaches in actually testing safeguard and

security measures. However, it is not always clear that the specialists

who make up the “black hat” team, although usually very knowledgeable about

nuclear facilities and material, are always that knowledgeable about

the thinking and planning characteristics of burglaries, armed robberies,

and sabotage. Second, the composition and skills given to the “black hats”

must be derived from some actual data. Do the “black hats” have too few

or too many members, are they given too much or too little time to carry

out their action, etc.? Finally, the engagements tend to be restricted

by the rules of the game. The “black hats” are not always allowed to give

free rein to their imagination. They are sometimes compelled to do

rather stereotyped things. Nonetheless, “black hatting” is probably the

surest way of testing security hardware.

Another approach to identifying possible vulnerabilities is by

surveying persons engaged in nuclear monitories activities. They are

asked questions about possible nuclear thefts, much like asking bank

security officers about how their banks might be robbed. The results of

one such survey are contained in L. H. Rappoport and J. H. Pettinelli,

“Social Psychological Studies of the Safeguards Problem,” in Preventing

Nuclear Theft. 2.3

Confidence in the results of such surveys is somewhat

limited because nuclear security personnel usually lack a general understanding of criminal operations. (Given the highly technical nature of

the target, nuclear security personnel at the management level, as opposed

to the rank and file guards, generally have nuclear industry backgrounds

rather than criminological or law enforcement backgrounds. It would

appear that they are drawn from management of the industry rather than

recruited from the outside. Safeguards were initially viewed as a technical problem of detecting and preventing diversion by insiders, not

criminal or politically motivated threats from the outside. This is not

to say that those with engineering backgrounds are necessarily less effective than those with law enforcement backgrounds.)

Studying analogous; events is yet another approach. Several of the

studies have sought to infer knowledge about possible adversaries of
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nuclear programs by examining non-nuclear events that are somehow

analogous to possible nuclear actions. For example, although no known

thefts of nuclear material have occurred, crimes are committed in which

adversaries by means of stealth or force of arms penetrate well-protected

and well–guarded facilities to remove valuable commodities. Thus, major

thefts may provide insights about the capabilities and methods of operation of criminals. Several studies have taken this approach. In “Details

of Criminological Investigations of Large-Valued Thefts Related to Nuclear

Materials,” a study carried out for the National Science Foundation,

Leachman and Cornella examine major thefts of narcotics, data, precious

24 The McCullogh study examines metals and gems, objects of art, and weapons.

the history of industrial sabotage an an analog to possible sabotage against

25 the nuclear industry. A study completed by the Historical Evaluation and

Research Organization compiled a chronology of some 4,000 incidents of

political violence and the record of one major terrorist group (the FLN in

Algeria) to extract inferences regarding possible nuclear actions by terrorists. The BDM study of threats to licensed facilities looks at

several thousand bombing incidents. 26A study currently Underway by the

Rand Corporation is looking at several categories of analogous events

including major thefts and burglaries, assaults by terrorists, incidents

of industrial sabotage, symbolic bombings, incidents the objective of

which has been to cause mass casualties or widespread damage, and incidents of large scale extortion. While such an approach is based on

“real life” data, it is sometimes a breathtaking inferential leap from

non-nuclear to potential nuclear actions. Studies of analogous events

provide a useful basis for scenario formulation and “black hat” testing.

A somewhat different approach is that of the “design basis threat”

in which a hypothetical adversary is arbitrarily assigned certain strengths

and capabilities which become the basis for designing protective measures.

The shortcomings of this approach to adversary analysis is that it tends

to become a matter of straightforward assaults, because these are the

easiest to evaluate. The adversaries are accorded little ingenuity or

imagination. The “design basis threat” also tends to lead to a somewhat
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sterile debate about numbers. Never the less, design basis threats do

provide a reference point for setting and justifying security requirements and for measuring performance.

A combination of analog study plus “black hatting” may offer the

surest way of developing a clear idea of the capabilities of adversaries

as well as providing for testing these against security systems.

Little attention has been devoted to the subject of motivations and

intentions. Although the motives of adversaries may be considered trivial

once an action is initiated, such studies would be helpful in assessing

the overall threat and in possible measures to deter would-be adversaries.
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How much security is enough? Assuming for the moment that someone

wants to sabotage a nuclear reactor or steal nuclear material, the

answer to that question depends on the capabilities of the potential

adversary. How many might participate in an act of sabotage or theft?

How will they be armed? Will they possess explosives? What special

equipment will they have? What level of criminal or military skills

(the circumvention of alarm systems, the use of explosives, elementary .

tactics) will they possess? How knowledgeable will they be about the

layout of the target, operating procedures, obstacles they are likely

to encounter? How willing are they to risk capture or death?

Of all of the attributes of the potential adversary, numbers has

received the most attention. How many external attackers are likely to

participate in an act of sabotage or theft? Possibly this is because

the number of possible assailants is the easiest attribute to deal with

in designing a security system. An estimate of how many is also considered to lead directly to the answer to the question: How many guards

are required?

It is this connection which makes the size of a potential attacking

force a topic of some debate. Guards at government facilities must be

paid for by the government, or in the case of licensed facilities, by

private industry which tends to view the guard force solely in terms

of added costs. An estimate of a large potential attacking force, if

imposed on government programs or on the nuclear industry as a performance requirement, means means guards, which costs more money. A requirement to maintain a large guard force could even shut down some facilities, which would not be able to pay the costs and remain profitable.

Naturally, arguments are made for a smaller or more “reasonable” estimate. TO increase the design basis threat from three or six to 12

attackers probably would bring considerable protest from the nuclear industry.

although it has been calculated that the costs of tile added security
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necessary to meet such a threat would represent a miniscule increase

in the overall cost of energy. Determined foes of nuclear energy

recognize this as a vulnerability of the nuclear industry and tend to

argue for a larger estimate of the potential attacking force, hoping

thereby to make the industry shut down because it simply cannot meet

the requirements, or because it cannot profitably remain in business if

so many guards are required. The debate thus tends to reflect, in part, motives

that have little to do with the actual. determination of the threat size.

By using different data bases, it is possible to reach different conclusions.

The first public study to mention the number of potential attackers

was the Rosenbaum report written in 1974. Its authors estimated that

“the maximum credible threat to any facility or element of transportation handling special nuclear materials is 15 highly trained men, no

more than three of whom work within the facility or transportation

company from which the material is to be taken.” Presumably, the

authors meant any facility or element of transportation in the United

States. An estimate of the number of assailants who might be assembled

for an assault in Argentina or Lebanon under recent or current political

conditions in those countries, of course, might be considerably more than

that in the United States. It is not clear what evidence the authors of

the Rosenbaum report used to arrive at their estimate of 15 or 12 outsiders and three insiders . They admitted that their estimate was “both

subjective and imprecise” but they also believed it to be “informed and

conservative.” “It was arrived at,” they wrote, “after informal discussions with the FBI and CIA . . . and [also based] on prior relevant

.27 experiences of the members of this study.

Looking at the historical record, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission

made a lower estimate of the threat size. Testifying before the House

Subcommittees on Energy and the Environment of the Committee on Interior

and Insular Affairs, the Director of the Office of Nuclear Material

Safety and Safeguards said, “Historical data on the size of terrorist

groups indicates that terrorist assault groups larger than six persons
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are not likely to be formed. We have examined over 4,000 incidents of

terrorism and other anti-social behavior and were able to find 1,271

cases where the number of perpetrators could be identified. The number

of incidents involving groups of more than six persons account for only

about 2.5 percent of the cases. Groups with as many as 12 persons have

been very rare. By far, the largest percentage -- 86 percent -- involved

28

groups of three persons or fewer.”

The 4,000 incidents to which the director referred were compiled

by the Historical Evaluation and Research Organization and comprise

an exhaustive chronology of acts of sabotage and political violence

going back to 1870. The chronology includes assassinations of presidents and other public officials, as well as many other acts which are

of questionable relevance to assaults on nuclear facilities and may

distort the impression of group size.

The BDM Corporation, under contract to the NRC, conducted a survey of 1,204 incidents of “worldwide terrorism and antisocial behavior”

29 which took place between 1965 and 1975. These included incidents

of arson, armed attacks, bombings, hijackings, kidnappings, “psychological terrorism” (sic), and theft. U.S. bomb data, which had been

collected in the course of previous studies by BDM, were deliberately

excluded in order to avoid “the high number of unknowns associated

with the U.S. bomb data base.” In 702 of the incidents examined, the

size of the attacking force was unknown, leaving 502 to be analyzed.

Of these, 247 were hijacking of aircraft (and a small number of truck

hijackings), 77 were bombings, and 5 were incidents of arson. Since

many airline hijackings were carried out by lone hijackers, and arsonists and bombers tend to work alone, although bombers may be members

of a larger group, one could argue that such a data base is not entirely relevant. And since such acts make up better than 65 percent

of the data base, their inclusion would tend to skew findings toward

smaller numbers.
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The study includes no breakdown of the number of perpetrators

by category of action and thus does not allow this possibility to be

examined; however, one of the figures in the study does plot type of

target with group size. It shows that in 128 of the cases in which

“aircraft” were the target (i.e., hijackings), only one perpetrator

was involved. Further figures show that individuals acting alone

account for almost half (240) of the incidents in which the number of

perpetrators was known.

At the same time, the data base used by BDM includes some incidents

in which large groups were involved, but which took place in a political context that is not comparable to conditions in the United States

today. Among these would be a number of attacks on rural garrisons

and other targets by guerrillas in Argentina, or against rural villages

in Israel by Palestinian Commandos. In both places, guerrilla warfare

has been going on for a number of years and large guerrilla organizations

comprising thousands of members have developed. Such conditions do not

prevail in the United States today. However, these constitute so few

incidents of the total that they probably would not warp the findings.

Noting that some of the incidents, particularly some of the larger ones,

took place in environments that do not apply to political conditions

prevailing in the United States, the authors estimate that if these were

eliminated, there would be a less than 1-2 percent total probability for

an attack by a group of seven or more.

The study concludes that very few incidents, less than 5 percent,

involve more, than six attackers and less then 1 percent involve more

than 12 attackers. Oddly, this point is emphasized as a refutation

of “those who maintain that terrorists are likely to attack in 10--12

men groups. ’30 It is not clear who, if anyone, ever asserted that ter–

rorists are likely to attack in 10–12 person groups. Rather it was

generally stated that 10-12 person groups represented somewhere near the

maximum’ threat.
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terrorism that occurred between 1968 and 1974. It includes 422 incidents; in 110 of these the number of perpetrators was known. It shows

a similar sharp decline in incidents where the group size approaches

six. The authors of the Rand work, however, for reasons already mentioned, would argue that this data base includes many bombings, airline hijackings, and other incidents which are not pertinent, and

which tend to push the group size estimate down.

Current research at The Rand Corporation which involves a selected

number of events that are more closely analogous to potential nuclear

theft or sabotage shows that groups of 3 to 6 are common, that larger

groups do appear, that a group size of 12 does appear to be somewhat

of an upper boundary although there are a few cases in modern industrialized societies (United Kingdom, France, and United States) in which larger

groups have been involved. More importantly, the Rand researchers

argue that one must be extremely cautious in interpreting historical

data regarding the number of attackers since the figures represent for

the most part what the perpetrators, criminals or terrorists, perceived

to be necessary to accomplish their mission, and in most cases what

turned out to be sufficient. In other words, they came with as many

as they needed to do the job, and no more. The fact that most came

with a handful of persons, 3 to 6, thus does not represent an upper

limit on their capacity to mobilize people.

Although the historical data are useful as a guide, an estimate of

the number of attackers is inescapably a matter of judgment. Without

speaking in terms of a “maximum” thrcat, a dozen or so attackers would seem

to be a prudent estimate. The term “a dozen or so” has been chosen deliberately. We are not talking about a precise figure, but rather a range of

anywhere from 7 or 8 to about 15. To be more precise would imply some type

of actuarial chart based upon concrete data that simply does not exist,

and a false sense of precision. That is not to say that no group of

adversaries could not muster more persons if needed, or even that this

many would be needed to accomplish the task. “Prudent” is the key

word here.
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Although that many (that is,7-15) are rarely needed in a robbery or

terrorist assault,there are incidents of both types involving that many

persons. Again, although it is judgmental,military men and law enforcement officials would argue that more than that number might even be counterproductive. It is no mere coincidence that after 5,000 years of military

history, the smallest operational unit of almost all armies is a squad

composed of 9 to 13 men. It is difficult to maintain direct control

over more than that in a fight.Of course, an attacking force could

be composed of several Squads. Theoretically, it could be compose d

of several battalions. But a multi-squad attack force suggests a

military or paramilitary operation. In the mountains of Argentina or

the streets of Beirut yes, but under present political conditions in

the United States, it seems a bit far-fetched. Even to come up with

10 or 12 attackers would stretch to the limit the capacity of most

known violent political extremist groups in this country, most of whom

comprise 8 to 12 dedicated “bombers and shooters,” a police term to

describe those willing to participate in acts of violence. And bombers

(who may plant bombs with little risk to themselves) are not necessarily

shooters willing to engage in a gunfight. Moreover, although no one has

attempted to determine precisely how many persons must be in a conspiracy to commit a serious crime before it is no longer a secret, the

probability of discovery must increase rapidly in the higher ranges. The

fear of leaks appears to be a principal consideration and constraint in

assembling the personnel for a task force crime.

Current rules for licensed nuclear facilities postulate an external

attack force of three persons who may be assisted by one inside confederate. (The use of “current” here poses some dangers as the security

requirements are currently being reviewed and will probably be increased.

This was as of January, 1977.)* ERDA has not picked a

design basis threat. It has sought to improve security at its nuclear

facilities without declaring that its security pains anticipate an attacking force of any particular number. There has been some debate about the

ability of all nuclear facilities to defeat a determined, well-armed force

of three external attackers, especially if they are assisted by an inside

confederate. In some cases it may be possible for an insider to gain access

Note: See Volume I, Chapter 8 for some information on proposed increased

physical security requirements.
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to the central alarm station to immobilize those present, neutralize the

alarms, and divert the remaining guards, thus facilitating the task of

the external attack force. Even without inside assistance, a well-armed

attack force of three persons might be able to overwhelm a small, lightlyarmed civilian guard force. NRC officials concede that attackers may be

armed with automatic. weapons, hand grenades, and possibly even anti-tank

weapons. Civilian guard forces are armed with pistols, shotguns, and in

some cases, semi-automatic rifles. Thus, they are clearly outgunned.

(Guards at ERDA facilities may be armed with automatic weapons and at

some facilities may also have armored cars.)

The performance standards may be increased to six external

attackers with one insider. One technique calculates that a minimum

of 11 guards must be on duty at all times to defeat an attack force of

six persons. The primary basis for the calculations are Manchester

equations, mathematical models developed during World War I to predict

the outcome of major battles given the number of attackers and defenders

and their respective armaments. Attempts were made during the Vietnam

War to apply Lanchester equations to engagements between smaller units.

The applicability of the mathematical model was restricted to skirmishes

in which surprise was not a factor. However, the relevance of such mathematical

models to engagements between a band of armed robbers or terrorists

and civilian guards in which surprise is very likely to be a factor is extremely

questionable.

Too much emphasis has been placed on the question of how many

attackers. Although the size of a potential attacking force is certainly

not an irrelevant consideration in determining the size of the guard force

that is necessary to protect a facility, it has tended often to be used

as a single determinant in a rather simple-minded fashion. As a result, it

conjures a rather simple-minded and therefore unlikely adversary. The use

of mathematical models to determine the outcome of firefights between guards

and attackers suggests armed frontal assaults by potential attackers which

may be a common mode of combat but not of armed robbery or even of very

many terrorist assaults.
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Armed robbers seldom “assault” their target. They employ stealth, deception, diversion and other techniques to gain access. Often they are inside or close upon the guards before displaying arms and revealing their

intentions. Surprise is likely to play a major role.

A design basis threat also suggests that all facilities are equally

attractive to potential adversaries and merit the same level of protection. This is not apparent. Those facilities where fissionable material

is readily available in strategic quantities and in a form that can be

handled easily may require greater protection. Moreover, the emphasis

on attackers tends to level the differences inherent in different kinds

of facilities and in different facilities of the same kind, Some are

physically large and would require a major investment to breach; some are

small buildings. Some are large complexes of hundreds of employees;

others have only a handful. Some are located near population centers,

and near reinforcements; others are remote where the assembly of a small

group of attackers might arouse immediate suspicion. The number of guards,

indeed the adequacy of security, is a judgment that may well have to be

made after an examination of each specific site. The analysis has tended

to turn the question around. We are not asked, as we ought to, what will

it take to protect this specific facility against all conceivable actions --

burglary, armed robbery, sabotage, armed assault, standoff attacks, etc.

Rather, it has become solely a question of estimating or guessing the

number of armed attackers and the number of guards required to counter

their potential assaults.

Much reliance is placed on the arrival of reaction forces to help

fend off or prevent the escape of nuclear thieves. Indeed, some propose

that on-site guards be no more than watchmen to sound the alarm leaving

the armed response to local law enforcement officials. This idea merits

scrutiny. It is approved by industry officials who wish to avoid the

expense of maintaining large, unproductive, on-site guard contingents

and by those who fear the social. consequences of the proliferation of

private or federal nuclear guard forces. It must be noted that a

majority of nuclear facilities for very good reasons are not located in
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the heart of metropolitan areas where police response could be swift.

Most are located in remote rural areas where the capacity of local law

enforcement is limited. Most armed robberies take only a few minutes.

Even operations involving the penetration of barriers and setting of

explosives, or seizing control of the facility are not likely to take

more than a few minutes. The idea that an outside reaction force can be

summoned in time to defend the facility again relates to the unlikely

situation of a sustained military assault by the attacking force. If

they do not achieve their objective in a few minutes, they are likely

to flee, certainly not to hang around and shoot it out as Indians

circling a wagon train. Moreover, the idea that the local police are

going to arrive in strength is not always valid. In many cases, the

first arrival, five to fifteen minutes after the alarm is received, is

likely to be one man in a patrol car. Reinforcements in strength may

take a half hour. By then the attackers are inside, or they have been

defeated. Finally, we should draw some lessons from our recent military

experience in Indochina. It is not probable that an adversary will be

unaware of the local availability of reaction forces and the time it

takes to get there. If they present an obstacle, and the adversary is

determined nonetheless to seize the target, the first arrivals may be

ambushed, not a difficult task given that many of the sites are in remote areas. Or as has been the case in several armed robberies, the

reaction forces may be diverted beforehand by the adversary.

In sum, it appears that reaction forces that cannot arrive in

strength at a facility in a few minutes, probably less than ten, certainly

less than fifteen, are largely irrelevant, except for pursuit. The

adversary will then have accomplished the mission or will have abandoned

the attack. Local forces available after that might better attempt to

seal off a wider area to prevent escape than concentrate at the scene

of the incident.
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XI. EMPLOYEE SURVEILLANCE AND RELIABILITY IN RELATIONSHIP TO

THE POTENTIAL NUCLEAR NON-STATE ADVERSARY

Why Employee Surveillance and Reliability?

One potential mode of adversary action. previously identified is the penetration of a nuclear facility’s safeguard system by subverting or coercing

an employee to assist in the theft or diversion of nuclear material or

in the sabotage of a nuclear facility. Employee surveillance and reliability programs contribute an approach to the defense against this type

of adversary action.

Subversion is defined here as any action which seeks to manipulate,

influence, or otherwise change the values, beliefs or allegiance of an

employee and which could ultimately draw the employee into collaboration

with the adversary. In this sense, an employee who was “successfully

subverted” would be a conscious and willing participant in the scheme

of the adversary. A distinction should be made between the employee

who is acting as a result of having been subverted by an adversary and

the employee who unknowingly takes harmful action because of disguised

or misrepresented circumstances produced by the guile or cunning of an

adversary. The former is willfully participating in the adversary’s

schemes; the latter believes he is carrying out his employee role in

good faith and may only inadvertently initiate actions which benefit

the adversary and harm the system.

Coercion is defined as the use of physical force, the threat of violence, extortion, or blackmail directed at an employee (or his family)

for the purpose of obtaining compliance to the demands of the adversary.

In this case, the employee succumbs to the pressure of the adversary and

undertakes an action which he would normally resist.

An adversary action carried out over an extended period of time such

as the diversion of SNM using an insider, as opposed to an armed assault

for the purpose of stealing SNM, would be best served by using subversion to recruit the insider rather than coercion. The reason is that

the adversary must maintain a sufficient level of coercive force to

ensure employee compliance over an extended period of time during which

the employee might change his mind about cooperating and might disclose

to security or law enforcement the scheme of which he was a part.
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Having an employee who was ideologically dedicated to the adversary operation would be much more effective in maintaining the security of the

operation and would therefore probably be the preferred course of influencing an employee to participate in an adversarial action which extended

over time.

Between the two modes of obtaining compliance [subversion and coercion)

coercion may be more appealing to an adversary because it would require

much less time to obtain the employee’s cooperation than would a prolonged

campaign of subversion. Coercion may also be the choice for obtaining

inside assistance for an operation of relatively short duration, such as

an armed attack to steal nuclear material. There would not be a need in

this instance to maintain the coercive force for very long and therefore

the probability is high that the employee who cooperates with the adversary

under these circumstances would not betray the operation.

An employee surveillance and reliability program should consider as

an objective the identification of employees who might be vulnerable or

susceptible to subversion and take steps to correct that vulnerability

or at least to limit any damage resulting from an exploitation of that

vulnerability. How such a task might be approached will be discussed

under the heading Monitoring Existing Employees.

Screening of New Employees

While it is possible that a nuclear non-state adversary could pose

as a legitimate applicant for employment with the intent of gaining

access to a nuclear facility, the difficulties of preplanning and providing the lead time necessary to infiltrate a facility and work into

a strategic position would create a major obstacle. The long-term process of infiltrating a system is more the style of the traditional

espionage agent than that of a non-state adversary who pursues an operation with more immediately achievable goals.

However, screening new employees at a nuclear facility can create

a barrier to infiltration of the system by both the more traditional

espionage agent and the non-state adversary. This initial screening

process could be part of a comprehensive clearance procedure designed
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to identify those applicants who may present an increased security risk

if employed in positions giving them direct access to SNM, control of

accounting procedures, knowledge of security systems, etc.

The development of specific criteria to identify such applicants

which could serve to alert those conducting a screening program, is not

without problems. Leon Rappoport and J.D. Pettinelli touch briefly on

“Identification of Criminal Topologies as They Might Apply to the Nuclear

Industry. . . it (1) and point out a distortion in developing criminal typologies results from using criminals who are caught, when the worry should

be instead about the criminals who are smart enough not to be caught.

With respect to experience in the selection of employees for nuclear

facilities, Frederick Forscher (a consulting engineer) tried to get

assistance in hiring emotionally stable people. “After talking to

several consultants about techniques to screen out emotionally imbalance

people, he came to the conclusion that none could provide meaningful advice, a conclusion that Rappoport did not find surprising.” The problems associated with selecting of appropriate personnel to fill a particular position or identifying particular people who should not fill specific positions are difficult In the early years of the Peace

Corps the author was involved with the training and selection of Peace

Corps Volunteers for overseas assignments. A Civil Service background

check was made. In addition the trainee was evaluated during his

three-month training period. Criteria were developed for the selection

process which resulted in a very low rate of premature return from overseas assignments for other than reasons of compassion (i.e. death in the

family). Other studies have identified stressful experiences or conditions in one’s life which if present have a high degree of correlation

with the development of mental health problems or physical symptoms.

(1) Leon Rappoport and J.D. Pettinelli in preventing Nuclear Theft:

Guidelines for Industry and Government, edited by Robert B. Lcachman and

Philip Althoff (New York: Pracger Publishers, 1972), pp. 173-189.

(2) Ibid.
III - 81

The point is that a specific criterion for deselecting applicants through

a screening process does not exist; however, from experience to date, it

seems likely that criteria could be developed which could alert those responsible for security matters to be especially attentive to a particular

applicant because of a higher possibility of his becoming a security problem. Some possible categories of potential problem areas are:

o immaturity and instability

o mental illness

o asocial, anti-social personality

o vulnerability to blackmail

o strongly identifying with revolutionary political ideologies

Individuals who demonstrate signs of excessive anxiety, worry or depression,

drinking, gambling, or who abuse drugs should also be subject to a finer

level of scrutiny than those not showing such behavioral traits.

The issue of morality as a criterion is valid if done in a broad

perspective of determining how the person relates to others rather than

a microscopic examination of his private life.
111 - 82

Monitoring Existing Employees

Just as it is necessary to screen new employees to present a barrier

to direct penetration of a nuclear facility by an adversary via the channel of employment and to exclude those who are unstable, mentally ill, or

vulnerable to blackmail or subversion, so too is it necessary to monitor

certain selected personnel who are in sensitive positions to assure that

they do not move from a stable low-risk employee population to a population characterized by instability and a potentially high risk of being

influenced by an adversary. Many of the criteria used to evaluate the

existing employee will be the same as those for new employees. One major

difference will be in how the data are generated. In addition to repeating a background check, as in the case of a new hire, the person who is

currently employed could be evaluated in terms of behavior demonstrated

on the job. For example, access to particularly sensitive areas could

be controlled to require random dialog of a predetermined nature

with an access control operator who could use psychologic stress evaluation (PSE) techniques to assess whether there had been any changes in

that particular employee’s established pattern. In addition to the use

of PSE to identify changes in an employee’s normal behavioral pattern

which may be indicative of stress and would warrant closer evaluation,

a psycho-linguistic analysis of speech content could also be made to

look for evidence of changing parameters of word usage, thought content

or mood.

Research would have to be done to develop or apply the appropriate

methods for evaluation and assessment for both screening new employees

and monitoring existing employees. Experience with reliability programs

of SAC crews, and operators of missile bases, and atomic submarine crews

should provide relevant data.
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Societal Risk and Civil Liberties

In addition to the problems of developing a data base and evaluation

criteria for ‘the purpose of screening and monitoring of employees, the

problem of infringing on the personal and civil liberties of those employees in pursuit of the above is not easy to resolve. The Security

(1) Agency Study (NUREG-0015) ‘ discusses full-field background investigations

as they relate to guard applicants and points out that “such a requirement

could impact the rights of free speech, association, and privacy. Interviews with references, neighbors, employees, and others regarding background

and life-style could inhibit the exercise of free speech and association

I *

rights of . . . applicants.4 “Various court rulings in recent years have

been favorable to the protection of individual privacy and of individual

right-to-work. These rulings have made it difficult to make a personal

background check of an individual in commercial activities to assure with

high probability that he is trustworthy and, hence, potentially acceptable

(3)*

as a steward for the protection of plutonium.”

From a legal perspective and as it relates to constraints on what can

and cannot be done to screen or monitor employees “. . . the ultimate question

is whether the courts will perceive the dangers of plutonium to be so

overwhelming as to allow them to . . . hold that the new statute authorizes

the AEC to restrict the civil rights of plutonium workers in the interests

h)+ of national security. Although the Ayres references deal with plutonium

specifically, the tenor of concern of the courts would probably be relevant

for those employees dealing with all forms of SNM or high-level wastes.

See also Appendix III-C of this volume for a discussion of

the civil liberties implications of safeguards programs.

(1) Security Agency Study, Report to the Congress on the Need for, and

Feasibility of, Establishing a Security Agency Within the Office of

Nuclear Material Safety and Safeguards, PB-256 962 (NUREG-0015), U.S.

Nuclear Regulatory Commission, August, 1976.

(2) Ibid., p. IV-19.

(3) Russell W. Ayres, “Policing Plutonium: The Civil Liberties Fallout,”

Harvard Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Law Review, Vol. 10 (Spring, 1975),

Footnote 92, p. 388.

(4) Ibid., p. 399.
III - 84

Impact of Surveillance on People.

Aside from considerations of the impact of surveillance on an indivi -

dua l

s civil liberties-personal privacy or his qualifications for certai n

kinds of employment, we might well ask the question, “What happens to

people who work under conditions of surveillance?” There is a rich history

of various types of employment which are conducted under varying levels of

scrutiny. In some post offices, postal employees are under surveillance of

supervisory personnel during their entire shift and are aware of it. In

the military there is close monitoring of crews that man missile silos.

Astronauts on space flights are monitored not only for behavior but also

for physiologic changes. In their confined quarters they are under keen

surveillance and have essentially no privacy for the duration of their

mission. Although not exactly under surveillance, famous persons are often

in the public eye a significant part of the time and the intimate details

of their private life are the basis of numerous widely distributed articles.

Their response often is protective of their privacy but not necessarily

pathologically suspicious or ‘paranoid. A good example of an

environment under close surveillance is that of gambling casinos in Las Vegas.

There both employee and customer are viewed directly and electronically.

Judging by the level of activity in these casinos, it does not seem that

surveillance per se is bad for business. In this author’s opinion, surveillance as an industrial safety measure is no more stressful than

being closely supervised or being required to use protective ● equipment

for certain industrial procedures.

Some individuals will feel constrained and stressed; others will have no

reaction, but there is no stress inherent in exposure to a high surveillance environment which would lead to a particular behavioral syndrome--

such as a distrustful and suspicious attitude.
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The Ex-Employee

Certain ex-employees may be potentially useful to the adversary because of their technical knowledge or information they have about security

procedures in a specific facility. Granted that the value of such an employee to the adversary may not have a long half-life; however, it would

seem prudent to conduct exit interviews (in addition to security debriefings) with certain employees with special knowledge or skill to determine

their mental state and attitude at the time of separation. Further, it

might be advisable with selected members of this population to maintain

periodic contact until it is determined that the transitional period

after leaving employment with the facility has ended. This could be defined as the time when the individual has regained a stable life style

and is possibly less vulnerable to malevolent manipulation.
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The Insider Problem (1)

At the beginning of this section Surveillance and Reliability were

approached from the perspective that the adversary would attempt to

penetrate a facility directly or by subversion or coercion force an

employee to assist him in carrying out his scheme. For the sake of

completeness we should identify the situation of an employee who becomes

disenchanted for any of several reasons and who initiates contact with

an adversary group to assist him in carrying out some scheme he has

developed.

The nuclear non-state adversary sees himself as an opposing force

from the beginning but the ‘employee” adversary identified above may

never have viewed himself as such. Because he is basically operating on

his own or with outside assistance (rather than being an inside man for

an outside group) his use of complex schemes, designed to deceive and

cover up his actions may be the hardest of all “adversary actions” to

identify. In fact his analogue, the “white collar” criminal, merits

special attention and study to develop specific methods to deal with the

"true" insider threat as opposed to the “adversary-induced” insider threat.

It is fairly well conceded that some of the white collar crime of industry

is never detected. In the nuclear industry a positive but delayed identification of an “insider” may have unacceptable consequences. He is extremely dangerous because he has opportunity, the key element in addition

to motivation and capability, which the nuclear non-state adversary will

probably not have.

(1) See also The White Collar Challenge to Nuclear Safeguards (l?UREG0156 January, 1977), Herbert Edelhertz and Marilyn Walsh, Battelle human

Affairs Research Centers, Seattle, Washington 98105.
111 - 87

XII. CONCLUSIONS ON THE NATURE OF THE NUCLEAR THREAT

OF THE NON-STATE ADVERSARY

First: The threat is real. The notion that someone outside of government programs can design and build a crude nuclear bomb is a good deal more

plausible now than in the past. In the beginning, the secrets of fission

were closely guarded. Now much of the requisite technical knowledge has come

into the public domain. There also are a growing number of technically

competent people in society who understand this material, and who, without

detailed knowledge of nuclear weapons design, theoretically could design and

fabricate a nuclear bomb. It would involve considerable risks for the

builders. Its detonation and performance would be uncertain. Its yield

would be low, probably in the tenths of a kiloton range.
111 - 88

For a dispersal device, some plutonium, or a quantity of some other available radioactive material, spent fuel for example, and a mechanism for dispersal

would suffice . The principal impediment to building a nuclear bomb or filling a

dispersal device is acquisition of the nuclear material. Should this prove

insurmountable, a nuclear reactor could still probably be sabotaged, though the

difficulty of causing damage or release of sufficient radioactive material to

endanger the public remains unresolved.

The frequent use of reflective grammar -- for example, it could

be done -- is deliberate. There is a great difference between theoretical feasibility and someone actually attempting to carry out one of the

actions described.

Second: There are political extremists and criminal groups at

large today that possess or could acquire the resources necessary to

carry out any of the nuclear actions mentioned: sabotage a

reactor, steal fissionable material and build a dispersal device or

possibly even a crude nuclear explosive device. Some of the larger

terrorist groups might undertake such actions with or without the

assistance or complicity of a national government, and organized crime,

at least theoretically have the option of acquiring a nuclear capability.

There is general consensus on this. Arguments arise not so much in the

area of theoretical capabilities, but rather in the area of intentions.

Third: The historical record provides no evidence that any criminal or terrorist group has ever made any attempt to acquire fissionable

nuclear material or other radioactive material for use in an explosive

or dispersal device. Apart from a few incidents of sabotage in France

and one incident in Argentina, political extremists have not attacked

nuclear facilities. No criminal or terrorist group has demonstrated or

claimed that it possesses fissionable material. If members of any such

groups have ever discussed the option of going nuclear, the present authors

know of no such report. There have been bomb threats against nuclear

facilities. There have been low-level incidents involving nuclea r
III - 89

facilities or nuclear material -- vandalism, token acts Of violence,

low-level sabotage, minor thefts of nonfissionable material. There

have been nuclear hoaxes most of which could easily be discarded as

not credible. In sum, there is no direct historical evidence of any

intentions on the part of the potential adversaries to carry out the

actions of which they are theoretically capable. However, one ought to

take little comfort in this fact. The lack of intelligence or of visible

evidence does not mean that the option has not been discussed. Some group

might move in this direction without providing clues or warning. We could

first. know about it when it arrives.

Fourth: There is, however, no inexorable linear progression that

takes one easily from the currently identified spectrum of potential

subnational nuclear terrorists to actual subnational nuclear terrorists,

or from the nuclear incidents that have occurred thus far to nuclear

actions of greater consequence. Terrorist groups, as we know them now,

might be among future nuclear terrorists, but their acquisition of a

nuclear capability would not be a simple escalation of what has been

demonstrated in terrorist actions thus far. We can only say that terrorists have been active in the recent past, that there is an apparent increase in their technical sophistication, that they have demonstrated a

degree of imagination in their choice of targets, that nuclear facilities

and material theoretically could provide them with a dramatic backdrop

or prop for any action, and that terrorists have shown a flair for

theoretical actions. On the other hand, terrorists generally have not

attacked well-guarded targets. They have generally relied on relatively

simple weapons -- submachine guns and dynamite -- and the number of

casualties normally associated with the detonation of even a crude

nuclear device, or the dispersal of toxic radioactive material is many

times greater than the casualties that have occurred in any single terrorist incident. Terrorists have not yet gone to the limit of their existing

nonnuclear capabilities. Acquiring a nuclear capability would represent

a quantum jump, and upon close examination it is simply not clear what

purpose taking that jump would serve.
III - 90

It is an equally long conceptual jump from the present activities

of organized crime to the notion of organized crime acquiring a nuclear

capability. It would mean in effect that its leaders have decided to

directly challenge the sovereignty of the nations in which organized

crime’s normal--and highly profitable--activities take place. This

would require a fundamental change in the objectives of organized crime,

whose members have sought to make money and to acquire political influence to protect their investments, but not to acquire direct political

authority at higher levels or to invoke public or political reaction.

It is somewhat easier to imagine organized crime engaged in the

theft of or illegal trafficking in fissionable material without seeking

to acquire a nuclear capability. The annals of crime are filled with

successful penetrations of well-protected targets to obtain precious

commodities. Enriched uranium and plutonium certainly are precious

commodities. For the immediate future, however, highly enriched uranium

or plutonium are unlikely to be stolen for their intrinsic monetary

value but rather for their strategic value as bombmaking material. They

do not have the same marketability that gold or other precious metals

have, and their theft is likely to be regarded in a totally different

light by authorities. The loss of fissionable material probably would

be viewed by government as a potential threat to the security of the

nation, not simply as an economic loss. It would provoke a different

level of response, perhaps applied in a state of national emergency,

which could pose a serious threat to the very existence of organized

crime as presently organized. It would require on the part of its leaders a change in their goals and an acceptance of new kinds of risks.

That leaves the category of psychotic individuals operating alone

usually, or occasionally in groups. “Nuts” are probably responsible

for many of the low-level incidents and nuclear hoaxes that have occurred

thus far, but most would not try anything more serious than causing

disruption. On the other hand, a few, if they had somehow acquired a

nuclear capability, might use it. Lunatics have been the designers of

many known schemes of mass murder. Thus, in terms of intentions alone,
111 - 91

psychotics are potential nuclear terrorists. In terms of capabilities,

they probably are the farthest away from being able to acquire a nuclear

weapon. To do so would require an enormous increase in their own capabilities or an external change that made the task much easier.

The authors of nuclear hoaxes have manifested desires of becoming

nuclear non-State adversaries but none have demonstrated the required

capabilities, and it is not certain that all hoaxers, even if they had

access to nuclear material, would be anything more than hoaxers, anymore than one can say that people who call in bomb threats if they had

the opportunity (which in fact they do) would go out and buy dynamite and

make a bomb. Hoaxes suggest more hoaxes, not necessarily genuine nuclear

adversaries.

In sum, the history of the nuclear incidents to date provides no

convincing evidence of the really serious events--the theft of a nuclear

weapon or the detonation of a crude nuclear explosive device.

Fifth: Whether any of the current potential nuclear terrorists will

decide to actually go nuclear remains an unanswerable question. We can

identify potential adversaries and describe their objectives, their capabilities, and the likely modes of operation if they decide to go nuclear,

but we cannot predict with any confidence whether any will ever make that

decision. This leaves a vast area of uncertainty between what “can be

done” and someone deciding to do it.

The primary attraction to terrorists in going nuclear may not

necessarily be the fact that nuclear weapons would enable terrorists

to cause mass casualties, but rather that almost any terrorist actio n

associated with the words “atomic” or “nuclear” automatically generates

fear in the mind of the public. Drawing attention to themselves and

their causes, creating alarm, and thereby gaining some political leverage--

which have been typical objectives of terrorists--could be achieved by

undertaking relatively unsophisticated actions with a nuclear backdrop to

add drama to the episode. Terrorists seem more likely to do those things

that demand less technical skill and risk on their part and also are less

dangerous to public safety, instead of attempting some of the more complex

and riskier operations which potentially could endanger thousands of people .
III - 92

Nuclear terrorism seems more attractive as a threat than as an

action. Possessing a nuclear device, it seems terrorists could demand

anything. But the idea of nuclear blackmail. has some weaknesses. It

is not entirely clear how the enormous capacity for destruction associated with a nuclear weapon could be converted into commensurate political gains. Even with a nuclear device, terrorists could not make impossible demands. They probably could not permanently alter national policy

or compel other changes in national behavior. To do so would require at

a minimum that they maintain the threat and it is not clear how long this

could be done without discovery or betrayal.

Sixth: The nuclear terrorists of the future may not arise from

those candidates currently identified. There may be or appear individuals

or new kinds of groups that have not yet been identified who might b e

more likely to use nuclear means to achieve their objectives. Threats

to nuclear facilities or involving the malevolent use of nuclear materials

may emerge on a different organizational or mental plane. Ten years ago,

the members of the Lumb Panel examining nuclear safeguards for the

Atomic Energy Commission, identified “terrorists” as a potential threat

to nuclear programs. They did not specify who or what they meant by

the term “terrorist,” and it is a little difficult to imagine today who

or what they had in mind in 1967 since their report preceded the recent

increase in terrorist violence. But in retrospect, their report was

prophetic, for in the following decade terrorists in well-organized groups

that operated internationally did become a significant problem. They

are a new entity that has emerged as a major threat in the past decade,

and although they have as yet given no indication of going nuclear, they

potentially could. It is difficult to say now what new entities may

emerge in the coming decade.

The final conclusion is that the origin, level and nature of the

threat may change. Some individual or group may acquire a nuclear capability and successfully carry out some scheme of extortion or destruction

that will inspire imitation. The probability of a second incident occurring,

especially after a “success” would seem to be greater than than probability
III - 93

of the first. A terrorist group with the capabilities for acquiring

a nuclear capability may be placed in a desperate situation that will

begin to erode the political arguments against nuclear action. The

political context may change. A war may occur in which nuclear weapons

are used, inviting further use by nations and subnational groups.

Plutonium could become more widely and easily obtainable owing to lack

of adequate safeguards. New low technology enrichment techniques could

emerge, making the production of fissionable material much easier, giving

more entities the capability of producing weapons material. At some

point in the future, the opportunity anti capacity for serious nuclear

violence could reach those willing to take advantage of it. We do not

know where that point is or how close we may be to it.
111 - 94

.

FOOTNOTES

1. Roberta Wohlstetter, “Terror on a Grand Scale,” Survival, May/June

1976, pp. 98-104, citing Grodzins and Rabinowitch, The Atomic Age

(New’’ York: Basic Books, 1963), p. 33.

2. According to calculations of Dr. Kenneth Solomon, Rand nuclear

engineer.

3. David D. Comey, “The Perfect Trojan Horse,” Bulletin of Atomic

Scientists, June 1976, pp. 33-34. .

4. George Comstock, The Evidence on Television Violence, The Rand

Corporation, P-5730, October 1976, 14 pp.

5. David L. Milbank, Research Study: International and Transnational

Terrorism: Diagnosis and Prognosis, Office of Political Research,

Central Intelligence Agency, PR 76 1003O, Washington, D.C., April

1976.

6. Mason Willrich and Theodore Taylor, Nuclear Theft: Risks and

Safeguards, Ballinger Publishing Company, Cambridge, Massachusetts,

1974, pp. 20-21.

7. Bernard Cohen et al., Statement Before the National Council of

Churches, February 1976.

8. Ralph Lumb, et al., Report of the Advisory Panel on Safeguarding

Special Nuclear Material, unpublished, Washington, D.C. 1967”

9. Donald R. Cressey, Theft of the Nation: The Structure and Operations of Organized Crime in America, ColoPhen Books, Harper and

Row, New York, 1969.

10. Douglas DeNike, “Radioactive Malevolence,” Bulletin of Atomic

Scientists, February 1974, p. 18.

11. Mason Willrich and Theodore Taylor, op. cit., p. 112.

12. Ibid.

13. Brian M. Jenkins, Will Terrorists Go Nuclear?, California Seminar

on Arms Control and Foreign Policy, Santa Monica, California, 1975

p. 10.
III - 95

14.

15.

16.

17.

18.

19.

20.

21.

22.

23.

24.

25.

26.

27.

28.

James Lovett, “Who are the Enemy,” in Leachman and Althoff (eds.),

Preventing Nuclear Theft: Guidelines for Industry and Government,

Praeger, New York, 1972, p. 215.

Deborah Shapely, “Plutonium: Reactor Proliferation Threatens a

Nuclear Black Market,” Science, 1972, April 9, 1971, p. 146.

S. Burnham, et al., The Threat to Licensed Nuclear Facilities,The

Mitre Corporation, McLean, Virginia, 1975.

Willrich and Taylor, op. cit., p. 112.

DeNike, op. cit., p. 16.

Jenkins, op. cit., p. 1.

The Japan Times, December 3, 1976.

David D. Comey , “Do Not go Gentle into That Radiation Zone,"

The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, November 1975.

Leon Rappoport and J. D. Pettinelli, “Social Psychological Studies

of the Safeguards Problem,” in Leachman and Althoff (eds.), op. cit.,

pp. 173-189.

R. B. Leachman and A. P. Cornella, Details of Criminological Investigations of Large-Valued Thefts Related to Nuclear Material, KSU/Ds20, Kansas State University, under contract to National Science

Foundation, June 1972,

C. Rogers McCullough, et al., An Appraisal of the Potential Hazard

of Industrial Sabotage in Nuclear Power Plants, Southern Nuclear

Engineering, Inc., Dunedin, Florida, July 1968.

The BDM Corporation, Analysis of the Terrorist Threat to the

Commercial Nuclear Industry, Vienna, Virginia, 1975.

D. M. Rosenbaum, et al., Special Safeguards Study, U.S. Atomic

Energy Commission, April 1974.

Testimony of Kenneth Chapman, Director, NRC, Office of Nuclear

Material Safety and Safeguards, Hearings before the Subcommittee

on Energy and the Environment of the Committee on Interior and

Insular Affairs, February 26-27, 1976, pp. 145-146.
III - 96

29. The BDM Corporation, Analysis of Group Size, Vienna, Virginia,

1975.

30. Ibid., p. 8.
111 - 97

BIBLIOGRAPHIC NOTES

The literature on terrorism is abundant. Government-commissioned

reports, journal and newspaper articles have proliferated particularly

during the last decade. Among the major analytical works referred to

in this report are those described below. These do not, of course,

represent a complete list.

In July 1966, the Atomic Energy Commission appointed a special

advisory panel of persons outside the government to review its policies

and procedures for safeguarding special nuclear material.. The seven-man

panel was headed by Dr. Ralph F. Lumb, Director of Western New York

Nuclear Research Center. The 121-page report of the Lumb panel, issued

in March 1967, states that “Safeguards programs should also be designed

in recognition of the problems of terrorist or criminal groups clandestinely acquiring nuclear weapons or material useful therein.”

Ralph F. Lumb, et al., Report of the Advisory Panel on Safeguarding

Special Nuclear Material, unpublished, Washington, D.C. 1967.

Dr. Theodore B. Taylor is a former designer of nuclear weapons. His

early work for the Department of Defense identified potential nonnational nuclear threats. In 1968, Stanford Research Institute published Taylor’s Preliminary Survey of Non-National Nuclear Threats, an

unclassified report. Much of Taylor’s subsequent reports are classified.

However, in December 1.973 Taylor’s views gained national attention

through a series of three interview articles by John McPhee ("The

Curve of Binding Energy," The New Yorker, December 3, 10, and 17, 1973).

McPhee’s articles were later published in a book, The Curve of Binding

Energy, Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, New York, 1973.

Mason Willrich and Theodore B. Taylor, Nuclear Theft: Risks and Safeguards, Ballinger Publishing Company, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1974.

D. M. Rosenbaum, et al. , Special Safeguards Study, U.S. Atomic Energy

Commission, April 1974.
III - 98

The BDM Corporation, Analysis of the Terrorist Threat to the Commercial

Nuclear Industry, Vienna, Virginia, 1975.

S. Burnham, et al., The Threat to Licensed Nuclear Facilities, T h e

Mitre Corporation, Mitre Technical Report, MTR-7022, McLean, Virginia,

1975.
III - 99

Annex to Appendix III-A

INCIDENTS INVOLVING LARGE NUMBER OF DEATHS 1968-1976

(Refer to Figure 5 on Page 22 of Appendix III-A)

October 6, 1976

September 7, 1974

December 17, 1973

May 31, 1972

January 26, 1972

February 21, 1970

Caribbean -- A Cuban Airlines DC-8 jetliner

carrying 73 persons crashed off the coast

of Barbados, killing all 73 persons aboard.

The Venezuelan Government pointed an accus--

finger at Cuban exiles. [Two men carrying

Venezuelan passports were arrested in Trinidad. One of them allegedly confessed to having

placed a bomb in the baggage compartment of

the Cuban airliner. This led to the arrest

of a dozen more Cuban exiles.]

Greece -- A Trans World Airlines jet bound

for the United States with 88 persons aboard

crashed in the Ionian Sea off Greece. The

Organization of Arab Nationalist Youth for

the Liberation of Palestine (ANYO) claimed

responsibility for the suspected bombing

which killed all persons aboard.

Italy--

At least 32 people were killed and

18 wounded at the Rome airport when five Arab

guerillas attacked a Middle East-bound Pan

American World Airways jet airliner, spraying

it with bombs and machinegun fire, hurling hand

grenades into it and setting it on fire.

Israel -- Three Japanese gunmen attacked

passengers at Tel Aviv’s Lod Airport with

machineguns and hand grenades, killing 25

persons and wounding 76. The gunmen were

members of the URA of Japan who had been

recruited by the PFLP for the assault. The

PFLP claimed credit for the attack, saying

that the three terrorists belonged to the

Squad of the Martyr Patrick Arguello.

Sweden -- Croatian emigres claimed responsibility for the bombing of a Stockholm-toBelgrade airliner which crashed, killing 26

persons.

Switzerland -- A sabotaged Swissair plane en

route to Tel Aviv crashed on takeoff, killing

all 47 passengers. The PFLP was responsible.
111 - 100

April 11, 1974 Israel -- Three Arab guerrillas stormed a

residential building in Qiryat Shemona,

killing 18 persons and wounding 16. The

guerillas were said to belong to the PFLP-GC.
111 - 101

APPENDIX III-B

NUCLEAR NON-STATE ADVERSARY ACTIONS (NUCLEAR TERRORISM), WITH SPECIAL

REFERENCE TO THE RAND CORPORATION DRAFT OF JANUARY 6, 1977*

L. Douglas DeNike, Ph.D.

*The RAND draft of January 6, 1977 was an incomplete first draft which was

subsequently revised, expanded, and edited to become Appendix III-A of this

report.
111 - 102

This review evalutively analyzes the major issues involved in potential nuclear non-state adversary actions in relation to the Rand

Corporation draft on this topic of January 6, 1977 (l).

The reviewer concludes that malevolent nuclear actions not authorized

by national governments could pose quite extraordinary risks to the

United States and to world order. The present report begins with clarification of matters pertaining to the definition and probability of

acts of nuclear terror. It proceeds to answer reassurances contained in

the Rand draft regarding the likelihood of such acts. The reviewer’s

perspective on the topic follows. The latter half of this paper is

devoted to specific observations on the contents of the Rand draft

which are not dealt with in the earlier main text.

Most Nuclear Maleficence is Not Difficult Technically

The term “nuclear terrorism” tends, somewhat misleadingly, to

connote a James-Bond sequence involving. theft of fissile material,

atomic-bomb construction by subverted experts, and ultimate detonation

of the device. However, many possibilities categorized as non-state

nuclear adversary actions are more simple technically. The defining

characteristic of a non-state action is the absence of official

governmental orders. For example, a government could “leak” a nuclear

explosive to a terrorist group, or military authorities could make

unauthorized sales of nuclear weapons, especially under conditions

of poor inventory control, such as prevail during and after wars.

Moreover, nuclear weapons could be stolen and used, especially if

national proliferation puts nuclear weapons in the hand of national

governments who do not have the resources to guard their weapons adequately.
III - 103

Also included are simple dispersals of radionuclides for purposes

of territory denial and socioeconomic disruption. The most-discussed,

but not the most convenient, example of the latter is the induced

meltdown of a power reactor’s fuel

terrorism do not appear to require

skills.

core. Hence,

prohibitively

many kinds of nuclear

great resources or

Probability of Successful Attempts

A meaningful answer to the question, “How likely is an event of

this kind?” must be based on specification of additional particulars,

such as: “By what means? “ “In what country?” Involving whose nationals?”

“In peacetime or wartime?” “Over what time interval?” All analysts

in this field are obliged to work with unquantifiable guesses--with

surmises that are not so much demonstrable as they are not convincingly

refutable. This reviewer guesses that the probability is over 50%, worldwide, of

a contaminative incident requiring the indefinite evacuation of one

square mile or more, or nuclear explosive damage in excess of $100

million, over the span of the next five years. This probability may

be expected to ascend with the proliferation of nuclear power, with the

continued emphasis on such topics in the imaginative media, with media

publicity given to the first major incidents if they occur, and with

intensification of the global population-resources crisis (which help

to create the disparate and desperate conditions by which terrorists

justify their means and gain support and refuge).

Examining Rand’s Guarded Optimism

Rand and this reviewer agree that a crude explosive device probably

can be designed and built by some non-state adversary groups. (See
III - 104

also Volume I, Chapter VI). Rand

that these admitted opportunities

mayingly, rather good replies can

adduces several arguments suggesting

might not be exploited. But disbe made to each:

(A) (It may not be in the interest of terrorists to induce mass

casualties) This is undoubtedly true for most terrorists, most of

the time. It cannot be shown true for all terrorists all of the time.

Rand’s Brian Jenkins has said that terrorism is perpetrated for an

audience; “... terrorism is theater” (2). As Michael Flood points out

in his comprehensive review of recorded malevolent acts involving the

nuclear power industry (3), “... nuclear terror makes gripping theater.”

The more people dead, the more people watching on the news media.

Moreover, nuclear atrocities need not be equated with mass

slaughter. Consider, for example, the detonation of a nuclear device

at any one of a number of important sites at 3 A.M. on a Sunday morning

when few people would be about. This might be calculated to damage or

destroy a symbol of “capitalist imperialism”

Again, to

urban area

casualties

disruption

force prolonged evacuation and/or

would certainly be atrocious, yet

and yet to kill very few.l

decontamination of an

given timely warning few

might be involved. Yet such an event could cause profound

nationwide, and considerable turmoil worldwide. The Atomic

Energy Commission, it its 1974 GESMO draft environmental impact statement on plutonium recycle, calculated that the release of two kilograms

1. If U.S. retaliatory circuitry were programmed to respond reflexively

and massively to such an event on the assumption of a Soviet attack, exceedingly

many deaths could ensue. This exemplifies the possibility that terrorists

might grossly underestimate the total effects of their destructive acts, or

that, in the confusion of the moment, authorities might grossly overestimate

the threat to the nation.
III - 105

of particulate plutonium oxide at ground level would induce cancer

in all inhabitants 1000 feet downwind, and in 1% of inhabitants even

40 miles downwind (4).2

(B) (Other, non-nuclear

can pursue their objectives)

which terrorists are pursuing

channels are available by which terrorists

The daily newspapers attest to the vigor with

non-nuclear options. This behavior in

itself justifies no reassurance that nuclear means will not be utilized

in the future. That would require empirical analysis of terrorists’

motivations and their awareness of nuclear security vulnerabilities, both

of which could change in an inauspicious way as time goes on. Obviously,

conventional weapons and explosives are more readily available to

extremists than are fissile materials and other radioisotopes. However,

such persons who were favorably situated to learn how to acquire and

handle the latter materials might go the nuclear route. Access to a

loose-mouthed, disgruntled, bribe-or-blackmail-vulnerable nuclear

employee might tip the balance.

(C) (Terrorists might alienate their constituencies by nuclear

violence or extortion) The constituency of onlookers might be enraged,

but simultaneously impelled to yield in recognition of the adversaries’

irresistible nuclear capability. The goal of terrorism is not necessarily to win friends, but rather to influence (possibly bitterly resentful)

people that they have no choice but to accede to the terrorists’ demands.

(D) (Nuclear terrorist could not handle excessively large money

payoffs, nor maintain a credible threat long enough to significantly

2. Since evacuative dispersals (the “Seveso effect”) may also be caused

by non-nuclear substances such as dioxin and polybrominated biphenyls, nations

in the future may be forced to choose between national defense and the health

of persons working in key facilities contaminated by enemy action. This will

not be an unconstrained choice. If the health hazard is manifest in obvious

illness, or cannot be concealed from those in the affected zone, there may

be little choice but to evacuate.
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influence the policy of a national government) If such extortionists

could initially establish the credibility of their nuclear devices which

could possibly be transportable, they might elude capture for an

3 Malefactors who convincingly extended period, as did Patricia Hearst.

claimed to be maintaining two such devices with a failsafe means of

communication might threaten that the capture of one device would

automatically detonate the other. The perpetrators might be expected

to provide shielding which would lessen the effectiveness of searchers’

neutron detectors. Unless physical descriptions of the terrorists were

available, once they had hidden their devices in an area unlikely to be

searched they would be relatively safe even from the outrage of an entire

citizenry. As for the unwieldy weight to nuclear blackmailers of “a

billion dollars in small bills,” they might settle for a lesser sum,

or installment payments by parachute, or credits to the treasuries of

poor foreign states. If there were reason to believe the gang was

not all holed up together, even an atomic bomb exploded by the victim

government over their suspected backwoods hideaway would not be expected

to neutralize them. And of course, attempts by authorities to capture

the retrievers of extortion payments could be forestalled by advance

threats to employ nuclear violence.

(E) (Terrorists sophisticated enough to utilize nuclear means,

unlike common criminals, may possess a certain revolutionary humanitarianism making them loath to actually do so) The political changes sought

by terrorists and guerrillas are known to require considerable bloodshed.

A basically humane terrorist leader might wish to cut this short with a

bloody but decisive nuclear strike. A “noble” justification can be

3. The “Weather Underground” group has eluded the FBI for seven

years.
111 - 107

imagined for almost any unspeakable act, especially in the minds of

warped individuals susceptible to rationalizations for butchery. All

major governments have approved deeds of violence later considered

to be unnecessary atrocities. Thus it should not be too surprising

if extremist groups do also.

(F) (Terrorists have not signalled their willingness to go bigtime by exploding gasoline tank trucks, oil tankers, chemical factories,

major dams, or munitions sites; or by making nerve gas or poisoning

water supplies). Attacks on intrinsically sabotageable fixed sites may

be relatively unappealing since such targets may not be located in

places optimal for producing disruptive effects. Or the targets may

lack appropriate political symbolism, or endanger large numbers of

innocent persons. Nuclear power plants would probably be an exception,

since to many they symbolize an oppressive technocracy, and because the

disruptive effects of electricity loss or radioactivity release would be

felt over a wide area, without killing too many.

As for deadly bacteria and nerve gas, there have been reports that

both have been prepared for terrorist use but that the plots were thwarted.

In January 1972, Chicago police reportedly narrowly averted a scheme to

introduce typhoid germs into the city water supply (5). In March 1976,

gang members in Austria were reportedly arrested in possession of a

quantity of poison DFP gas (6).

The foregoing discussion reveals no reason to dismiss or minimize

the possibility of nuclear interventions by extremists. In assessing

the extent of the danger, we might bear in mind not only some humans’

tendency to borrow trouble, but many humans’ tendency to be optimistic

in confronting the unknown. Among professional analysts, there is an
III - 108

understandable tendency to “look reasonable, ” to avoid recommending

expensive precautions unless the need for them is very salient, and

to say to decisionmakers what one imagines they want to hear. The

motive not to make waves in an organization, or not to make a fool

of oneself, has led to more than one tragedy when clear signs of danger

were overlooked. For example, on December 2, 1975, a radiobiologist

on the train platform at Assen, Netherlands noticed seven youths bearing

abnormally large gift packages. “ ...his immediate reaction was alarm,”

which he stifled, and three innocent hostages were killed in the

infamous Dutch Train Incident (7).

There is a strong tendency in human psychology to look on the

bright side, and to ignore the evil not yet recorded as hypothetical

if not purely speculative. Yet a simple mental exercise will demonstrate

what many of us accept in principle, that the outlandish and unbelievable

happen every week. Let the most seemingly preposterous news event of

the current year be mentally framed as a prediction, and the prediction

imagined as issuing from the mouth of some prognosticator of the previous year. Who would have dared to predict the actual course of

the Watergate investigations? Who would be listened to if he speculated

that a man “who wanted to tell the world his views on the dangers of

tobacco” would hold “a man hostage for more that two hours at the top

of the tallest building in Los Angeles” (8)? Who would forecast that

Croatian nationalists would “hijack” the front pages of several major

newspapers to publicize their obscure cause (9)? The reviewer hopes

that the nation shall if possible avoid the dangers of unjustified

optimism or unvoiced misgivings -- which later might be called the stiff

upper brain syndrome.
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A Perspective on the Topic

This reviewer defines a counterconspiratorial

as one which seeks actively to anticipate possible

public-safety policy

disruptive malevolent

events and to prevent, respond to, and recover from them. Such a

policy may have undesirable consequences if the scenarios imagined

or the precautions taken become self-fulfilling prophecies by firing

the imaginations of evildoers. Counterconspiratorial policies are

also

even

also

expensive and run against the grain of free societies’ thinking;

law-enforcement agencies do not relish such contingency planning.

However, a tacit reliance on minimum precautions and crossed fingers

bears risks. Such confidence seems to assume that rapidly proliferating new knowledge in nuclear physics, toxicology, and molecular

biology will be much less appealing to public enemies than it is to

the television writers who continuously suggest new malevolent schemes

to a large and diverse audience. It further assumes that the first

instances of a new terror technology (e.g., plutonium dispersal) will

neither inspire imitators in such numbers as to overstrain the response

capacity of government, nor will those first instances in themselves

disrupt that response capability by attacking key administrative nerve

centers.

The present and largely unarticulated public-safety philosophy of

the United States and other democracies should be viewed as having

wishful and frangible features. Up to the present time, the costs

of unpreparedness have been sustainable. Next year, they may no longer

be. One may reserve the term “ultrafrangible” for policies and programs

the first clear sign of whose inadequacy is their total failure. The

Teton Dam exemplifies an expensive and elaborately planned structure

which proved to be ultrafrangible.
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We have no proof that the AmericanSoviet mutual-assured-destruction nuclear deterrence system is not

ultrafrangible. The same may hold for low budget, low-profile preparedness against nuclear terrorism.

A quest for inordinate coercive/destructive power almost defines

potential nuclear terrorism. Small groups or possibly even individuals

could assume powers vastly disproportional to those they customarily

possess. Governments are still unaccustomed to the idea of gigantic forces

being manipulated by small numbers of desperados. This, in conjunction

with the aforementioned tendencies to minimize unrealized threat possibilities, leads to a lack of adequate contingency and response planning.

Even if planners have substantial motivation to provide against

non-governmental acts of nuclear violence and coersion, they may not

find their way clear to do so. As they start to compile vulnerabilities

and modes of possible attack, they may find themselves writing an encyclopedia for atomic terror, which might have to be kept at an unusefully

high level of security classification.

The concept of “Catalytic war” refers to the initiation of armed

hostilities between countries X and Y by a deceptive destructive act

perpetrated by Z. At some future time, the leaders of a third country

might perceive it in their interest to foment war between the United

States and the Soviet Union. If an important fraction of an urban area

in the U.S. were to disappear beneath a mushroom cloud one day, the

U.S.S.R. would quickly become aware of what had happened. The U.S.S.R.

might assume that the U.S. would have no choice but to presume U.S.S.R.

origin or instigation for the event. That assumption could lead directly

to the Soviets’ launching a pre-emptive nuclear attack on the U.S. in
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order to lessen the blow from the U.S. retaliation for the original

act. So pitilessly might history record our joint failure to recognize

the fragility of bipolar deterrence theory based on “rational “ adversaries.

The many weaknesses of deterrence have been elegantly spelled out by

David Krieger (10) and Louis R. Beres (11).

Planners considering such an eventuality confront a dilemma.

There may be no time to safely conduct an investigation, unless there

are excellent grounds for reaching a quick understanding with the

Soviets. But what can be said publicly in advance? If the U.S. should

announce that it will retaliate against the U.S.S.R. without pausing

to ascertain the bomb’s origin, we tempt would-be initiators of catalytic

war. If, on the other hand, the U.S. makes it clear that it will not

attack the Soviet Union until N bombs have gone off in American cities,

it virtually invites anyone to detonate N-1 devices of mysterious origin

“for free”. Even if classified rather than open plans were drawn up

to cope with this impasse, there would be constant dread that these plans

might unawares leak to potential adversaries, conferring an enormous

strategic advantage to them.

Hence, there is a possibility that single acts of nuclear terror

could set in motion much larger and far-reaching responses and counterresponses. Recognition of this state of affairs is dulled in part by

the bias toward optimism that stems from the very fact of our still

being alive

experienced

of the dice

as individuals. All persons who are not now dead have

an uncanny amount of good luck. Those who got bad shakes

are no longer with us.
III - 112

The foregoing discussion provides the basis for an emergent

principle in international relations, to wit, the absolute intolerability of translational nuclear terrorism. We see that the origin

of such atrocities possibly could not be determined with sufficient

promptness and reliability. Thus the line is blurred between such acts

initiated covertly by foreign governments, and identical acts committed

by fanatics without government sanction. Any barbarous deed could be

assigned by a foreign state for commission by a trusted radical team,

and the connection disavowed if the extremists were captured or identified.

This kind of hand-washing would be intolerable to victim states. They

would demand scrupulous adherence to the idea that nation-states have an

absolute duty to prevent the incipient nuclear terroristic behavior of

their own nationals from being exported beyond their own borders.

Presumably, nations would wish to quell it within their borders as well.

If national governments come to be held accountable for nuclear

blackmail or violence in another state traceable to their own citizens,

it is plausible to expect attempts to diminish personal and civil liberties worldwide. Governments and citizens may then become locked in

the familiar circle of repression and resistance.

Acts of nuclear aggression, because they can anonymously inflict

massive losses on national governments have a potential altogether

different from the maximum to be expected from today’s violent political episodes. It is a fundamental error to view atomic terrorism

as merely a more serious type of deed of the kind to which we have

grudgingly become accustomed . The threat of nongovernmental nuclear

force, like governmental nuclear force, places unprecedented demands

upon the assumptions underpinning present world order.
III - 113

Attaining Closure on Sustainable Nuclear Policy:

Capitalization on Events Conducive to Internationalization of Energy

Many countries lack adequate fossil fuel reserves, and are presently

incapable of substituting non-nuclear energy options. Such states may be

expected to build nuclear electricity generating stations if they can

afford them. Indeed, some countries may be willing to pay a premium

price in order to acquire either the prestige or the weapons options

(or both) implicit in such facilities. Thus at least until some dramatic

occurrence, we may expect nuclear electricity units to be erected in

such countries.

For the immediate future, United States policy could be based on

the assumption that a global phaseout of either nuclear weapons or

fission power is temporarily infeasible. However, breakthroughs in

alternative energy sources, or achievement of suitable international

agreements to share fossil fuels, or perhaps a nuclear tragedy will

sooner or later enable the inception of denuclearization.

Countries obviously intent on joining the nuclear weapons club

will need additional positive and negative inducements. The United

States could take the lead in fostering new frameworks of regional

security, that would damp down or eliminate A-bomb rivalries. Coordinately, we might be able to export some of our 200-year supply of coal

as well as our rapidly accumulating expertise in energy efficiency

and non-mineral (sustainable) power options.

If a threat or an actual commission of an act of nuclear violence occurred,

the federal government could capitalize on the event to jawbone for

gaining freedom from reliance on nuclear weapons and fission-generated
III - 114

electricity. At the same time, we can take two steps dramatizing

our plight and furthering movement toward a post nuclear world

energy order,

The first is to bring American nuclear exports to a close. A

current unexamined premise is that U.S. withdrawal from the role of

reactor vendor overseas would deprive this country of any leverage against

the proliferative activities of other nations.

American leverage against such proliferation inheres in our total national

ability to aid, protect, substitute other energy sources, and administer

sanctions. It does not depend on our participation in any given trade

activity. A policeman who doesn’t drink may still arrest a drunken driver.

Nor will the salubrious effect of positive example by the United States

be lost on other nuclear trading states.

The second interim goal is to upgrade the International Atomic

Energy Agency inspectorate to a true international police force with

power to arrest. This possibility will seem much less visionary

following the first major event of nuclear maleficence. While it will

take time and effort to emplace, and logically should be accompanied by

an international judicial body to try offenders, its achievement will

someday be seen as logical, natural, and inevitable.”

A start toward realization of these objectives has already been

made . Alternative energy sources are undergoing intensive development,

and energy conservation is about to have a significant impact. Diplomacy

is cheaper than either bombs or wars, so the taxpayers should welcome

regional alliances which reduce the need for both. The U.S. is already

exporting coking coal, and soon may be exporting Alaskan oil. Both the

outgoing and the incoming federal administrations have given intensive
111 - 115

thought to the nuclear-export question. That leaves only the

upgrading of IAEA, which may have to await a conspicuous failure in

the latter as presently organized. As Abba Eban said, people will

do the sensible thing once all other alternatives have been tried.
III - 116

Reviewer Comments

on Rand First Draft

Specific Observations on the Rand Corporation First Draft of January 6, 1977

This first draft was provided by Rand’s Brian M. Jenkins. Direct

quotation has not been used here, in anticipation of further

revision. However, material which follows the conjunction “that”

is usually a direct quotation from the draft. While these comments

necessarily focus upon differences, reviewer concurs with the

bulk of the first draft.

Introduction: A distinctly misleading impression is given by failing to —

mention the variety of malevolent events

A reader not familiar with the literature

acts connected with the nuclear industry

introduction that all is well.

—

later taken up in Section VI.

documenting multifarious illegal

could readily conclude from this

Introduction (page 2): Rand sees disgruntled employees as capable of

low-level sabotage. A seriously disgruntled or demented employee could

cause damage, as witness the $10 million Indian Point arson incident and

the $50 million accidental fire in the cable spreading room at Browns

Ferry (12).

Section 11 (page 6): There is an unfortunate tranquilizing tone in the

statement that people have come to accept the presence of nuclear weapons

and have grown accustomed to living with the possibility of nuclear war,

and that one nation more or less with nuclear weapons does not seem to

make that much difference. India’s entry into the nuclear club made a

substantial difference, inasmuch as it concretely illustrated the tie

between imported nuclear technology and indigenous weapons development.

Section 11 (page 7): The language of this section tends

that nuclear terrorism is a bogeyman invented by nuclear

elsewhere in the draft Rand concedes there is reason for

to suggest

critics. Yet

doubt and fear.
III - 117

Section 11 (page 8): Draft avers that there is no convincing evidence

that violence on television or in the movies causes people to be violent.

This statement is in

aggression conducted

Section II (page 9):

conflict with studies on media-induced imitative

by Professor Albert Bandura and others (13).

Reviewer concurs that some loss of confidence

in political and economic institutions has occurred. The lagging performance of the criminal-justice system in particular may embolden potential

nuclear thieves or saboteurs.

Section 111 (page 15): Rand notes that a hijacking or hostage incident may be in the news for days, even weeks. Contamination and disruption following a nuclear atrocity could be expected to yield a

continuing flow of publicity attractive to potential perpetrators.

Note the intense coverage given to the extended evacuation of several

hundred acres of Seveso, Italy by dioxin dispersal (roughly analogous

to urban release radionuclides or the fallout from a fission bomb).

In less than a month, the Los Angeles Times carried nine stories on the

event and its aftermath (July 26, 27, & 31; August 3, 6, 7, 13, 14, &

21, 1976).

Section 111 (page 15): Rand states here that terrorist violence is

trivial compared to the world volume of violent deaths. In its

immediate context this statement is misleadingly reassuring. More

realistic measures of the impact of terrorism would be the cost to

authorities of guarding against and fighting terrorism, the costs of

ransoming kidnap victims, rehabilitating people and buildings affected

by bombings, etc. Rand acknowledges elsewhere in the draft that body

counts are not the measure, and that terrorism will continue to require

a major diversion of resources into internal security functions, (e.g.,

p. 16).
III - 118

Section IV; The most serious motivation for nuclear sabotage by

a non–state adversary may perhaps be found among fifth-columnists

or self-styled guerrillas, sympathetic to the aims of a hostile

foreign government but still acting on their own initiative.

Section IV (page 17): It is distinctly bold to state that there is

—

no discernible trend toward nuclear action. If we assume that the

same mind-sets that yield nuclear hoaxes, small-scale bombings at

European reactor sites, and thefts of isotopes could also predispose

to major actions, then the great increase of such events in the 1970’s

is cause for substantial concern. Rand documents the increase in U.S.

incidents in Figure VI-1 (p.38), then dismisses it as probably due to

better reporting.

Section IV (p.23): Another significant statement by Rand is that at

present, we can do no more than speculate about the types of demands

non-state adversaries can, cannot, are most likely to make. Rand’s

appropriate statement here does not prevent unconservative speculation

elsewhere in the draft that several types of threats are unlikely.

This is a topic on which policy analysis is considerably less expensive than policy failure. Thus it would seem best to err on the side

of inclusiveness -- to entertain all categories of possible threat

until there is greater than speculative reason to exclude some of

them from consideration.

Section IV (p. 23): The closing statement contradicts —

which reviewer applauded in the immediately preceding

the principle

comment. Now

Rand’s viewpoint seems to be that if terrorists have in the past used

non-nuclear means to obtain a given type of goal, other terrorist will

not use nuclear means to obtain a similar-level goal in the future. If
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terrorists were that successful at getting what

means, they would have long ago traded in their

obviously they are still motivated to find more

coercion and media coverage.

they wanted by non-nuclear

submachineguns for thrones.

effective means of

Section IV (p.24); Whether nuclear extortionists could semi-permanently

alter national policy depends on their ability to elude capture, which

in turn depends on their transportation, shielding from detection> etc.

See reviewer’s main text under point D. While they could not “persuade”

a government to liquidate itself, they could directly liquidate its

key leadership or effectively exile it from its capital city. In

so doing, they would probably be precipitating chaos and/or military

rule, but they might be willing to accept either condition on an

interim basis, until they had gathered enough strength to pursue

takeover.

Section IV (P. 24): Here Rand seems to be addressing an absent

audience of potential terrorists of the “lunatic fringe”, telling them

that their goals cannot be met by demands Rand considers irrational.

A large percentage of violent and extortive behavior seems irrational

to one or another observer, but not to those who engage in it. Nor

do we automatically call the bluff of every hostage-taker who looks

like a mental case.

Section IV (p. 25): Rand states that because of the publicity

factor, any terrorist believed to have a nuclear device is automatically

a successful terrorist. The reviewer tends to concur, and points

out how this short-circuits most counter-arguments as to whether

the terrorists might not have the motivation to actually use the

device.
III - 120

Section V (p. 33): Reviewer is listed as the only observer espousing

the view that crackdowns on organized crime following nuclear theft

operations might be deterred with a nuclear threat. Yet on page 30,

Willrich and Taylor (15) are quoted as saying, “A criminal organization might use the threat of nuclear violence against an urban

population to deter police action directed against its nuclear theft

operations.” Willrich and Taylor argue, as does Rand, that a criminal

gang would probably not survive a showdown with the government. However gangs as well as nations have been known to engage in unsuccessful

brinkmanship leading to their downfall. Moreover, national governments

might initially not feel impelled to challenge in an all--out way

small-scale nuclear thefts conducted by criminals, if it appeared

that the stolen fissile material was being sent abroad.

Section V (p. 33); Here Rand seems to be addressing the Mafia, as on

page 24 it addresses the lunatic fringe. It is expounded unequivocally

that any involvement in nuclear action will inevitably result in a

war that organized crime will not survive. The Mafia, knowing the

ease of hiding and transporting stolen goods, and the authorities’

reluctance to conduct a “war”, might not agree.

Section VI (p. 37): Rand cites the Vermont Yankee incident as involvint the only casualty recorded. If foreign events are included, the

takeover of the nuclear station under construction at Atucha, Argentina

(March 25, 1973) warrants mention. In that event the guerillas wounded

two policemen as they excaped (14).

Section VI (p.39): Reviewer concurs that the India-Nepal uranium

smuggling scheme reveals the potentiality for an international blackmarket for nuclear material. Thus, stolen nuclear material could be
III - 121

smuggled into this country, possibly by organized criminals (see

section V). It is debatable whether the first large theft of weapons

material will adequately admonish other nations to buckle down, since

its occurrence may well be kept tightly secret. A large ransom

could be paid without the taxpayers knowing it.

Section IX (page 67); Rand states that is is a breathtaking inferential leap from non-nuclear to potential nuclear actions, implying

that analysis of sophisticated non-nuclear crimes may not be fruitful.

Reviewer disagrees. What is indeed breathtaking is the amount of

resources, planning, and personnel involved in some nonnuclear crimes.

Section VII (page 54): Reviewer agrees it is not difficult for terrorists

to assure that the general public is alerted to their nuclear threat.

They could take over a broadcasting station, drop leaflets from a high

building, mail warnings to randomly selected addresses, etc.

Official attempts to discredit the threat could be overcome to some

extent by release of radionuclides at important locations, with

warnings issued to evacuate and decontaminate.

Section VII (p. 55): The assumption in this table that hoaxes

have low coercive power manifestly depends on the authorities’

ability to quickly, accurately, and credibly identify them as

hoaxes. Bank robberies and at least two aircraft hijackings have

been successfully carried out with simulated explosives, the most

recent example of the latter being the Croatian nationalists inci-

.

dent (21). .

Section VII (p.59): Here it is stated that major problems

longed large-scale evacuation have not been worked out

of proWhile this
III - 122

discussion

explosive,

consequent

reactor.

refers specifically to urban areas threatened by a nuclear

the same lengthy set of problems would be encountered

to the accidental or induced meltdown of a nuclear power

Section VIII: The dilemma of a “no ransom” posture arises in connection

with nuclear-blackmail The Wall Street Journal notes that this country

has consistently adopted a hard line with terrorists, refusing to

bargain with them or to meet demands. “There would be no end in sight

if we started paying ransom every time a United States official was

kidnapped -- it would be an open invitation to the U.S. Treasury,” says

L. Douglas Heck of the State Department’s Office for Combating Terrorism (22).

For example, in the French “sewer gang” robbery of the equivalent of

$8-$10 million from a Riviera bank vault, the operation involved 18

months of planning and the recruitment of about 20 specialists (16). The

mastermind’s share of the loot reportedly went to “an international group

of extreme right-wing militants identified as ‘LaCatena’.” A study for

the NRC by International Research and Technology Corporation describes

the particulars of ten very impressively designed criminal incursions (17).

Section VII (p. 48): The assumption that necrologic or bacteriologic

agents may be more available to the general public than nuclear material

may be due for revision. In the summer of 1976, the NRC gave approval

for the wide-scale use of plutonium-238 cardiac pacemakers, anticipating

a U.S. market of 10,000 units (18, 19).

Section VII (p. 51): Rand should be encouraged to explore in greater

depth the implications of threats against capital cities in nuclear

hoaxers’ demands. Reviewer suspects that the real nuclear terrorists
III - 123

of tomorrow will present demands not unlike the nuclear hoaxers’

threats of today.

Section VII: Dispersal of radioactive particulate is noted to be a

less-popular threat option among nuclear hoaxers, who can claim possession of a hydrogen bomb just as cheaply. However, the

socioeconomic disorder which could be inflicted by radiologic weapons

is cause for very grave concern. The costs of evacuation, decontamination, and reoccupancy, especially if the interiors of buildings are

compromised, “could run to many millions of dollars per gram of plutonium used” (20). Consider also that an inadequately designed plutonium implosion bomb, whose high-explosive component detonates but produces

no nuclear yield, is still a plutonium dispersal device.

However, Willrich and Taylor warn, “If a government has made payoffs as

a result of credible hoaxes, but not recovered any devices, it may

establish a policy of no more payoffs. This could create a situation

of extreme danger. The next credible bomb threat might be the real

thing, and a nuclear catastrophe would be the probable result” (23).

Section IX: Rand’s statement that no methodology has been developed

to predict the occurrence of an event that has not occurred is not

strictly true. Probability theory and pooled-opinion forecasting such

as the Delphi method can be brought to bear on the likelihood of

nuclear terrorism of various kinds. Reviewer is not aware that this

has been done by anyone not potentially biased by an occupational or

ideological commitment to fission power.

Section X (p. 76): Reviewer applauds the excellent reasoning here

ragarding the unrealism of relying on rapid outside law enforcement

agencies for response from offsite in the event of an attack on a

nuclear facility.
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Section XI: The potential for curtailment of civil liberties and

democratic traditions inherent in nuclear-coercion countermeasures is

discussed in two detailed reviews on these topics. These are Russell

W. Ayres, “Policing Plutonium: The Civil Liberties Fallout, “Harvard

Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Law Review, Vol. 10, 1975, pp. 369-443;

and Michael Flood & Robin Grove-White, Nuclear Prospects: A Comment on

the Individual, the State and Nuclear Power, 64 pp.; Friends of the Earth

(England) in association with the Council for the Protection of Rural

England and the National Council for Civil Liberties, 1976. (See also Appendix

III-C of this report). Rand’s discussion here is by comparison but touching

the tip of a very large iceberg. Recall reviewer’s expectation earlier

in this review of attempts to strikingly diminish personal and civil

liberties worldwide.

Rand discusses post-employment surveillance of former nuclear

employees (p.85). Consider also that the U.S. has thousands of

nuclear warheads (24), yet continues to add to the stockpile. Perhaps

this is not unrelated to the disquieting question, “Can you safely

lay off persons who know how to make bombs?”
III - 125

References

1. Rand Corporation non-state adversary draft of January 6, 1977

2. B. M. Jenkins, “Will Terrorists Go Nuclear?” California Seminar

on Arms Control and Foreign Policy Discussion Paper No. 64, October, 1975,

p. 13.

3. M. Flood, “Nuclear Sabotage”. Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists,

October, 1976, p. 30.

4. U.S. Atomic Energy Commission draft Generic Environmental Statement

on Mixed Oxide Fuel, WASH-1327, August 1974, Vol. 4, p. V-48.

5. L. Ponte, “Tomorrow the Terrorists May Hijack New York City,”

GallerY, February 1973, p. 53.

6. “Austrian Police Nab Poison-Gas Producers,” Ottawa Citizen,

March 2, 1976.

7. W. Mathewson, “The Terrorists: Bitterness Surrounding Dutch Train

Hijacking Lingers a Year Later, Wall Street Journal, January 6, 1977, p.1

8. T. Paegel, “Gunman Holds Hostage Atop Skyscraper,” LOS Angeles Times,

December 7, 1976, p.1.

9. “Text of Demands, Letter,” LOS Angeles Times, September 11, 1976, p.1.

10. D. Krieger, “The Dangers of Deterrence,” The Progressive, October 1974,

pp. 34-36.

11. L. R. Beres, “Nuclear Quills,” Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists (letter),

December 1976, pp. 4-5.

12. D. D. Comey, “The Incident at Browns Ferry,” Not Man Apart, mid–September,

1975, Insert.

13. A. Bandura, Social Learning Theory, Prentice-Hall, 1977.

14. S. Burnham (Ed.), The Threat to Licensed Nuclear Facilities, MITRE

Corporation, McLean, Virginia, September 1975, p. 47.

15. M. Willrich & T. B. Taylor, Nuclear Theft: Risks and Safeguards,

Ballinger, 1974, p. 112.

16. “Chief of ‘Sewer Gang’ Confesses,” Los Angeles Times, October 30, 1976, p.1.

17. Estimates of Security Personnel Required to Protect Nuclear Fuel Cycle

Components Against Theft of Special Nuclear Materials and Sabotage, International

Research and Technology Corporation, Arlington, Virginia, August 21, 1975.

Appendix B.
III - 126

18. ‘

l

PU Pacemakers Okay,” Nuclear News, September 1976, p. 69.

19. U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Final Generic Environmental

Statement on the Routine Use of Plutonium-Powered Cardiac Pacemakers,

NUREG-0060, July 1976, p. 3-1.

20. Willrich & Taylor, op. cit., p. 108.

21. “Hijackers Returned to N.Y. to Face Charges,” Los Angeles Times,

September 13, 197, p.1.

. —

22. J.A. Tannenbaum, “The Terrorists: For World’s Alienated, Violence

Often Reaps Political Recognition,”

23. Willrich and Taylor, op. cit.,

24. - “30,000 U.S. Nuclear Weapons,”

February 1975, p. 1.

Wall Street Journal, January 4, 1977, p.1.

p. 110.

The Defense Monitor, Vol. 4, No. 2,
III - 127

APPENDIX III-C

CIVIL LIBERTIES IMPLICATIONS

OF U.S. DOMESTIC SAFEGUARDS

Alan F. Westin
III -128

APPENDIX III - C CIVIL LIBERTIES IMPLICATIONS OF U.S. DOMESTIC SAFEGUARDS

Introduction: The Civil Liberties Context of Nuclear Power

Civil liberties issues have recently moved to a prominant position in the

public consideration of nuclear power development. This growth of concern over

the impact of nuclear power on civil liberties would probably have occured even

without consideration of plutonium reprocessing. As incidents of non-nuclear

terrorism have mounted world-wide, and as assaults have been made on nuclear

facilities in several countries by various radical groups, there has been an

increased program to safeguard such facilities from actions such as sabotage

and deliberate release of radioactive materials. Such increased security

measures raise some issues of civil liberties impact. But it has been plutonium

recycle or other nuclear technologies (such as high temperature gas-cooled

reactors) using material that could, if diverted, be made into nuclear

explosives-- that has set off the current debates.

Plutonium reprocessing offers the greatest opportunity for potential

non-state adversaries-- terrorist groups, profit-oriented criminal organizations,

deranged persons, or disaffected employees of nuclear facilities--to obtain

special nuclear material. Therefore, this paper devotes its major attention

to the civil liberties issues likely to be raised by safeguards measures

necessary to prevent the theft of plutonium and to effect its recovery if it

were

this

stolen.

To analyze the potential impact of plutonium recycle on civil liberties,

presentation will be divided into five parts:

A. A General Perspective on Civil Liberties Issues.

B. Projections of the Size of the Plutonium Recycle Industry.

c. An Analysis of Likely Safeguard Measures and Their Civil Liberties
III - 129

Consequences.

D. A Presentation of Three Positions Widely Held in U.S. Society as

to the Civil Liberties Risks of Plutonium Recycle.

E. Observations and Comments on the Three Positions.

A. A General Perspective on Civil Liberties Issues

U.S. society has always had a fundamental commitment to civil liberties.

It was part of the heritage from England, a rallying cry of the American

Revolution, and the foundation for enacting the Bill of Rights and other constitutional guarantees. It has been a vital part of continuing efforts to

expand and perfect democratic institutions under changing social and economic

conditions. U.S. society today takes it as an article of faith that the

enjoyment of liberty is vital to individual happiness and self-realization,

to the conduct of socially valuable activities of private groups and associations,

to the keeping of governmental power within proper bounds, and to the ethical

and moral basis for public order, both at home and as the U.S. acts abroad.

In both legal and social perspectives, American society recognizes that civil

liberties must be exercised within the framework of an ordered society. Some

civil liberties will therefore receive very broad, near-absolute status, such

as the right of religious belief and exercise. Other civil liberties involving

greater impact on the rights of others, on public health and safety, or on

national security, have to be defined and applied in the context of balancing

conflicting social interests or even conflicting civil liberties claims. But

when such balancing of interests is done, whether by legislatures, executive

agencies, or courts, Americans like to think that the claims of liberty carry

special weight , so that serious limitations upon them must be shown to be

clearly necessary, and to have been kept to the minimum required in a given

circumstance.
III - 130

It is in this broad context that debates have begun over the effects

on civil liberties of measures to safeguard a future plutonium industry from

assault or diversion.

Since the term civil liberties can be viewed in many different ways,

it is helpful to this inquiry to note that protection of individual and group

rights in American law and social values can be organized under three headings:

liberty, equality, and fair procedure.

In a capsule, liberty refers to rights of expression and privacy. More

concretely; this involves the guarantees of free speech, press, assembly,

association, religious and non-religious exercise, and privacy that are

embodied in the First Amendment to the Federal constitution and its state

counterparts. Rights of liberty involve primarily volitional acts of individuals,

things they have chosen to say, do, or be as part of their exercise of freedom.

Equality rights, usually expressed as rights to equal protection of the

laws, deal with characteristics of people that are largely involuntary, such

as race, nationality, sex, religious inheritance, and age. Growing out

of the post-Civil War Amendments to the Federal constitution, their recent

interpretation by the Supreme Court, and a growing armory ’of protective state

and Federal laws and regulations, the equality principle forbids governmental

and private discriminations that make invidious distinctions about individuals

on the basis of characteristics that society has decided are not appropriate

for those treatments. What is or is not an appropriate distinction is a

judgment that varies over time, reflecting social values.

The guarantees of fair procedure, often called procedural due process,

encompass two major dimensions of importance here. The first is that investigations, searches and seizures, arrests, interrogations and other police

functions must be conducted in accordance with constitutional limitations,
III - 131

as judicially interpreted. Principally, this involves the procedural-rights

guarantees of the Fourth through Eighth Amendments: the security of persons,

houses, papers, and effects against unreasonable search and seizure; the

privelege against self-incrimination; the right to counsel; and similar

protections of individuals against arbitrary or coercive police practices.

The second aspect involves formal proceedings where sanctions are sought

to be imposed on an individual or might lead to imposing penalties (such as

criminal trials, government personnel security hearings, and legislative

hearings). Here, the civil liberties requirement is that basic fairness be

provided in the proceedings, a concept that has come to mean several key

elements:

1.

2.

3.

advance communication to the individual of behavioral

rules that must be followed to avoid legal penalties.

if charges are made against the person, a fair hearing

for adjudication of those charges (with rights to have

a specification of the charges, to be represented by counsel,

to hear witnesses and conduct cross-examination, etc.)

an appeal to a higher authority, for review of the initial

The

the

hearing.

amount of rigorous due process that individuals can demand varies with

context, but in virtually every setting of American organizational life,

private as well as governmental) public expectations are that procedural

fairness will be afforded.

Applied to the nuclear safeguards problem, it is the areas of liberty

and fair procedure that would be most directly involved.

As briefly noted already, guarantees of civil liberties while they

properly occupy a fundamental place in the U.S. ideological and legal system,
111 - 132

are always matters of definition in context and must be weighed against

competing values. The words used by the Framers of the eighteenth century

Bill of Rights always need interpretation to apply them to new economic,

social, and technological settings. Rights not mentioned in the constitution,

such as freedom of association and privacy, have been read into the constitutional-rights code as these have come to be seen as necessary adjuncts

to the protection of First Amendment rights. Sometimes, one civil liberties

claim collides with another, as with free speech and privacy, or free press

and fair trial, and courts must decide which right is to prevail in a given

situation. Finally, judges must often weigh assertions of civil liberties

against the protection of other fundamental social values in organized

society-- such as public health, national security, public safety, to decide

which value will be considered paramount in a given situation.

Thus, in each era there has been a struggle by governmental authorities,

interest groups, dissenters, and other actors in the political and legal

processes to define what exercises of liberty are vital to a democratic society

at that time. There is also a struggle over whose characterization of the

alleged threats to order, safety, health, or morals should prevail in defining

limits on rights. Decisions about many civil liberties matters therefore

inescapably involve judgments about social values, institutional philosophies,

and the meaning of contemporary national and international events.

What follows from the” above points is that issues of civil liberties

risks, options, and trade-offs should be seen as presenting elected officials

and the American public with policy choices that must initially be worked out

in the regulatory and legislative processes. These choices should be informed

by an awareness of constitutional principles and their judicial interpretation

but, of necessity, decisions here will be less circumscribed by clear law or
111 - 133

predictable judicial responses than in most other governmental programs

affecting civil liberties. For reasons that will be detailed later in this

report, courts cannot be expected to play an immediate role in the judgment

about the compatibility of adequate plutonium safeguards and preservation

of a free society. This makes the quality of public debates and legislative/

regulatory decisions of exceptional importance.

Furthermore, even though courts may rule, sometimes reluctantly, that

certain governmental or private actions do not violate the constitution, this

does not mean that such measures are also wise policies for a democratic society.

Courts only say what is the minimum that the constitution requires. This

leaves entirely open for public debate and legislative judgment what further

protections represent the best social policy to adopt.
III - 134

B. Projections of the Size of the Plutonium Recycle Industry

When the consideration of civil liberties and a plutonium industry

on projections that

2000, and especially

entered what might be called its first phase, in 1974-76, both critics and

supporters of plutonium recycle based their arguments

envisaged a very large plutonium industry by the year

by 2020.

In 1976, the chairman of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) said

that 205 nuclear reactors burning recycled plutonium could be completed in

the United States by 1985, if licensing went forward at that time. l-/ By the

year 2000, there were expected to be 2,000 nuclear reactors worldwide, producing

and burning 2 million pounds of plutonium a year. ~/ The plutonium recycle

industry was expected in these projections to reach maturity about the year

2020. Projections for that date assumed there would be some 60 fabricating

plants and 2,000 reactors in the United States, with 100,000 shipments per

year of special nuclear materials between fabricating plants, reprocessing

plants, and storage sites. ~/ Workers and guards in the nuclear plants and

those needed to transport and store plutonium were projected to constitute

a plutonium work force of over 1 million persons in 2020.

These projections have been scaled downward sharply in the past year,

reflecting a variety of factors. The following Table, drawn from the Final

Generic Environmental Statement on the Use of Mixed Oxide Fuel (GESMO), indicates

the current projections of components for a Light Water Reactor industry using

uranium and plutonium recycle.

According to the GESMO assumptions, by the year 2000 there would be

507 light water reactors and 30 plants for fuel conversion, enrichment,

fabrication, and reprocessing. The 1976 GESMO estimated that these facilities

in the year 2000 would employ 27,000 people in the fuel cycle and 55,000
III - 135

Table 1

THE PROJECTED LWR INDUSTRY, 1980-2000* WITH U AND Pu RECYCLE

Number of Facilities

LWR Industry Components 1980 1990 2000

LWR’S*

Mines**

Mills

UF6 Conversion Plants

Uranium Enrichment Plants

U02 Fuel Fabrication Plants

Reprocessing Plants

MOX Plants

Federal Repositories for Storage

Plutonium Shipments in metric tons**

Commercial Burial Grounds

71 269

416 1,856

21 56

2 4

3 3

6 6

1 3

1 3

0 2

5 tons 273 tons

6 6

507

4,125

77

5

5

7

5

8

2

1,170 tons

11

* From Table S-10 of Final GESMO NUREG-0002, Vol. 1 Summary.

** From Page XI-35 of Final GESMO NUREG-0002.
III - 136

people in the nuclear electrical production industry. Of these people, a

maximum of 20,000 would be in positions that would require employee screening

as currently used for security clearances, but perhaps only 13,000 would

require such screening if the definition of sensitive positions was made on

a restrictive basis.

As for the size of the employment force needed to transport special

nuclear material between fabricating plant and reprocessing plant, and

the safeguards problems such transportation would raise, this has become a

matter of uncertainty rather than firm projection. If the decision were made

to co-locate fabricating plants and reprocessing plants, this would eliminate

the need for shipment off-site of pure plutonium. Coprecipitation of plutonium

oxide and uranium oxide at the reprocessing plant would also eliminate transportation of pure plutonium.

Similar kinds of technological possibilities different than those currently

being discussed are under consideration for dealing with storage of radioactive waste, including some that might reduce greatly the problem of safeguarding storage sites.

The basic point to draw from the 1976-77 revisions of earlier projections

for a plutonium industry is that the size and distribution of such an industry

is now seen as being much smaller than when the civil liberties impacts were

first examined, and with several major technological aspects as yet uncertain

or open to choice, rather than being technologically determined. How much this

affects the essential civil liberties problems, and the main competing positions on these issues, will be discussed later.
III - 137

c. An Analysis of Likely Safeguards Measures and Their Civil Liberties Consequences

1. Current Safeguards Measures for Nuclear Powerplants

There are Federal laws that forbid the unauthorized possession of special

4/ providing security against nuclear material, or efforts to obtain it illegally.—

diversion, theft, or sabotage of special nuclear materials during production,

transportation and storage has been part of military nuclear operations for three

5/ decades, and civilian reactor programs since 1957.— Although the standards and

procedures of safeguards programs have undergone significant changes in these

decades, and particular threats have also shifted, the basic elements of nuclear

safeguards programs have remained fairly constant. These involve techniques to

6/ safeguard sites from internal or external threats such as the following:—

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

Personnel security: (Applies chiefly to the military programs):

Investigation of persons applying for jobs handling nuclear

material to assure their reliability and loyalty and monitoring

their continued stability after employment.

Intrusion control: Protecting physical sites and transportation

facilities from assault, theft or sabotage using a combination

of guards, detection and alarm systems, and outside response forces.

Physical access controls: Limiting worker and visitor entry to persons

with clearances and need-to-know-purposes, and setting special access

controls for certain extra-sensitive locations within nuclear

facilities.

Physical inspections and surveillance: Searching of persons and

objects entering the facility to prevent the introduction of improper

materials or removal of protected materials, and on-the-job physical

surveillance techniques.

Materials accountability: Employing devices to measure, on a

regular basis, the amount of nuclear materials present in operations

or shipment, and to detect losses or unexplained shortages.
III - 138

6. Preventive intelligence: Collecting intelligence about terrorist

organizations, radical protest groups, criminal elements, and other

potential assailants, to gain knowledge with which to forestall or

be prepared for diversion attempts.

Current safeguards techniques also include security for transportation of

special nuclear-material in special vehicles and under guard forces. Finally,

there are diversion response plans for tracing, locating, and recovering nuclear

materials that may be stolen surreptitiously or seized by force, or for responding

to blackmail demands by successful diverters.

.

Protection of private power reactors proceeded in the 1950’s and 60’s

from the awareness that most plants were using low-enriched nuclear materials that

could not be used to make nuclear explosives. For those plants producing and

storing plutonium, highly enriched uranium, and uranium 233, the growing awareness

in the 1970’s of threats from domestic or foreign terrorist groups, and several

incidents or threats to nuclear plants, led to a major expansion

of safeguards in 1974-76. However, the effectiveness of these measures has been

7/ criticized, and official safeguard requirements have recently been increased.—

Much the same picture is involved in safeguarding worldwide nuclear power

activities today. When the United States exports nuclear materials that could be

diverted to produce explosives, it imposes physical security requirements on the

recipient countries and has indicated that it uses team-inspections to assure that

8/ these are adequate.— In addition, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)

has a safeguards program based on deterence of diversion and early detection of

9/ diversion attempts, with this program accepted by IAEA member States.– The

adequacy of both the U.S. and IAEA programs has also been criticized at recent

Congressional hearings, and concerns have been expressed whether

could be maintained in the expanded worldwide plutonium industry

effective safeguards

projected for

10/ the future.—
III - 139

2. Safeguards Measures for a Plutonium Industry

Both experience with the existing nuclear power industry and other highsecurity industries and Government activities indicate that the measures that would

be designed to safeguard plutonium would not be unique. We use many of them today

in safeguarding sensitive security areas (e.g., nuclear weapons sites, gold

depositories, intelligence facilities): in safeguarding the transportation of

dangerous or valuable objects (e.g., bank currency shipments, nerve gas, Secret

Service protection of high Federal officials); and in locating dangerous

objects or persons by search techniques (e.g., airport scanning for weapons,

public health inspections or quarantines when epidemics threaten, customs

searches for drugs or contraband).

Some commentators conclude, therefore, that plutonium safeguards differ

primarily in degree rather than kind from a variety of high-security situations that

we now have, and with which we have dealt without major harm to civil liberties.

Others point to the extremely high level of harm that would be done to society if a

nuclear diversion and explosion were successful (e.g., in numbers of deaths and

long-term radiation effects) and to the immense public fears that even a blackmail

threat would generate; they conclude that these risks are so great that a plutonium

safeguards program would be different in kind, not merely degree; it would have to

be far more intense, permanent, and subject more people inside plants and outside the

industry to preventive and responsive intelligence than anything we have experienced

previously.

Trying to particularize and, if possible, narrow this disagreement requires

that we go more deeply into what safeguards would be necessary in a plutonium

industry, especially in terms of the possible availability of measures--technological

or administrative--that might lessen the scope of intrusiveness into citizen’s rights.

Several points of agreement in the safeguards debate are important to

note as a baseline for discussion:

a. There is general agreement that if plutonium recycle is initiated,

there would be a genuine need for high-security measures. In other words, this
111 - 140

would not be an instance in which responsible critics would allege that there was no

need for such measures, such as when critics denied the presence of any real

security risk to justify passage of the Alien and Sedition Laws in the 1790’s or the

Palmer round-ups of aliens in the 1920’s, or the Joseph McCarthy investigations of

the 1950’s.

b. There is general agreement also that there is no way to remove all

possibilities of diversion by more humane, just, or effective social policies, and

thereby obviate the need for high-security measures. In the debates over broad

police powers of arrest, search, and seizure, for example, it is argued by some that

we should work on the underlying problems that cause high crime--such as unemployment,

racial discrimination, punishment of victimless crimes-- rather than allow police to

use intrusive or harsh techniques. In the case of potential threats against plutonium

plants, there is general agreement that we have no real prospects in the foreseeable

future of adopting national or international policies that would remove the causes

of all political terrorism or of removing the causes of individual derangement

or eliminating criminal organizations.

c. There is also general agreement that there is no complete technological

solution available or foreseen that would make it unnecessary to have some

safeguards measures that would affect civil liberties. Unlike the situation with

machine scanners used in airport searches, which remove the necessity for

hands-on searches of people and their property, safeguarding the physical sites

and transportation routes in a

plutonium if it were diverted,

for violating civil liberties.

point at which informed debate

plutonium industry, and especially recovering

would necessitate some measures that have potential

Just how many, and of what kind, represent the

begins.

One other important observation needs to be made. Our social values,

political culture, and legal rules all combine to give us some common understanding

about what is meant by “civil liberties,” and we are often able to turn to the
III - 141

courts to make authoritative rulings on what the Constitution requires. However,

important as existing judicial decisions would be if and when plutonium safeguards

measures were tested in the courts, or as policy guides to legislators and

administrators setting up protections of civil liberties in a safeguards system,

it would be a mistake to assume that the courts themselves would be quickly or

easily available to correct any deficiencies in a program or protect individual

rights. There are several reasons for this.

1. It is the nature of the American judicial process to require that claims

of constitutional rights be determined in specific contexts, where the laws and

regulations that have been established can be studied in detail, their application

to real persons can be examined, and the surrounding ethos of an on-going program

can be taken into account. Thus the U.S. Supreme Court does not issue advisory

opinions on proposed or recently enacted laws; rather it requires real cases and

controversies involving persons with proper standing to sue and genuine legal

interests to assert. How the courts would assess the constitutionality of plutonium

safeguards measures would thus depend heavily on how the programs were established,

who ran them, what specific protections of individual rights were incorporated

in them, how the programs were actually being administered, the circumstances

under which a legal challenge to the program arose, and similar factors.

2. There are few decisions by the U.S. Supreme Court dealing directly with

the constitutional aspects of personnel security, physical security, and preventive

intelligence in the kind of clearly sensitive, high-security settings that plutonium

safeguard programs present. There are a handful of decisions that approach the

boundaries of this problem, such as rulings on standards and procedures in defense

plant personnel clearance programs or in waterfront-security programs; presidential

authority for warrantless wiretapping in domestic-security investigations; decisions

11/ dealing with physical searches in airports.— Beyond these lie dozens of cases

discussing principles of liberty and fair procedure in related but less high-sensitive

settings; these cases provide judicial statements that can be analyzed for their
III - 142

12/ possible application as guides in the plutonium-safeguards context.—

But the

primary fact is that existing judicial precedents offer only suggestive concepts

to apply to the legal evaluation of plutonium safeguards measures,

3. Finally, American courts have a long history of deferring to the elected

branches of government, particularly the executive branchs when genuine nationalsecurity or public-safety interests are seen to be involved. This would be

especially true as far as government’s response to a diversion. If it were learned

that plutonium had been stolen and was somewhere in the vicinity of a nuclear plant,

or if a credible nuclear blackmail threat were made by a political or criminal

organization, the dangers of such a situation would closely resemble a state of national

emergency in which, traditionally, courts give the widest immediate deference to

what executive officials feel it necessary to do to protect the public. Later,

usually after a war or national emergency has ended, courts may try to adjudicate

the rights and wrongs of a government policy, and perhaps award compensation to

injured persons. But the ancient maxim--during wars, the laws are silent--

reflects realistically what courts actually do when genuine national or local

crises arise.

This does not mean that constitutional guarantees would not apply to a

plutonium industry or that court rulings provide no help in considering civil

liberties risks and options in the nuclear safeguards area. What it does suggest

is that existing decisional law offers only broad (and sometimes cryptic) concepts

from which to work in considering the high-security milleu of nuclear power activities.

With these initial observations made, let us turn to a closer examination of

potential safeguards measures and their civil liberties consequences.*

The safeguarding of any highly dangerous or valuable material can be posed in

terms of four basic procedures. These are:

*The following few pages depend heavily on J.N. O’Brien, “Nuclear Safeguards and

Civil Liberties: A Regulatory Scheme,” Working Title--Dissertation in progress,

Science Department, Syracuse University.

Social
III - 143

0 Employee Screening--These measures are designed to prevent employment in

the industry of individuals who might be likely to use their position to

steal or harm the materials to be protected.

o Access Controls--These are methods of physically preventing protected

material from unauthorized removal.

o Threat Analysis--This covers activities aimed at obtaining advance

knowledge of attempts to steal or harm protected material.

o Recovery--In the event that a quantity of protected material is missing,

these are measures to locate and recover the material.

The specific measures that could reemployed in each of these areas are

quite varied.

Those measures which may be used in employee screening are:

o Compulsory disclosure questionnaires, which would force an applicant to

supply detailed information about her or himself.

o National agency checks, conducted to gather, and evaluate all the information

as to suitability that the Government maintains on applicants or employees.

o Full Field Investigations, in which the character and associations of an

applicant or employee are investigated by interviewing friends and associates

and asking detailed questions regarding the applicant’s background and

lifestyle.

o Polygraph testing, where an employee or applicant may be asked a series

of questions and the employee’s physical responses are evaluated, in an

effort to expose any contemplated theft or other threatening activity.

o Personality and psychological testing, which is used to identify employees

or applicants who may be considered unstable enough to be compromised by

outsiders or to undertake themselves a theft of protected material.

Measures which have been employed to maintain control over access to

various types of valuable or hazardous material are:
III - 144

0

0

0

0

0

0

0

Mechanical Detection, which entails a hands-off body search for various

types of contraband (e.g., the magnetometer used in airports for detection

of weapons).

Inspection of hand carried items into and out of areas containing protected

material, which is employed to assure that no weapons, explosives, or contraband enter or leave the area authorized as proper for the material.

Identification checks, to maximize assurance that only those persons who

have been screened are allowed access to the material.

On-the-job surveillance, audible or visual, directed at maintaining employee

security when employees are handling protected materials.

Pat-down body searches (frisks), used to assure that an individual leaving

or entering an area containing protected material is not carrying contraband.

Strip searches and body cavity searches, which are employed as a means of

absolute assurance that no small quantities of valuable material are being

transported out of the authorized areas.

Emergency responses to alarm warnings or material balance accounting

insufficiencies, which may include detention, arrest, search, and interrogation

of employees and visitors within the facility at the time of the emergency.

Those measures employed to give advance warning of a threat of theft or harm

to protected materials by groups in the society at large are:

o Overt intelligence techniques, which include name check, telephone record

checks, credit checks, and other techniques used in investigating ordinary

crime, applied to individuals or groups suspected by investigators of

being potential assailants of plutonium facilities.

o Covert intelligence techniques, which may include electronic surveillance,

unauthorized or surreptitious entries, informants and agents in various

organizations, and mail openings.
III - 145

0 Creation of a special unit in an existing law enforcement agency or a

separate special intelligence force.

In the event that plutonium is diverted, a recovery operation could conceivably

include:

o

0

0

0

0

0

Perimeter searches aimed at cutting off routes by which protected material

in a known area might be transported away. This search may be accomplished

through mechanical detection, lessening the scope and degree of intrusion

of the search.

Area searches conducted on large areas, possibly of residential character.

These searches may be conducted, partially at least, by mechanical detectors

sc as to limit, to some degree, the scope and intrusion of the search.

Evacuation of areas in which a credible threat has been made to detonate a

clandestine explosive device.

Restriction of population movement in the event of a crisis triggering a

massive civilian retreat away from a threatened area.

Press censorship may be employed to minimize the effects terrorist activity

seeks: public attention and alarm. Censorship may be contemplated on a

voluntary basis or by law.

Harsh and unusual investigative techniques which may include measures

ranging from a general round-up of those individuals suspected of being

privy to information regarding the whereabouts of the missing material, to .

interrogation by torture of individuals who are believed to possess substantial information of the materials’ whereabouts.

Some of those activities are mutually exclusive, in that the employment of one

may eliminate the need for the other. In those instances, the least onerous alternative may represent a measure with little civil liberties damage. This is

particularly true with respect to activities designed to detect or locate nuclear
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material. For example, if a portal monitor (doorway with a radiologically sensitive

alar@) is available which could with great certainty warn of unauthorized removal,

then the need for a physical hands-on search would be eliminated.

These devices are available in some cases. The technology for detection

of even small amounts of radioactive material has been developed and further

advancements are likely. Freedom from unreasonable search and seizure is meant

to prevent arbitrary and intrusive actions by Government officials. A method

of mechanical detection is a reliable method of locating persons or places which

should be searched, and a warning from a mechanical detection device represents

the functional equivalent of probable cause. The result is that employees

leaving a material-control access area in a plutonium reprocessing plant need not

be searched any further, if they can pass through a portal monitor which is

properly operating. Present nuclear safeguards

the detection devices as fail safe as possible,

a totally fail-safe portal monitor system could

the need for hands-on body searches altogether.

have been directed at making

and with high reliability. If

be developed, it would negate

The same type of situation exists in the event of a recovery operation.

As a result of the weapons program, hand-held radiologically sensitive devices

have been developed which, within a certain radius, can detect the presence of even

well-shielded radioactive material. As the sensitivity and reliability of these

devices increase, the intrusion

radioactive material decreases.

are available; current research

necessary to assure that an area does not contain

In that sense, some technological solutions

may yield better solutions.

It is useful to note that different safeguards techniques present different

levels of potential civil liberties harm. Some intrusions are not overly

onerous when compared to intrusions already accepted by American society. An

example already noted is the search conducted by mechanical hands-off devices.

In airports, the increasing potential of skyjacking led to the need to assure

that weapons were not being carried into the passenger compartment of commercial
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aircraft. The magnetometer, which can detect a metallic mass such as

a small handgun, is used to scan all passengers boarding the aircraft. The judiciary

has found this to be an acceptably minimal invasion of privacy, given the serious

threat of a successful skyjacking.

A safeguard activity of medium risk is the possibility of escalation of

domestic intelligence activities in the interest of nuclear safeguards. The

status of domestic security operations is currently unsettled. The recent

study completed by the Senate Select Committee, charged with investigating domestic

security, found numerous instances of sweeping and unjustified intelligence activity

and abuse of lawful intelligence objectives during the past two decades; an absence

of guiding standards to govern such activities and inadequate techniques for supervisory control. Some commentators have suggested that domestic intelligence

activity for nuclear security may escalate to the same unacceptable levels that

prevailed during the past twenty years. This represents the possibility of

collecting extensive information, via such techniques as electronic surveillance,

surreptitious entry, infiltrators and informants, as well as the creation of

extensive files and databanks on anti-nuclear and dissident groups, not just

declared terrorists. Whether such a phenomenon would be likely to take place

is not clearly predicable, but the danger of it happening is sufficient to

constitute a middle-level risk to civil liberties.

Finally, there are areas of concern which involve very high levels of risk.

These are mainly in those activities which would result from a successful diversion

of plutonium. The type of recovery operations which would follow such a diversion

represent serious intrusions on civil liberties, and the likelihood of judicial

intervention would be small. For example, if an area search were thought by

responsible officials to be necessary, it is doubtful that the courts would

interfere even though a sweeping area search represents an activity which is

unlawful under current search and seizure doctrines. Although mechanical devices
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are available which make it possible to scan a room in a dwelling and detect the

presence of plutonium, even if shielded, this only reduces the scope of the

search; house to house, room by room searches over wide areas would still be

required.

Rather than go on further in this section about the risks, tradeoffs, and

possibilities for civil liberties protection involved in specific safeguards

measures, we will develop these discussions in the context of three main positions

about plutonium and civil liberties that have developed during the debates of the

past few years, since these positions frame the issues with valuable clarity.
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D. A Presentation of Three Positions Widely Held in U.S. Society as to

the Civil Liberties Risks of Plutonium Recycle

The positions described below have been constructed from an analysis

of public statements made by civic groups and industry representatives, scientific and legal experts, executive-agency officials, members of Congress,

and similar commentators. The sources for their statements have been books

and articles, state and federal legislative hearings, conference papers and

reports, and special consultant studies, all of which are set out in the

Bibliography.

The approach was to identify what seemed to be the logical, alternative

viewpoints that have been voiced in the recent debates. Then a single, coherent

statement of each position’s assumptions, arguments, and conclusions was

developed. Despite the obvious usefulness of this exercise for policy-makers,

no such analytic presentation of these viewpoints has appeared previously

in the literature.

A. Position One: A Plutonium Economy Would Require Such Extensive

Safeguards and Curtailment of Civil Liberties That Its Creation

Would Jeopardize Our Free Society

The general theme of Position One is that the measures adequate to assure

the safeguarding of a large-scale plutonium industry would, inevitably,

require such severe intrusions into the civil liberties of employees and

citizens that the maintenance of a plutonium economy is incompatible with the

U.S. system of constitutional rights. In a phrase, plutonium would bring on

a nuclear police state.

Position One begins with the following key assumptions:

1. The presence of millions of pounds of plutonium in reprocessing plants

and in transit--when ten to twenty pounds would be enough to make a nuclear
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device and with prevailing conditions of domestic and international

terrorism-- poses a situation so perilous to public safety that only a far-

-reaching, fail-safe type of safeguards program would be sufficient to protect

the public. Therefore, the only kind of safeguards program to envisage,

for purposes of considering civil liberties impact, is a far-reaching,

fail-safe kind” of response. Government could do no less.

2. Despite decisions of the courts during the past decade setting important constitutional limits on personnel security programs, police intelligence

operations, government search and seizure, and similar activities, the .

immense potential consequences of a nuclear diversion from inside or an

assault from outside would probably lead the courts to uphold sweeping

preventive measures for a plutonium industry. The courts would be even more

likely to decline to interfere if government were taking Draconian measures

in response to a blackmail threat or nuclear incident. This release of

intelligence agencies and security investigators from constitutional limits

would not only be harmful in itself but also be likely to stimulate surveillance

and dossier-building in non-nuclear fields.

3. Even if a safeguards program were originally setup with strong

civil liberties protections, written into legislation or set out by executive

order, public reaction to thoroughly predictable incidents of diversion and

blackmail, and certainly to any successful explosion, would probably lead

to the dropping of such limitations and the adoption of a maximum security

program. Thus no safeguards program can be expected to stay limited as a

plutonium economy continues for any length of time.

4. There are special dangers to civil liberties in the fact that a

plutonium safeguards program would be jointly administered by private industry

and the federal government. Giving industrial security forces and corporate
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managements a role in collecting data and managing security programs

about employees, suspected assailants, and community anti-nuclear groups

would be a major step backward in the development of good employer-employee,

employer-union, and employer-community relations in this country.

5* Given all of these likely consequences to basic liberties, and

the fact that alternative energy sources such as coal or solar power require

no such safeguards measures, government and private-industry proponents of

plutonium recycle must prove to Congress and the public that no other energy

sources or conservation programs can be developed to meet American energy

needs, even at higher but not unbearable economic costs.

6. It is increasingly clear that opposition to the proliferation

of nuclear weapons and nuclear power plants is becoming a broadly-based political movement in the United States, and many other Western nations. Its

supporters run a gamut from left to conservative political views as well as

including various environmental-protection positions. There are bound to

be protest meetings, demonstrations, and possibly some direct-action tactics

in the tradition of earlier ban-the-bomb, civil rights, and anti-war movements.

Given this growing political movement, any choice of energy policy that

creates highly visible targets for concern and protest in thousands of local

communities and along hundreds of transportation routes will require harsh

protective responses and produce serious confrontations. Not to see this

conflict arising in the last decades of this century--and to try to avoid

it if possible--would be to invite cleavages in our society.

Based on these key assumptions, advocates of Position One have warned

that most of the intrusive kinds of safeguards will inevitably be used, that

they cannot and will not be conducted in tolerable fashion, that we can

expect no timely intervention by the courts, and, therefore, that plutonium
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economy would mean unacceptable levels of surveillance and government

control over free expression for people who would work in plutonium plants,

reside in nearby communities, or exercise First Amendment rights of

protest against plutonium.

This leads advocates of Position One to two conclusions:

1. Whatever the other objections might be, on civil liberties grounds

alone, Congress should reject plutonium recycle as an energy policy and .

prevent the licensing of plutonium reprocessing plants for commercial use.

2. The United States should not export plutonium technology. Partly,

this is to diminish the threat of plutonium diversions that might be smuggled

by terrorists into this country and thus create the need for extensive

customs-search procedures. It is also urged in order to avoid having the

United States export a technology that would inhibit the evolution of greater

civil liberties in developing nations.

One special outlook of Position One is important to note. Its advocates

look at the future of safeguards in light of two critical events since

World War II: the painful struggle to reverse the cold-war anti-communist

hysteria of the 1940’s and early 1950’s and the set of executive misconducts

that are now called by the shorthand of “Watergate”.

They argue that any judgment of how carefully and responsibly a safeguards policy would be conducted over the next 25-50 years, and beyond, has

to be considered in light of the fact that during the past 30 years, we have

passed through two disturbing examples of abuse of government power. With

this record, it is asked, why should a society that realizes how fragile

freedoms are in this chilly authoritarian world want to create such dangerous

tools to guard over the next half century?
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Furthermore, advocates

involving the nuclear power

abuses of individual rights

of Position One note a series of recent events

industry which they see as demonstrating that

have already begun to arise. They cite the

creation of dossiers on anti-nuclear critics by the Texas State Police13

and infiltration of anti-nuclear groups by police in Baltimore; 14 the compulsory polygraphing of employees at the Kerr-McGee nuclear fuel plant

in Oklahoma, with questioning about employee memberships in a union, having

sexual relations with fellow employees, and similar questions; 15 the efforts

of Virginia Electric and Power Company to secure a bill from the state

legislature giving its security force police-arrest powers and access to

confidential police records, to meet the company’s nuclear-security needs;16

and allegations that local power companies and the national atomic industry

association maintain files on anti-nuclear individuals and groups. 17 These

are cited as events which foretell the kind of anti-libertarian atmospheres

that plutonium protection would foster.

As for the consequences of not proceeding with plutonium recycle, those

adopting Position One reject completely the argument that failure to proceed

with a plutonium economy could lead to a severe energy shortage, increased

unemployment, and widespread economic disruption; all of which would also

bring serious civil liberties consequences. If rationing were necessary

to enforce energy conservation, this is seen as not even approaching the

curtailment of freedoms involved in plutonium safeguards. As for the dangers

to civil liberties in a possible depression, Position One argues that this

would still only cause temporary hardships involving civil liberties problems,

and ones within the historical experience of this Nation several times before.

According to Position One, there would be no comparison with the long-term

system-transforming effects on civil liberties of a plutonium economy.
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David Comey expressed the essence of Position One in this way:18

“The nuclear industry’s favorite taunt to its critics is: ‘Well,

do you want to go back to candles?’ That is hardly the choice we

face, of course, but if it were, then I should rather read the Bill

of Rights by candlelight than not have it to read at all.”

B. Position Two: Safeguards Can be Adopted for a Plutonium Industry

That Would be Both Effective Against Threats and Acceptable in

Terms of Civil Liberties

Essentially, this position sees civil liberties problems as manageable

ones and the predictions of an inevitable “nuclear police state” as unjustified hyperbole, In their view, safeguards measures must be strong but

reasonable, with the necessity for what is adopted vigorously defended

before Congress, the public, and the courts.

Position Two proceeds from the following primary assumptions:

1. Both military and commercial operators of nuclear facilities have

been managing safeguards programs successfully for decades; adapting these

to the new scope and requirements of a plutonium economy would therefore

represent not a totally new venture but an expansion of present operations.

What is done effectively in 60 plants can be accomplished in 500, just as

what safeguards 200 shipments can also safeguard 20,000. The difference is

one of degree, not of kind.

2. It is simply unacceptable for a large and strong society such as

the United States to let potential threats from a few terrorists, criminals,

or disturbed people deprive the American economy and the public of a badly

needed energy supply in the next 50-100 years.

Nuclear power is economically competitive with other sources, capable

of safe use, and environmentally sound, therefore the need to safeguard
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nuclear power facilities is no more reason for rejecting nuclear power

than allowing potential threats to close down natural gas facilities, city

water reservoirs, subway systems, or other facilities that might be attacked

with great harm to the public.

3. Whether the size of a plutonium work force would be 50,000 or several

million, it is thoroughly justified to set initial personnel clearances

and continued-suitability standards for persons who choose to apply for

or work in that industry. This deprives no one of rights to pursue gainful

employment, even in the nuclear field, as there will be many other nuclear

research and operating facilities beside the commercial plutonium industry.

Since there is no draft of persons to work in the plutonium industry, nor

need there be any harmful consequences to persons denied a job in this industry (in a properly run program), it is no more justified to attack plutoniumindustry clearance procedures as an unacceptable ban on individual rights

than to do this for persons given suitability clearances today for working

in the CIA, in top-secret defense production jobs, or as military personnel

holding sensitive jobs at missile sites. The same justification of voluntary

choice with advance knowledge applies to measures such as identification

checks, screening parcels and people, administering polygraph examinations

periodically, monitoring work stations by TV-camera, and conducting stripsearches if a diversion of materials has been detected.

4. The intrusions into personal liberties of workers, community

residents, and diversion suspects that would take place should a diversion

be detected or a nuclear blackmail threat be made--awesome as those situations

are--are really no different than if nerve gas or highly-dangerous bacteriological agent were stolen from a civilian or military site, or a credible

threat to use such substances were delivered to authorities. In all such

cases, Preliminary investigation by professionals would establish the cred-
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ibility of the danger, negotiations would be weighed, and a response

pursued that would be appropriate to the situation. Harsh as it is to

contemplate, there is simply no way a democratic society can eliminate

the possibility of such episodes, even by abandoning plutonium recycle.

The answer is neither surrendering to terrorists in advance nor installing

a police state, but a concerted policy of prevention, deterrent, moral

suasion, and particular response to specific incidents.

5. As for intelligence-gathering about potential diverters, there

is a strong need for obtaining intelligence about terrorist organizations

and other groups whose conduct indicates that they might use violence

against nuclear facilities. However, this would not be done by any special

nuclear intelligence force but by the FBI, operating under clear controls by

the White House and with Congressional supervision. Legislation and regulations

would spell out carefully the limits under which

would operate, both as to the range of groups on

and the methods used to do so.

such intelligence programs

which data would be collected

Based on these assumptions, Position Two reaches the following conclusions:

1. The United States should proceed with a plutonium licensing

program, after full public participation in a rule-making proceeding, development of a set of safeguards requirements, and formulation of civil liberties

principles under which the” safeguards program would operate.

2. The United States should also proceed with sales of plutonium

recycle facilities abroad, under a safeguards program that would meet both

U.S. and IAEA standards.

These conclusions are supported by the Ad Hoc Subcommittee to Review

the National Breeder Reactor Program report of 1976, which stated: “The
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suggestion that the imposition of appropriate safeguards measures for

the nuclear fuel cycle threatens the civil liberties of the people of this

or any other country does not appear to be warranted.”lg

The mood of those championing this position was well expressed by

Gerald K. Rhode, Vice President of Niagra Mohawk Power Corporation, at an

Atomic Industrial Forum Conference on Nuclear Safeguards in April of 1976.20

Chairing a panel on “Safeguards Studies and Legislation,” Rhode commented

that, from “the user side of this business,” he felt it essential that

“every credible situation be guarded against and every reasonable precaution

taken . . .“ He also agreed that “civil liberties are definitely involved”

in the plutonium decision, and that “public review and involvement” in reaching

decisions on plutonium “is an absolute necessity.” However, he said, “there

is a point of absurdity beyond which the rational public should not be

expected to go in imagining safeguards hazards,” by which he meant both security

threats and civil liberties threats. “I am reminded,” he observed, “of a

young soldier who was placed on guard duty a number of years ago in an open

field on the Kansas plains.”

Soon after taking his post, he was visited by the lieutenant of the

guard, who came by to check the effectiveness of this particular post. When

the soldier had snapped to attention, the lieutenant asked him:

“What would you do if you suddenly saw a battleship coming across this

field?”

The soldier thought for a moment, then brightened and replied:

“Sir, I would torpedo him.”

“And where would you get the torpedo, soldier?”

“The same place you got your battleship, sir!”

In the view of the supporters of Position Two, Position One represents
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an entirely unrealistic picture of how safeguards measures would be conducted.

In their view, fully effective plutonium safeguards can be installed

without imposing improper limitations on the rights of plutonium workers,

community residents, or anti-nuclear critics.

As for the concern expressed by Position One, that the United States

has passed through two disturbing examples of abuse of government power in

the past 30 years, Position Two replies that the United States

through these periods without lasting harm to civil liberties.

according to Position Two, that the United States Constitution

has come

This illustrates,

and social system

have the strength and resiliency to cope with any civil liberties impacts a

plutonium safeguards program might bring. Position Two also contends that the

civil liberties impacts of major and prolonged energy shortages would be at least

as far reaching as those of a program to safeguard plutonium recycle and breeders.

c. Position Three: An Acceptable Program of Nuclear Safeguards is

Possible but Only if American Society is Willing to Run Some

Permanent Risks of Diversion in Order to Keep Civil Liberties

Risks at a Low Level

This position maintains that if a persuasive case for plutonium recycle

is proven in terms of national energy needs, and if safety and environmental

problems are met, then a safeguards program could be designed that would

be acceptable in civil liberties terms Congress and the American people

are willing to live with some risks of diversion in the interest of limiting

risks to

The

1.

freedom.

assumptions that underlie this position can be summarized as follows:

To adopt a fail-safe or zero-risk approach to safeguards, or

even to speak of holding threats to negligible proportions, is to insure

that the civil liberties costs of such a program will be unbearably high.

Once it is assumed that reducing threats to near zero is the objective, man-
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agers of a safeguards program would be driven to adopt highly dangerous

techniques of personnel security and preventive-intelligence.

2. Instead of this standard, Position Three urges adoption of a standard

that would trade off some small risks of diversion against heavy risks to

basic civil liberties.

3. This would mean deliberately rejecting some widely proposed

techniques of personnel screening, employee monitoring, intelligence

gathering on anti-nuclear groups, not merely because many of these techniques

are of doubtful real value but because their civil liberties costs are

too high. In balancing slightly greater risks of diversion against very

heavy risks to basic freedoms, the decision would have to be made to protect

freedoms.

4. For plutonium recycle to go forward, such a set of fully-articulated

tradeoffs would have to be set out as the philosophy of a safeguards program,

tested before the public in a variety of hearings and proceedings, be fully

accepted by the commercial firms and government regulatory agencies most

directly concerned, be written explicitly into legislation and implementing

regulations, be subjected to firm annual reporting duties and legislative

reviews, and have procedures created for both administrative appeals and

judicial review. Only if the accepted risks and tradeoffs were developed

and institutionalized in this way should plutonium recycle be allowed to go

forward.

5. It would be especially important to a proper safeguards program

that the Nuclear Regulatory Commission not simply turn over to the discretion

of the FBI the conduct of preventive intelligence for plutonium security,
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or leave the decision-making responsibility in a recovery effort or

diversion response to ad hoc developments among federal, state, and local

officials. These activities, because they are among the most important for

civil liberties, should be defined and supervised by the NRC, possibly

with a Congressional oversight role.

6. Holding to this line would involve reaffirming the bargain year

after year and decade after decade, especially in the face of predictable

low-level incidents (see Appendix III-A) and possible serious incidents.

This would mean that the American public would have to hold the line of

moderation, refusing to let itself be stampeded by demagogues and forcing

sufficient public supervision to prevent the program being subverted by

secret-government.

Based on these assumptions, Position Three draws

conclusions:

1. Congress should go forward with a full-dress

the following policy

review of the need

to have plutonium recycle and breeders to meet America’s future energy needs,

and of whether this process can be made environmentally and physically safe.

If the answer to these inquiries is yes, then Congress should receive from

the NRC a fully-worked out plan for safeguards, which then would be publicly

reviewed and implemented in the manner described earlier (paragraph 4).

2. There is no automatic judgment in Position Three as to plutonium

export policies by the United States, nor has this been addressed in the

literature thus far produced in support of a civil-liberties-acceptable

domestic safeguards program. Certainly the risk of plutonium being diverted

in another country and brought into the United States is a serious one,

and it does not appear feasible to apply border control search measures

to prevent this, even if the authorities knew that a diversion had taken
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place and an effort to smuggle it into the U.S. would be made. still,

most advocates of this position would probably assume that other democratic

nations could and would adopt the same freedom-respecting programs as we

would, and that developing nations should be given the chance to have the

energy technology they wish.

To see how this third position would go about fashioning a safeguards

program, it is worth quoting in some detail from a report to the Nuclear

Regulatory Commission by attorneys Timothy Dyk, Daniel Marcus, and William

Kolasky, Jr. As their basic standard, they urged the Commission to adopt

a “least restrictive alternative” test for each component of a safeguards

program. 21

We think it vital that such a “least restrictive alternative” approach be the keystone of the NRC’s approach to the

selection and shaping of safeguards measures. In approaching

a particular safeguards problem, the Commission should evaluate

the impact on civil liberties of each of the ways of solving

that problem. The factors to be considered in evaluating the

impact of various safeguards measures on civil liberties should

include the following: (1) the extent of the intrusion on personal

liberties; (2) the frequency and pervasiveness of the intrusion

on civil liberties (Will it be part of a daily routine or will

it only occasionally be employed? Will its effects be temporary

and limited or long-lasting?); (3) the number and types of individuals affected (employees in nuclear plants; members of

suspected terrorist organizations or dissident groups; “innocent”

members of the public); (4) the likelihood that a particular

safeguards measure will actually be employed; and (5) the likelihood that the same or similar invasions of civil liberties

will take place even if the safeguards measure under consideration is not employed.

Where resolution of a safeguards problem involves a significant impact on civil liberties, the NRC should choose the

method that has the least impact, even if that method is more

costly or less efficient. To take a simplified example: physical

body searches and mechanical detection techniques (such as those

commonly employed in airports) both have an impact on civil

liberties, in terms of invading privacy, restricting freedom

of movement, and raising questions of reasonable search. But

the physical body search clearly has a much more severe impact

on individual privacy, and few would dispute that the mechanical
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detection procedure is preferable even if more costly. On

the other hand, if mechanical detection methods are far less

effective than body searches, a substantial question would

be presented as to whether they are a reasonable alternative

safeguards measure.

By the same token, as to each alternate safeguards

measure the question should be asked: how can any necessary

intrusion on a civil liberties interest be minimized or mitigated, and”how can abuses be guarded against? There are a

number of familiar procedural protections and checks and balances

that-can be incorporated into various safeguards measures in

advance: issuance of a warrant based on a probable cause showing

before a home is searched or a phone tapped; providing a right

to counsel during interrogation; conducting a hearing before

denying or revoking a security clearance. Incorporation of

such protections will not eliminate the intrusion on individual

privacy or other personal rights and interests. But it can

restrict the intrusion and give some assurance that governmental

(or government-sanctioned) power will not be abused.

The same type of “least restrictive” alternative analysis

should be applied across various areas of the safeguards

system--physical security of facilities; personnel reliability;

surveillance of potential thieves and saboteurs; and reaction

and recovery plans. In fashioning a total safeguards program

which will inevitably interfere with civil liberties in a

number of areas, consideration should be given to whether the

adoption of measures in one area with a certain cost in terms

of civil liberties will obviate the need for adoption of more

onerous or objectionable means in other areas. For example,

should it prove feasible to require licensees to adopt “real

time” inventory procedures that would make it possible to know

at the end of each work shift whether any SNM was unaccounted

for, it might be possible to dispense with routine searches of

employees as they leave work. The more sophisticated inventory

system would itself raise civil liberties problems--for example,

detention of all employees on a shift pending resolution of

accounting discrepancies and interrogation of employees about

those discrepancies. But a decision-maker might conclude that the

occasional intrusions on employee freedom resulting from such

an accounting system were less restrictive and objectionable

than a daily search procedure. On a broader scale, an extremely

tight and effective facility security system might obviate

the need for background investigations or psychological testing

of employees. One might decide to tolerate greater intrusions

on personal freedom at the working site if the far-ranging

invasion of privacy and chilling impact on political freedom

involved in a security clearance system could be largely or

entirely avoided.

In sum, the NRC’S effort should be to design a safeguards

system that, in toto, has the smallest impact on civil liberties . —
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consistent with the achievement of safeguards goals. Once that

has been done, the Commission will be in a position to evaluate

the benefit of authorizing new technologies such as plutonium

recycling against that civil liberties cost (as well as other

costs). Civil liberties, then, should enter into the NRC’s

decisionmaking both in designing particular safeguards measures

and in reaching a decision on the basic issue of whether to

proceed with the development of a new technology that will

require the imposition of those safeguards. And in factoring

civil liberties considerations into its deliberations, the

Commission should be asking not only, What can we do?, but also,

What should we do?

There are similar discussions of security-liberty tradeoffs in

reports by Baron, Clune, and Wyle, with each insisting, as the essence

of Position Three, that plutonium recycle should proceed only if some

safeguards for high-security situations are willingly relinquished in

the interest of preserving basic freedoms.*

*T’hus far, the American Civil Liberties Union has not taken an official

Position One stand on plutonium recycle. A recent ACLU report noted:

“The Washington office has intervened in a Nuclear Regulatory Commission

proceeding concerning the security measures that may be required to safeguard nuclear plants fueled by plutonium. The ACLU is arguing that

recycling of plutonium should not be permitted without a full study and

public airing of its impact on civil liberties, and contends that the

practice should be barred if the requisite safeguards--such as stricter

security clearance measures, expanded police powers to search for missing

plutonium and surveillance of potential terrorists--would violate constitutional rights.” ACLU Activity Report, October-December, 1976, page 1.
111 - 164

E. Observations and Comments on the Three Positions

At the outset, it is fair to note that the effort to isolate the key

differences among the major discussants has produced some rigidity in the

statement of premises and conclusions. Someone may share a premise or even

several premises of one position yet not feel compelled to reach the same

conclusion that the advocates cited as holding that position have reached.

For example, a person may believe that our experience in the civilian and

military nuclear programs provides important insights without believing that

it provides definitive answers to the civil liberties questions, a stated

assumption of Position Two. Or a person may believe that the voluntary nature

.

of employment in a plutonium industry justifies personnel clearances without

concluding that it justifies more intrusive techniques, such as polygraph

examinations.

Also the differences between Position One (which would forego plutonium

recycle because of civil liberties concerns) and the other two positions

(which would go forward with plutonium recycle with steps to solve civil

liberties problems) are clearly more marked than the differences between

Positions Two and Three. Both Positions Two and Three recognize some civil

liberties risks, believe these risks should be minimized, are willing to

accept some security risks, and believe in balancing the conflicting interests.

As a result, an individuals viewpoint might include some aspects of both positions. Having recognized this, let us turn to a closer analysis of the assumptions and conclusions of the three viewpoints.

One problem with the plutonium dilemma is that each of the three positions

outlined is partially right.

--Position One points correctly to the dangers of so much

plutonium being handled in a world of terror and mishap; the pressure this could
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create from the public to use Draconian safeguards measures; and the

remarkably optimistic assumptions as to unbroken national responsibility and

moderation on which both Positions Two and Three rest their faith.

--Position Two reminds us that the year 2020 is not coming immediately;

that a plutonium industry would develop slowly and could therefore be safeguarded step by step, modifying the technology, physical locations, plant

design, shipment procedures, and many other elements as it went along; and

that safeguards techniques could be installed in equally evolutionary and selfcorrecting fashion.

--Position Three is persuasive in suggesting that it has been a traditional

feature of American pragmatism to resist either-or choices, and to seek ways to

trade off one set of risks against another in a way that preserves important

values of both liberty and order. By taking relatively minor risks of diversion,

using all the mechanical and technological means available and going to hardened

site, the necessity of using harshly intrusive employee security and potentialgroup surveillance could be avoided.

Though there are persuasive elements in each position, it is equally helpful

to examine what are the weak points, or points of uncertainty, in the three main

positions.

The extent to which the concerns expressed Position One are realistic is

dependent to some degree on the specific details of the safeguards and security

measures used by a plutonium industry. For example, the concerns about diversion

during transportation of special nuclear material would be greatly reduced if

collocation of fuel reprocessing and fuel fabrication facilities or coprocessing

(without collocation) completely eliminated transportation of weapons material.

Secondly, concerns

containing special

removal of weapons

about assaults by outsiders would diminish if facilities

nuclear material were convincingly designed to prevent

material by a large, heavily armed band.
III - 166 “

Such successful perimeter defenses for colocated facilities would probably

reduce or eliminate the need for off-site security measures such as surveillance

and dossier-building on members of the public. In effect, the industry’s

attitude would be “We don’t care what plans outside groups are making; we can

withstand anything they come up with.”

If the number of people in the plutonium industry who would be subjected

to full field investigations of their backgrounds, and would be subjected

from time to time to such measures as physical searches and surveillance were

very limited in number (to a few thousand), the civil liberties infringements

involved would not be significantly greater than presently exists in the defense

industry or other sensitive private activities. It is not clear, however, what

number of persons must be affected in order to reach a point of civil liberties

concern; some people might regard 10,000 as an acceptable upper limit for such

intensive security measures; others might accept higher numbers.

The assurances contained in Position Two would be disputed by many

knowledgeable persons. It is not certain that the past and present safeguards

system has been totally successful. The very large amounts of Material

Unaccounted For leave open the possibility that diversions have already

taken place over the past 20 years.

It is not clear that Position Two is correct in saying that an expanded

plutonium industry merely represents a difference in degree, not in type.

In cases where plutonium facility becomes a major employer (or the dominant

employer) in a community, there is less freedom of choice for residents

as to whether they laccede to the security restrictions or refuse to work

at the facility. In small rural communities the company town syndrome may

appear, making it difficult for employees to resist extensive security measures.
III - 167

Position Three is not without its conceptual shortcomings as well. Past

experience with security officers makes many persons dubious about the

possibility of containing a security program to least restrictive security procedures. Security personnel are prone to seek tighter measures, regardless

of civil liberties implications. They tend to gravitate toward easy or foolproof techniques that invariably involve infringement on civil liberties.

Moreover, even with tight internal security and strong perimeter defenses, it

is likely that security personnel would keep pushing for positive intelligence

(e.g. surveillance, informers) about potential attackers or critics. The

nature of security officers is to want to reduce all risks to negligible

proportions, which contradicts the assumptions of Position Three.

It has been hypothesized by some proponents of Position Three that

addition of ombudsmen or public advocates to the system would protect against

unwarranted security intrusions. Such an ombudsman would act as a third party

to restrain security or prosecutors when they sought judicial approval for search

warrants, surveillance or surreptitious entry. Yet there is a danger that

constant proximity to such processes may render the ombudsman too sensitive to

the needs of the security forces so that she or he becomes part of a triumvirate

(including the prosecutor and judge) that authorizes the infringements of civil

liberties. Our experience with seeing regulators over-sensitized to the interests

of the regulated should teach us that it is a basic phenomenon of human nature to

become sympathetic to persons with whom one associates constantly.

It could also be said that Position Three assumes a greater degree of

rationality than has yet been observed in the nuclear regulatory area or any

other government agency. The procedural, legislative and administrative

arrangements necessary may be beyond realistic implementation by Congress,

agency officials, and management of industry.
III - 168

Finally, Position Three may be ignoring the backlash effect that would

occur if a successful diversion resulted in a major threat or actual casualties.

It is not clear that the original limited safeguards system contemplated by

Position Three would survive the pressures of an outraged public determined

to prevent any further incidents. Indeed, it could be argued that to the extent

one limits the original problem, one is increasing the risk of an incident,

and this will ensure that such a backlash will eventually occur. On the other

hand, a maximum safeguards program such as is contemplated by Position Two may

preclude any incidents from occuring, but result in the same degree of infringement

of civil liberties as would occur if an incident took place as a result of a

limited program under Position Three.

In trying to decide which one or combination of these views is more right

and therefore should be used in policy-making, we should recognize that we do

not have here a problem that can be put to the tests of either logic or empirical

investigation. There is no way we could lay out a set of factual questions to

be answered by research, or to design a pilot program from whose results clear

guidelines for decision could be plotted. The reality is that each of these

positions rests, fundamentally, on socio-political judgments as to how

American government and public opinion have dealt in the past with threats to

national security (real or assumed) ; how government and commercial security

forces would be likely to carry out a safeguards program, even one that was

highly respectful of civil liberties in its formal framework; how much privacy,

dissent, protest, and cultural diversity our civil liberties traditions demand

or our society should encourage; and how the American public would probably

respond to diversions, blackmail threats, or a nuclear explosion, in terms of

its shocked post-incident attitudes toward the scope of safeguards measures.

We also have no real guide to decision in the way that other industrialized
III’ - 169

democracies are dealing with the plutonium recycle issue. Inquiries made for

this report in Canada disclosed that there has been no government inquiry or

public debate as yet about the civil liberties aspects of nuclear power,

though several environmental and civil liberties groups expect to raise this

issue soon. 22

In Britain the debate over plutonium and civil liberties is in almost

exactly the same stage as in this country. Britain has been actively pursuing

plutonium recycle during the past decade, with a government-sponsored program

planned to move toward large-scale uses in the next 25-50 years very much like

those projected by the AEC for the United States. However, a recent report of

the Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution (the Flowers Committee) raised

serious questions about the safety risks, environmental effects, and civil

liberties dangers associated with nuclear power development. 23 on this last

issue, the Flowers Report wrote:24

The problems of safeguarding society against these hazards

could become formidable in a “plutonium economy”. There are

particular risks during transport of the element between nuclear

installations, although techniques could be adopted to make access

to the plutonium both dangerous and difficult. There is also,

however, the risk of theft of plutonium by direct action at

installations where it is stored or by people working in the

industry. Of course, many measures are taken to prevent this

but it cannot be entirely ruled out. In order to counteract

these risks, some people foresee the need for the creation

of special security organisations which, because of the vast

potential consequences of plutonium loss, would need to exercise unprecedented thoroughness and vigilance to safeguard the

material while significant quantities remained on the earth

in accessible form...

Many people are concerned about the implications for society of

the security arrangements that might become necessary in plutonium economy. An effective security organization could not

be merely passive, simply reacting to events. It would need to

have an active role (as was recommended for the USA in the Rosenbaum report; that is, to infiltrate potentially dangerous organizations, monitor the activities of nuclear employees and members

of the public and, generally, carry out clandestine operations,
III - 170

It would also need to have powers of search and powers to clear

whole areas in an emergency. Such operations might need to be

conducted on a scale greatly exceeding what would otherwise be

required on grounds of national security in democratic countries.

The fear is expressed that adequate security against nuclear

threats will be obtained only at the price of gradual but inexorable infringements of personal freedom.

We are sufficiently persuaded by the dangers of a plutonium

economy that we regard this as a central issue in the debate

over the future of nuclear power. We believe that we should not

rely for something as basic as energy on a process that produces

such hazardous substances as plutonium unless we are convinced

that there is no reasonably certain economic alternative.

Last October, this position was taken up in greater

published by three organizations: Friends of the Earth,

detail in a booklet

the National Council

for the protection of Rural England, and the National Council for Civil

Liberties. Titled Nuclear Prospects: A comment on the Individual, the State,

and Nuclear Power, this booklet explored in detail all the civil liberties

problems that safeguarding a British nuclear power program would entail. Given

the wide powers of government secrecy, government controls over the press,

and strong police emergency powers that British law and tradition support,

the authors of the study conclude that the British nuclear power program

presents grave threats to British freedom and is “bound to produce serious

civil disorder”. However, these groups did not adopt a ban-recycle-now

position (Position One in the American debate). Instead, they called on the

government to address these issues in public proceedings:

An over-riding characteristic of the recent nuclear debate has

been the insistence of those committed to the nuclear option

that the issues at stake are essentially technical. However,

the matters discussed in this paper are not the province of

experts. They are properly the concern of all of us.

Any commitment to a new technology gives rise to social and

political side effects. In our view this may prove truer of

nuclear power than of most technologies. Moreover, the time

to anticipate these side effects is now, before a full commitment to deploy the technology has been made. The scale of
III - 171

Britain’s contemplated commitment to nuclear power is so great

that a decision to proceed could well be irreversible.

Our survey makes no claim to being complete, nor does it pretend

to answer the range of questions it raises. However, there is

little in the public record to suggest that the Government,

poised to vault us into a nuclear future has addressed itself to

these questions in any but the most superficial way. We hope

very much it will begin to do so now.

As these British commentaries (and others listed in the Bibliography,

Section E) indicate precisely the same technical and socio-political issues

are now being put to Parliament and the British public as Congress and

the American public must decide. There is support in British government

documents, parliamentary reports, commercial industry materials, and civicgroup literature for each of the three positions competing on the American

scene.

One other observation should be made, this one dealing with the capacity

of the United States to police the adequacy of safeguards in other nations that

might possess plutonium technology. Beyond the issue of whether we could have

sufficient continuing powers of inspection to guarantee the internal measures

against diversion or the physical security of facilities against attack, it

seems doubtful that we could exercise many controls over the civil liberties

dimensions of such foreign nuclear industries. Neither we nor the IAEA could

reasonably expect such nations to allow monitoring of the way they conduct

their employee screening and stability-monitoring programs, especially to let

outsiders exercise any control over the criteria they used as to loyalty and

disloyalty to the country or regime. Outside authorities could not reasonably

expect to have supervisory authority over the way that nations’s intelligence

agencies carried out surveillance of potential terrorist and radical groups,

or political dissenters, within that country. Finally, if a diversion were

suspected or established, any nation would insist upon entire freedom of
III - 172

action in determing how its security forces would respond. Thus it is clear

that whatever supervision of physical security measures might be imposed and

monitored bilaterally or by international agency, the civil liberties fallouts

from a plutonium industry would be beyond such external influence.

The task that faces Congress in trying to control nuclear proliferation

including the decision whether creation of U.S. plutonium industry at home or

export of such technology abroad will increase the dangers of such proliferation,

is an extraordinarily important choice. What this report has discussed is

implications for civil liberties in what we decide, how we proceed, initially if

we do license plutonium recycle, and how we police the boundaries and operations

of a safeguards system throughout its course.

Ultimately, it would seem necessary for the U.S. to make its decision on

a total package basis, not on the civil liberties considerations alone. To put

this more clearly, Position One becomes harder to maintain if the case is made out

that pursuing some plutonium recycle is essential for the energy needs and national

independence of American society. Were that case made out in a public proceeding,

there would still remain important issues of how large a plutonium industry needed

to be, and how it might be located and used. These matters, as we have seen,

would have important implications for safeguards and civil liberties impacts.

The single most important conclusion suggested by this review is that, if

a plutonium industry as described in Table I were to be pursued in the near

future, steady attention would need to be paid by Congress, the executive agencies,

public-interest groups, and the courts to the way in which safeguards are defined,

administered, monitored, and reviewed. Keeping such a plutonium safeguards program

consistent with civil liberties would become one of the most important, continuing

tasks of all those who cherish American freedom.
III - 173

FOOTNOTE S

Footnote citations are keyed to the Bibliography, which follows this section.

Unless otherwise cited in full, reference numbers presented here with a # before

them refer to the numbered items cited in full in the Bibliography.

1. Testimony of William Anders, Chairman, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission,

in House hearings, #56, Volume I, 66.

2. Statement of Senator Ribicoff, in Senate Hearings #4, page 763.

3. Atomic Energy Commission, Proposed Final Environmental Statement for the

Liquid Metal Fast Breeder Reactor Program, WASH--1535, (December, 1974).

4. #51, pages 20-21.

5. For a discussion of these existing safeguards from a variety of perspectives,

see the AIF Orlando Conference Report, #28.

6. Ibid.

7.

8.

9.

10.

11.

12.

13.

14.

See the testimony of witnesses Theodore Taylor, Eldon Greenberg, Herbert Brown,

and Herbert Scoville, Jr., and the safeguards program discussions, in the 1976

Senate hearings, #4, and of witnesses Thomas B. Cochran, David F. Ford,

Senator Mike Gravel, Ralph Nader, J.G. Spaeth, and Theodore Taylor, in the

1975 House hearing, #56.

Testimony of Alfred Starbird, Assistant Administrator for National Security,

Energy Research and Development Agency, in 1976 Senate hearing, #4, at page

407.

Ibid, 408-411.

See note 7.

These are discussed in the items listed in Section C of the Bibliography.

Ibid.

Described in #78.

Ibid.
111 - 174

15*

16.

17.

18.

19.

20.

21.

22.

23.

24.

Ibid; Gravel, #69.

Described in #78.

Ibid.

Comey, #3.

McCormack, #25.

In #28.

Dyk, Marcus, and Kolasky, #68.

Communications to Alan F. Westin from Canadian Environmental Law Association,

Canadian Civil Liberties Association, Probe, and Canadian Institute of

International Affairs, January, 1977.

Flowers Committee, #80.

Ibid, at 81-82.
III - 175

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III - 179

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Quadrangle, 1972).

Wyle, Frederick S., Plutonium Recyclinq, Safeguards, and Civil Liberties,

Report to the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, December, 1975.

D. Position Statements

77.

78.

79.

70.

American Civil

on Civil Liberties Issues by Interested Groups.

● Liberties Union, Memorandum of Special Committee on Nuclear

and Other Eneryy Programs Affectinq Civil Liberties, March 29, 1976.

Center for Science in the Public Interest, "Nuclear Power and Civil Liberties--

Countdown to 1984?" People and Energy, September, 1976.

Industrial Union Department, AFL-CIO, “Nuclear Energy and America’s Energy

Needs,” Viewpoint, Vol. 6, No. 3, 1976.

The Plutonium Economy : A Statement of Concern, Governing Board, National

Council of churches, September, 1975.
III - 181

E. British materials.

71.

72.

73.

74.

75.

76.

77.

78.

. 79.

80.

81.

82.

Atomic Energy Authority,

Pollution, 1974-75.

Evidence to the Royal● Commission on Environmental

Barnaby, Frank, "Safguards - With or Without Strings," New Scientist,

Feb. 25, 1971; "A Problem of Protection, " New Scientist, May 29, 1975.

Bunejan, Tonv, The Political Police in Britain (London: Julian Friedmann,

1976). - 

Cox, Barry, Civil Liberties in Britain (London: Penguin, 1975). 

"Democracy Versus the Breeder," (Comment) , New Scientist, October 28, 1976.

Flood, Michael and Grove-White, Robin, Nuclear Prospects: A Comment on the

Individual, the State, and Nuclear Power (Friends of the Earth Limited,

Council for the Protection of Rural England, and National. Council for

Civil Liberties,

Hill, John, “Tne

August 1, 1976.

October,

Case for

1976) .

Saying to

Kenward, Michael, The Nuclear Backlash,

1975: 263-264.

Plutonium Recycle, ” The Observer,

New Scientist, V. 65, May 1,

Report of the Committee of Inquiry on the Structure of the Electricity

Supply Industry, January, 1976 (Plowden Report).

Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution, Sir Brian Flowers, Nuclear

Power and the Environment, Sixth Report, September, 1976.

U.K. Department of Energy, Nuclear Activities in the U. K.: Commentary on

Some Points of Public Interest, March, 1976.

Williams, David, Not in the Public Interest (London’: Hutchinson, 1965).
Appendix IV: International Nuclear Industry

Stanford Research Institute
Appendix IV

International Nuclear Industry

Table of Contents

1.

11.

111.

Iv.

v.

VI.

VII.

VIII.

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

The Role of Energy and Power in Economic

Review of Major Alternative Forecasts .

● ✎ ✎ ✎ ✎ ✎

Development

. . . .

The Movement

The Value of

Conclusions

Appendix A .

Appendix B .

of Nuclear Materials and Equipment

U.S. Nuclear Exports . . . . . . .

● ✎✎☛✎ ✎ ✎ ✎ ✎ ✎ ✎ ✎ ✎ ✎ ✎ ✎ ✎ ●

✎☛✎☛ ● ✎ ✎ ✎ ✎ ✎✌☛☛✎ ● ☛☛☛

✎ ✎ ✎ ✎ ✎ ✎ ✎ ✎ ✎ ✎ ✎ ✎ ✎ ✎ ✎ ✎ ✎ ✎

●

✎

✎

✎

✎

✎

.

●

✎

✎

✎

✎

.

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.

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Page

. 1

. 4

. 10

. 39

● 57

. 73

. 82

. 84
IV - 1

I INTRODUCTION

The objectives of this study are to present a comparative, analysis

of various estimates (such as those by the IAEA and ERDA-52) of the probable

rate of growth of the international nuclear industry, to select a likely

growth for the midterm, and to discuss the factors that stimulate or

constrain that growth. We also examine the importance of nuclear exports to the United States.

The approach to this task will be to consider the role of energy

use in the economic development of the less developed countries (LDCs),

and to investigate the relative benefits of an expanding nuclear industry

to the LDCs and to those nations who are the primary vendors of nuclear

equipment. Vendor nations include the U.S., France, Germany, Canada,

and several others that manufacture and sell reactors and associated

equipment on the world market. To streamline the discussion, we assume

a familiarity with the principles of nuclear energy and the terminology

of the industry, including the features of the nuclear fuel cycle: mining

and milling, conversion and enrichment, fabrication, power generation,

reprocessing, and waste disposal. Because of the time and budget constraints of this effort, the format of this report will be confined

primarily to a review of the IAEA, ERDA, and other reports on this

subject with a comparative analysis of their forecasts for tile growth

of the international nuclear industry. We also assume familiarity with

the above named reports and will only review those aspects of the reports

pertaining directly to this discussion.
IV - 2

As the situation regarding many aspects of the nuclear industry is

in flux, exact predictions of forward capacity are impossible to make.

Therefore, the emphasis will be on establishing a reasonable expectation

and its implications. The nuclear power industry is a complex of activities and facilities that requires several advanced technologies and

substantial investment. It serves one customer, the electric power

producer, who in turn requires capital intensive, high technology equipment, and deals in a product which must be produced instantly on demand

with high reliability. These facts and the additional, and important

consideration that the nuclear industry has grown from an exclusive

military interest have made it unique among modern industries.

Some segments of the nuclear industry, such as reactor supply and

fuel fabrication have reached industrial maturity and can offer equipment

and services on a fully competitive basis. Other portions of the industry

have still not entered the open market. Enrichment, for example, is

exclusively under government management in the several countries concerned

and reprocessing has not yet demonstrated commercial feasibility. Even

for the mature segment (that dealing with power plant and nuclear steam

supply) major technical advances, such as for the breeder reactor, are

possible before the year 2000. If these are achieved, major revisions

in other segments are inevitable.

Furthermore, health and safety problems of the industry and the

controls implemented to deal with these have been evolved through experience and the impact of public debate. These controls have raised the
Iv - 3

costs of, and forecast .costs for, using nuclear energy.The debate has delayed

government decisions that affect industrial development as in the case of

plutonium recycling from reprocessing.

Finally, further debate and consideration of the prospects of

terrorism and nuclear proliferation have led to government restrictions

and controls which, in prospect, limit the normal commercial activities

associated with industrial operations. In sum, the industry is maturing,

albeit slowly but its future is not clear with its economics, technology,

controls, and public acceptance all uncertain and subject to substantial

change.
Iv - 4

II THE ROLE OF

A. Forecasting of Use

ENERGY AND POWER IN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

Many correlations have been developed to relate economic activity, national

development, and energy use. * Highly industrialized nations use more energy

and generally have higher standards of living than less developed areas.

Relationships between GNP/Capita and energy use/Capita have historically

shown reasonable correlation. The driving forces behind the relationships

are not well understood, however, and recent changes in energy prices,

combined with a downturn in business activity and changes in attitudes

toward energy use have called these relationships into question.

Forecasts of power growth within nations or groups of nations have

often relied on extrapolations of historic trends, usually by an exponential function. For industrial nations during the period 1910 to 1970,

this was adequate to forecast general trends for a few years into the

future. While major wars caused deviations from the forecasts, the

general trends were quickly resumed. Increased emphasis on use of

machinery, concentration of activity in urban regions, greater economic

advantage gained, central generating stations that could benefit from

economies of scale, and the most efficient technologies all favored power

growth. An average electric power growth of 8.1% per annum throughout

the world was observed in the period 1950-70, for example. The LDC’s

* For example, see the Ford Foundation Policy Report, “A Time to Choose.”
IV - 5

electric power growth was more rapid, 10.3% over the same period. These

growths were higher than the annual growth for energy use as a whole of

about 5% for the world and 6% for the LDCs.

In the period beginning in the 1960s, the energy growth rate first increased and then later decreased under the influence of increased oil prices

and the recessions of the early 1970s. These rapid changes have caused many

people to question the undoubtedly simplistic forecasting by extrapolation

of historical growth, a process that does not fully consider effects of market saturation, changes in public attitudes (life styles) toward use of energy

and power and the sensitivity of energy use to real changes in energy price on the

demand for energy and power. Questions about availability of supply are

also important. How much? At what price? Eventually the two forces

should come to a dynamic equilibrium; however, different balance points

and exchange prices can be expected to be different in different regions

and countries of the world. Production costs will differ, transportation

requirements (and costs) will have an influence, and national policy

expressed in tariffs, embargos, and interest rates will all influence

the. supply-demand-price relationship. Thus, full forecasts of power

demand require evaluation and projection of at least the following:

• Resource-reserve relationships for major fuels, oil, coal,

gas, and nuclear fuels in the important supply regions.

● Production cost relationships for these various regions.

Ž Transportation routes and costs between major supply and

demand regions.
IV - 6

● Analysis and forecast for major demand regions (countries)

of the composition and sensitivity of demand. This must

include estimates of efficiency and capital cost associated

with energy consumption, opportunities for conservation, and

forecasts of public attitudes to energy use and environmental

protection measures applied to energy activities.

From these, the general (regional) prices of fuels can be reduced, and

rates of consumption estimated. To forecast individual demand into LDCs

requires further analysis and projection, including:

● Development of demand-price sensitivities in individual or at

least characteristic economies. (The behavior of industrialized

nations should not be assumed for the LDCs.)

e Estimates of the regional or local efficiency and capital costs

of energy use.

● Forecasts of the individual LDC development patterns. (Will

the economy be agricultural, industrial, or service oriented?

If industrial, will the development concentrate on energy

intensive or non–energy intensive industry?)

To our’ knowledge, there are no existing energy studies forecasting world

supply-demand-price that consider regional characteristics and the

dynamics of the energy market place, so that no one has established more

than guesses about future regional or world price of fuels and the

proportion that each will be used. Lacking that information, analysts
IV - 7

assume various exponential growths related to industrial development and

divide fuel use according to general estimates of price differentials.

Analyses generally begin with some assumptions that energy prices will be

less than, equal to, or greater than (by specified amounts) the current

price of Mid-East oil and much general argument is offered to support the

position taken by the individual setting forth the assumption.

In many applications, electricity competes with other energy forms.

For example, in the case of residential space and hot water heating, the

lower fuel costs of oil and gas systems often outweigh the economic

advantage of electrical heating due to the less expensive equipment and

maintenance costs. Many examples of competition can also be found in

industrial applications. In some cases, electricity has a clear advantage because of its cleanliness or its essential nature (e.g. , electrolysis). In others, it is handicapped because of energy losses in transmissions. It has one substantial disadvantage. It cannot be stored on

an industrial scale.

Electric power growth has come because of the essential convenience

of electricity. It can be generated at large, economically-efficient

stations, transported to point of use, and applied directly to the

required task in almost any required quantity and manner. The central

generating station also can be more easily operated to reduce environmental pollution.

Electricity use in the LDCs is generally characterized by lower capacity

factors than found in the developed countries. The reasons for the lower

capacity factors obtained for many of the LDCs are undoubtedly varied. However, those LDCs that lack a substantial industrial demand based on 7 daya-week, 24 hour-a-day operations are likely to have greater fluctuations

between peak and average demand, and therefore lower capacity factor, than

that shown in industrialized nations. The industrial demand of developed
IV - 8

countries increases the use of off-peak power and tends to smooth out a

system’s load curve.

Fission produced electricity generally comes from large units with

high capital and low operating costs. It is most economic to operate

these plants at the highest possible rating, therefore nuclear power

stations are usually considered for base load application. Some details

relating to costs are given in Chapter III. These special characteristics

of nuclear power are important to the overall considerations of its

application, especially in developing countries. This will be elaborated

in the following section.

B. Characteristics of Nations Using Nuclear Power

At the present time, only a few of the less developed countries use

nuclear power. Those expected to join in the future are expected to

have certain essential characteristics now present in the major nations.

First is the lack of cheaper energy sources properly located. Hydroelectric resources or cheap fossil fuel such as surface mined coal or

excess natural gas generally produce cheaper electricity provided that

supply and demand segments arc geographically related. A second

characteristic is a sizable and preferably a rapidly growing power

demand. Third, the sizable demand must be in a single, integrated

power system. (Or if it is spread between two or more, then at least

one must be large enough to support a nuclear station. We do not judge

here whether the minimum plant size is 100 or 600 NW.) Finally, the

power load curves should be such that the nuclear power plant can usually .

be operated (for economic reasons) at its full capacity.

Subsidiary to, but also determining, the capacity at load factors

are such things as compactness of the demand area ---a small area for the
Iv - 9

distribution system is desirable, and the presence of industrial operations

that require constant or sustained power.

The larger nuclear plants also require substantial cooling water,

and preferably sites that are free from natural disturbances, e.g.,

earthquakes and tornadoes. (These latter can be accommodated, but at

high capital cost.)

Nations intending to install nuclear power must have, or be able to

acquire, a labor force suited to the development. This force is not

inordinately large, and nations having the required size and industrial

development will very likely have or can train the necessary manpower

for power plant operation. (A further discussion is provided by Appendix

A.) Management of government interests in the nuclear operations and construction also make demands.
IV - 10

III REVIEW OF MAJOR ALTERNATIVE FORECASTS

Even though we are faced with the incomplete data and uncertain

relationships mentioned earlier, it is still necessary to forecast.

Nuclear power forecasts abound. They include some by the International

Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) alone, and in connection with the Organization for

Economic Co-operation and Development, Nuclear Energy Agency (OECD-NEA). The

IAEA/OECD-NEA forecast was amended by a study group of the International

Energy Agency. This, still further modified, has been published by the

U.S. Energy Research and Development Administration. The more recent

estimates, made between late 1975 and fall 1976, predict total world

nuclear installed capacity as ranging between 160-200 GW in 1980, 550-

1000 GW in 1990 and 1410-2480 GW in the year 2000.

The OECD forecasts, published in late 1975, are shown in Table

111-1. These projections are based on individual OECD member country

estimates which can be merely national policy statements or, as in the

case with the U.S. forecast, be based, at least in part, upon analysis

of energy - GNP relationships with certain assumed relative fuel costs

and the like.

Two less recent forecasts of nuclear power growth in LDCs have been

those made by the IAEA in its Market Surveys of 1973 and 1974. In the

first of these, the growth of l4 developing nations was based upon previous

detailed surveys of individual power networks and growth expectations.
IV - 11

I

a

a

t..

--— —

. . . . . .

. . . . . .

. . . . . .

. . . . . .

. . . . . .

. . . . .

. . . . .

0

*
IV - 12

The second report was extended to consider projections for 41 additional

countries. Another forecast, critical of the IAEA approach, was made

recently by Richard J. Barber Associates. However, this too seems to use

the Market Survey as

Those forecasts

a base.

made before late 1973 were largely out-dated by the

sharp jump in oil prices and the rearrangement of thinking which followed

the oil embargo. A similar situation occurred because of the rapid

escalation of capital costs and spot purchase uranium fuel prices noted during the

1974-76 period. These cost increases produced a significant effect on the

economics of nuclear systems in competition with fossil fired plants.

The general trend of these various forecasts has been toward

progressively smaller nuclear capacity projections. Reduced energy

demand, increases in nuclear fuel cycle and plant capital costs, and

practical operating experience with lower than expected nuclear plant

capacity factors are among the reasons for these increasingly conservative

forecasts. In view of these considerations, and accounting for the

potential development of a worldwide market in coal, and the potential

increased use of hydropower and surplus gas, we believe that the most

conservative of the major reports, the IEA estimate as modified by ERDA,

is the most realistic.

The IAEA forecast approach used in the 1974 market survey formed the

basis for much of the work and analysis which followed. The IAEA market

surveys will therefore be discussed in detail in the following paragraphs.
IV - 13

A.

IAEA

IAEA Market Survey.-

Table III-2 lists the fourteen countries considered in the 1973

market survey. Each of these countries provided basic data and

counterpart staff, and participated with IAEA teams in site surveys.

Included in the individual country data was that on projected population

and GNP growth. A relationship (based upon historical data for 111

countries in the period 1961-1968*) between GNP/capita and electric

energy generation/capita was established. This relationship was then

used to project annual electricity consumption to the year 2000 for each

of the 14 countries in the Market Survey. In addition to these IAEA

projections, some of the countries involved provided their own forecasts.

For the 5 cases in which there were appreciable differences, they were

included as high forecast cases above the more conservative IAEA

projections.**

Table III-2

COUNTRIES INCLUDED IN THE 1973 IAEA MARKET SURVEY

Argentina Mexico

Bangladesh Pakistan

Chile Philippines

Egypt Singapore

Greece Thailand

Jamaica Turkey

Korea Yugoslavia

*This period saw a particularly rapid growth in electric power demand in

countries such as South Korea.

**In each case the individual country forecast was higher than the IAEA.
IV - 14

The existing systems plus planned additions to about 1979 were used

to construct the base system which was then expanded by the IAEA analysts

to meet future demand using additions of economic base hydroelectric, base

fossil, base nuclear, and intermediate and peaking fossil plants supplemented when possible by peaking load hydroelectric units. The expansion fitted

new plants into the system to provide sufficient plant capacity to meet

peak local and reserve criteria with each new plant added being chosen to

obtain minimum present worth cost. Historical data from the individual

countries about load patterns and “plausible” patterns of their future

development were used by the agency and local officials to develop the load

patterns. Capacity and reserve were chosen to reduce the generating systems’

loss of load probability to as close to 0.005* as possible, with a maximum

of .01. It was felt that this range of values would be acceptable to developing countries, although they would be unacceptable to industrialized nations.

The maximum size of units to be added to the country’s system varied

between 5 and 20% of the peak load foreseen. It is important to

the IAEA assumed nuclear power stations as small as 100 MW could

individual systems. The lowest capacity considered economic was

note that

be added to

300 MW and

only 9-10 units (from low and High forecasts respectively under reference

market conditions) below 400 MW capacity, or a total of 3200-3500 MW, were

assumed to be added by 1990.

* Demand may exceed generating capacity for, at most, 0.5% of time during

the year.
IV - 15

Capital, fuel and operating costs assumed were those of 1973 and

earlier. In its capital cost estimates the IAEA used U.S.: data as developed

by the Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the ORCOST program for their comparison. Capital costs for equipment were adjusted on a country by country

basis considering the available international sources for equipment, country

performance, transportation costs, etc. Materials costs were established

for each country using construction and other cost indices. Labor costs

and efficiencies were individually considered. In all cases the costs were

estimated to increase at a uniform annual rate in all countries. Adjustments for varying plant size were made by standard scaling factors.

The reference case economic parameters used by the IAEA are set forth

in Table III-3a and Table III-3b. The plant capital costs assumed here are

based on data as of January 1, 1973, and therefore do not reflect the rapid

increases noted in the mid 1970s.

Table III-3a

REFERENCE CASE ECONOMIC PARAMETERS, GENERAL

Study Valuel

Discount Rate

Capital and O&M Cost Escalation

Fuel Oil and Gas Price Escalation

Depreciation

8%

0%

2%

Linear

Approximate

Real Value

12%

4%

6%

1 General inflation rate was assumed constant at 4%/yr.
IV - 16

Table III-3b

REFERENCE CASE ECONOMIC PARAMETERS, CAPITAL COST

Plant Size, MW Type

300 Nucl

Oil

600 Nuc1

Oil

Coal

Nuc1

Oil

1000

Capital Cost . $/Kw2 .

Max. Market Min. Market

Survey Nation Survey Nation USA

593 442 624

268 206 315

439 322 460

216 170 253

287

365 266 283

189 146 223

l

PWR

2

Based on data of 1 January 1973

Electric power production is a capital intensive operation. Rapid

expansion of plant requires both the generation of excess revenue and

borrowings. Current estimates place capital costs in the range of $1000/KW

for large nuclear plants and $600 to $750/KW for coal plants, significantly higher than those found in Table III-3b.* At these costs, a modern,

large station is a substantial additional investment for all but the

largest of electric utility systems. Costs of $1000/KW are far from

the $200/KW costs forecast for nuclear power stat-ions in the early 60’s

and much has been said about the difficulties of capital formation to

finance nuclear power growth.**

The higher capital investment may impact on developing nations with

low gross national product. However, the developing countries may find

i s possible to raise the capital required, perhaps through favorable loans

*More detailed discussion of capital costs and capital cost differentials

will be found later in this chapter.

**From the viewpoint of the electrical utility systems (especially those

in the U.S.) who have previously operated with declining real costs for new capital

plant (because of technological innovation and economy of scale) and

fuel costs and who now must both change their financial viewpoint and justify

the change to consumer-conscious regulatory commissions, the change in

cost is undoubted traumatic.
Iv - 17

made by the exporting country, e. g., Federal Republic of Germany--Brazil,

or international agency loans. For the former loans there is little alternative use possible, for the latter, the LDC must justify the application of funds to nuclear power in contrast to other industrial or agricultural development.

Heat rate data, important to evaluation of fuel costs, were furnished

by Bechtel Corporation and represent low average of design data for many

plants. This data was checked by other experts. Fossil fuel costs were

estimated by the IAEA (R. Krymn). The price for oil in each country was

based upon the price of crude in the Persian Gulf, then estimated at

$1.80\bbl for Kuwait 31o API. Transport costs to country harbors were then

estimated, e.g., $O.83/bbl to Rotterdam. Escalation of 6% was assumed for

the crude oil price over the period considered. Costs of coal and lignite

were established for each country having indigenous reserves. These were

essentially each country's estimate of its production cost, a general

escalation of cost of 4% was used. Fuel oil was priced at 95% of crude.

In no case was tax on import duty added to the base cost of oil.

Nuclear fuel costs were estimated by IAEA from published data;

the basic cost assumptions are shown in Table III-4. Interest was charged

at 8% and payments were made at reasonable intervals as the fuel progressed

from step to step in the processing and fabrication chain. Fuel costs

resulting from the calculation for an equilibrium case are shown in

Table III-5.
IV - 18

Table III-4

NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE COSTS, IAEA MARKET SURVEY, 1973

$ Unit —

Concentrate 7 lb/u308

Conversion 2.60 Kg U

Enrichment 32 SWU

Fabrication--first core 110 Kg U

--equilibrium core 80

Recovery Cost--first core 44 Kg U

--equilibrium core 40

Plutonium Credit 10 g Pu fissile

Loss %

0.5

0.0

1.0

1.3

Other Data----- -- ------------ --- -

-

-

---- -

Bum up 13,000 rising to 31,000 MW d/t

Enrichment 2.41 rising to 3.48% U235

Final fissile Pu 0.46 rising to 0.72%

Load Factor 80%

Table III-S

FUEL CYCLE COSTS, EQUILIBRIUM CASE

U.S. mil/Kwh

Concentrate 0.681

Recovered U -0.104

Recovered Pu -0.228

Conversion, net 0.079

Enrichment, net 0.730

Fabrication 0.392

Recovery 0.131

1.681

No transportation costs to individual countries were charged and general

inflation of 4% per year was assumed.
IV - 19

In 1974 the IAEA issued a supplementary report which reflected the

higher oil prices of that year and new nuclear cost figures while

extending the report to 41 other countries, including 5 in Eastern Europe.

The same general methodology was used but some modifications were noteworthy.

Detailed analyses of capacity additions were made for 2 countries

to determine the fraction of total electric capacity additions that would

be nuclear. These results were extended to the 12 other countries in the

original Market Survey. Data on population, GNP and electricity consumption were collected for the 41 countries. These data were used as before

to project electricity capacity to 2000. The load order analysis was

changed to consider "practical" as well as economic solution factors in

meeting each load. Break even load factors for nuclear plants compared

to oil fired plants, 6using oil delivered at $6.00/10 k cal($9/bbl) with

updated capital costs for. both nuclear and oil fired plants were computed

as they applied to each of the Market Survey countries. The break even

plant capacity factors for small plants obtained ranged from 73.2% for

a 100 MW unit at highest capital cost ($1052/KW), to 29.9% for a minimum

cost 400 MW unit ($471/KW). For plant sizes larger then 400 MW, nuclear

plants with even smaller capacity factors would remain economically

competitive with oil. The results of the 1974 IAEA forecast are presented

in Table 111-6.

The two IAEA market studies were completed before the total Impact of

the oil price rise was felt and therefore neglected both the ultimate (current

price) rise in oil and increase in nuclear fuel and capital costs. Other

IAEA assumptions, namely high plant capacity factors, availability of small

nuclear plants, and low inflation (discount) rates gave greater cost
IV - 20

4

8I

●

*

1

1

——

:

C4 C4

a

— . — . —

9

— — — —

——-- -

8

0

1

~

I

#

-————.—.—— .

1

— — t

*

20. .

1

I

1

,
IV 21 *

8,

I

*

I

I

I

1

I

,

t

,

*

I

,

I

,

I

I

I

1

I

,

1

I
I

Table III-6 (cont.)

I

400 400

400 .

400 400

400 !

400

400 .

1983

400

400

600

400

400

400

400

600

400

400

400

400

600

600

400

1$?8G

800

400

800

600

400

800 100

609 600

1000 1000

600 600

400 600

1200 1200

1000 1000

1200 1200

800 800

600 600

70!)0

S200

7500

5690

4000

Total 29800

I
advantage to nuclear plants than now seems justified. These factors were

seemingly taken into account in the more recent OECD\IAEA review of

December 1975 and

B. Barber Study

further the reviews of early 1976.

A study by R. J. Barber Associates was published in 1975 which

used different economic assumptions. These included higher capital costs,

higher fuel cycles costs, a lower plant operating factor and a higher

discount rate. Barber's capital costs, are based on the data given in

WASH 1345. While Barber argues that the capital costs in the LDCs

might well be 25% higher than in the U.S. , he does not use that factor.

He lists minimum cost estimates and conservative cost estimates to be

used by the LDC planner as

Plant Cost Estimates, 1000 MW Nuclear

$/KW

Minimum

598

485

372

PWR

Coal

Oil (no S02 abatement)

Station*

Conservative

745

600

460

*1981 startup

Nuclear fuel costs were estimated at 4.39 mils/kWhr and 5.17

mills/kWhr for favorable and unfavorable assumptions about the various

parameters. (Oxide feed was assumed at $20/lb U308, enrichment at

$75/SWU, and discount rate at 20 and 25% and capacity factors at 60 and

50% for the favorable and unfavorable cases respectively.)
IV - 24

Fossil fuel prices are discussed at length in the Barber report.

A range of possible prices was presented. Generally it was assumed that

oil could range from as low as $6.50 a barrel to more likely prices of

$8-9/barrel.

Indigenous coal is offered as a viable alternative to oil and nuclear

fueled plants. Several coal prices are quoted but fuel cycle prices of

6.12 mills/kWh assumed.

Most important to the comparisons made is Barber’s assumption that

nations with high internal inflation will use higher discount factors.

Barber assumes a “reasonable medium” discount rate of 20% and suggests

that rates as high as 25-30% may be applicable in certain situations.

The Barber study also assumes that nuclear power plants smaller than

600 MW will not be available and eliminates them from consideration. While

it mentions taxes and tariffs it makes no assumptions about them, apparently

following the IAEA lead. An attempt to include these effects into the

economic evaluation would be fruitless, for taxes and tariffs can be used

by an LDC to encourage or discourage the use of nuclear (or other) power.

Even though the Barber study disagrees with many aspects of the IAEA

approach, and with the explicit data used, it still uses the IAEA Market

Survey as the framework for its analysis. In addition, all other studies

discussed seem tied to the IAEA data base and approach.

c. Other Studies

The IAEA market survey of 1974 formed the basis of an OECD\IAEA survey

of 1975. This latter report took advantage of the passage of time by

considering the escalation of construction costs during the 1974-75 period
IV - 25

and the continued existence of the OPEC cartel. It is primarily, however, a

digest of national plans of the participating countries as reported in the

spring of 1975.

In the fall

Agency conducted

of 1975 and the spring of 1976, the International Energy

another survey which projected further changes in nuclear

plant construction and fuel cycle costs. This survey was subsequently revised

by ERDA in a paper entitled “World Requirements and Supply of Uranium.”*

Some of the results of various nuclear growth projections are summarized in

Table III-7. SRI has regrouped this published data in certain cases in order

to provide direct comparisons between the studies.

D. SRI Analysis

In assessing these studies, SRI has not attempted a new analysis of

electric power demand or nuclear power share. It has examined the latest

data presented on nuclear power costs and tested the stated assumptions for

reasonableness. In general, SRI has used high capital and fuel cycle costs.

SRI has assumed that for the earlier periods of development, the developing nations will use tall stacks to dilute but not capture S02 emissions from

coal-fired plants, resulting in capital costs in the $775/kW range. (It

assumes the coal mined will have less than 270 sulfur.) SRI further assumes

once through cooling, for nuclear and coal-fired power stations. These

assumptions result in capital costs below the maximum assumed for U.S. built

plants.

* paper by E.J. Hanrahan, R.H. Williamson, and R. B. Presented at the

Atomic Industrial Forum’s International Conference on Uranium, Geneva,

September 1976.
IV - 26

u

●

● U
IV - 27

SRI has estimated ranges of coal and oil prices as part of other

project work. We find that several coal producing sections of the

world such as Australia, S. Africa, and the Western U.S. could deliver .

coal to seacoast power plants in developing countries at prices ranging

from low values of $17-24/ton. (Actual prices could be higher if the

demand grows.) We believe that world oil supply estimates cited by

Barber are optimistic and the prices for delivered oil on the low side.

However, SRI’s analyses also have indicated that supplies of oil will be

adequate through the end of the century and that prices may moderate by

1980 when expressed on a constant dollar basis (see attached article by

V. Eugene Harless in Appendix B).

Capital costs of nuclear power plants with once through cooling will

lie in the $925/KW range for a 1985 starting plant.* We do not believe

that the rapid changes in capital cost observed from 1970 to 1975 will

necessarily continue. Much learning has taken place, retrofitting during

construction should diminish, and labor efficiencies rise with the advent

of standardized plants. Experience and better planning should also reduce

the time required for plant construction. A reduction of 2-3 years seems

possible with concomitant reduction in interest cost during construction.

We believe that costs of $80/kg-SWU for enrichment, and $250-300 per kg

of metal reprocessed are possible. This produces fuel cycle costs that

are as high as 7 mils/kWh.*

Barber has suggested plant factors of 60 and 50% and perhaps lower.

At least some of the unfavorable operating experience encountered with

* V.S. Boyer, "The Economics of Nuclear Power." Speech presented at the Third

Congressional Seminar on the Economic Viability of Nuclear Energy, January, 1976
IV - 28

current plants has been caused by retrofit and regulatory caution,

especially in the U.S. Learning has been an expensive process in many

aspects of reactor operation. Reactor suppliers and customers are both

paying more attention to factors that improve plant on-line time (better

maintenance scheduling and refueling procedures, for example). Recent

data have shown that of all light water plants above 150 MW throughout the

world, 75% had an annual capacity factor of greater than 50%, and 69% had

a cumulative factor above 50%. U.S. experience shows an average annual

capacity factor of 58% through the end of 1975. Three other countries with

four or more reactors have achieved higher values: W. Germany (73%), France

(70%) and the U.K. (66%). These data include plants such as Brown’s Ferry 1

and 2 that were shut down for repair for approximately 8 months during the

year, and other plants subject to extensive modification. On the other hand

several plants have exceeded 80% capacity factor for a year or more. SRI

has assumed a 60% capacity factor in its analysis. This may be considered

conservative.

Given the previously stated assumptions by SRI concerning prices of

nuclear and coal power generation systems and nuclear fuel cycle costs,

break even coal costs can be developed for various plant sizes and fixed

charge rates. Table III-8 shows these costs for plants of 600 MWe and 1100

MWe capacity installed in the mid-1980s.
IV - 29

Table III-8

MID-1980s BREAK EVEN COAL COSTS ($/TON)*

Fixed Charge Rate Plant Size

600 MWe 1100 MWe

10% 28 23

15% 35 28

2 o% 42 32

25% 49 37

*Assumptions: Nuclear plant capital costs-- $925/KW (1100 MW), $1135/KW

(600 M-w)

Coal-fixed capital costs-- $690/KW (1100 MW), $775/KW

(600 MW)

Capacity factor--6O%

Nuclear fuel cycle cost-- 7.3 mils/kWhr at assumed capacity

factor

As the above table indicates, moderate cost coal, hydropower and perhaps

surplus gas could be competitive with nuclear power in the LDCs*. Although an independent country-by-country study might be desirable for

confirming the competitive nature of nuclear power, the scope of this

study precludes such an effort. We believe that the lowest estimate

developed, that of the IEA as modified by ERDA, will be most representative of the future. This low estimate can be raised by many factors.

Some of these are not of direct economic consequence. For example, incentives that seem to favor the spread of nuclear power include export

pressures of nuclear suppliers, desire for alternate energy supply on

the part of the installer, desire to prove modern attitudes and advance

*The competitive picture changes when developed country economics is

considered . In the first place we expect that requirements for S02 removal. instead of tall stack dispersal will add extra operations and capital

costs and could decrease plant efficiency markedly. Partially counterbalancing this will be the added cost. of natural draft cooling towers

added to the nuclear plant. Other factors may also he important.
IV - 30

industrial training, particularly on the part of less developed countries,

and interest in nuclear weapon capability.

In addition to making less developed countries dependent upon

developed countries, the extraordinary support requirements of nuclear

plants creates pressure among the developed countries to export nuclear

products. The support

power requirements are

support facility, then

structure is expensive and unique, if domestic

not adequate to fill the order work of the various

the owner-operators and perhaps the country in which

the plant is operated falls under pressure to export nuclear power elsewhere, to the LDCs for example.

We have not attempted a detailed analysis of the manufacturing

capacity, engineering abilities and other support services related to

nuclear power development. However, it is likely that the U.S. and

several European countries have excess capacities “for reactor production

and in nuclear support services. The temporary, if not permanent change

in the rate of growth of electricity consumption, deferments in construction because of that change and higher capital costs, delays, postponements or cancellations of nuclear power prospects because of public

opposition and related regulatory and judicial rulings has upset the

growth of nuclear power stations. Therefore, existing and planned support installations in some segments of the industry are without adequate

developed country markets.

The rapid changes in nuclear power plant planning--first, a rapid

increase following the oil embargo and' large step increase in oil price
IV - 31

and second, a rapid slowdown or cancellation phase following delays in

authorization and rapid capital cost increases--have interacted throughout all segments of the industry --including the fuel cycle as well as

the manufacturing and engineering support segments. Pressures also

exist in these segments to stabilize activity and encourage moderate

growth. Thus exporting countries may decide to offer trade incentives,

including favorable loans, an action which reduces the effective discount

rate.

Additional incentives for the development of nuclear power are the

desire for diversification of energy supplies and the relative ease with

which uranium and plutonium fuel supplies can be transported and stockpiled. All of the front-end fuel cycle materials can be shipped economically by air with the exception of the original ore. Thus shipping

delays are not crucial. It is usual for a nuclear power station to have

several weeks, or more likely, months of fuel supply in new fuel elements

on hand so that temporarily interruptions due to embargo, strike etc. , are

not so disruptive. Fossil fuels do not have these advantages, which can

be important to LDCs with transport, harbor clogging, and similar

problems.

It is obvious from their optimistic forecasts that many LDCs plan to

have nuclear power play an important role in their development. In many

regions this energy source represents the most economical means of generating

electricity and also allows for a diversification of energy resources and

a greater degree of energy self-sufficiency.
IV - 32

Without the nuclear option, those countries that do not possess

sufficient indigenous hydrocarbon supplies or hydropower resources would

have to rely on imported fossil fuels. This implies a strategic dependence

on others for a continuous supply of energy. The possible consequences of

such dependence were felt by most LDCs during the 1973 oil embargo and in

the price jump that followed.

In oil importing LDCs, a high oil price makes a strong impact on

agriculture and industry. There are very few non-essential uses of energy

in LDCs. High oil prices mean higher costs for the fuel and fertilizer

required for domestic food production and for the boiler fuel used in

electric power generation and industrial heat processes.

South Korea, for example, paid $300 million for oil imported during

1973 but during 1974 this figure increases to $1.2 billion. The effect on

the Korean economy was widespread; the price increases greatly hurt Korea’s

balance of payments, sparked further inflation and hindered industrial

production.

The price of fuel is only a small part of the cost of electricity from

nuclear power generation. The economics of nuclear plants are therefore

less affected by fluctuations in the price of fuel than fossil plants.

Nuclear power is seen by most LDCs as a means of reducing high priced

oil imports and dependence on foreign-supplied fossil fuels. However,

it is very likely that these nations are currently too optimistic about

the amount of relief from fossil fuel dependence that even ambitious

nuclear programs might provide. Nuclear energy can only be used practically
IV - 33

for base-load power generation and it is not likely that more than a small

fraction of total end use energy consumption will be in the form of electricity

for many years to come. (In Asia and Africa electricity presently accounts

for less than 5 percent of total end use consumption, in Latin America this

figure is about 10%; in OECD Europe and North America electricity presently

supplies 15% of end use energy).

IV THE MOVEMENT OF NUCLEAR MATERIALS AND EQUIPMENT

With the assumption of moderate nuclear power growth generally, and in

the developing countries especially, we examine the likely flows of nuclear

materials. We describe country location of important facilities and speculate

on growth patterns.
IV - 34

A. Uranium Supply*

Data on world wide uranium resources as well as projected uranium demand

to the year 2000 have been compiled and published in a joint OECD/NEA - IAEA

Report entitled, “Uranium Resources, Production and Demand” December 1975.

These estimates (with updated U.S. and Canadian figures) are shown in Table IV-la

for two categories of confidence and two levels of extraction costs. An updated

and expanded version of this report is scheduled for reissue in May 1978. A

relatively recent world wide resource estimate for uranium at $30/lb. U308 which

reflects data published subsequent to December 1975 has been prepared by

John H. Patterson, Division of Uranium Resources and Enrichment, ERDA, and was

presented at the American Nuclear Society Executive Conference on Uranium Supply

in January 1977. The data assembled by Patterson is reproduced in Table IV-lb

and is annotated with several recent additions. The two resource categories

used by OECD/NEA-IAEA, "Reasonably Assured Resources" and "Estimated Additional

Resources" have been retained by Patterson rather than the four resource categories normally used in domestic ERDA resource estimates.

In the OECD/NEA-IAEA report (op. cit.) the term "Reasonably Assured

Resources" refers

both

1? to uranium which occurs in known ore deposits of such

grade; quantity and configuration that it could be recovered

within the given production cost range, with currently proven

mining and processing technology. Estimates of tonnage and

grade are based on specific sample data and measurements of

the deposits and on knowledge of ore-body habit. Reasonably

Assured Resources in the cost category below $15/lb are considered as Reserves for the purpose of the present report.

The term Estimated Additional Resources refers to uranium

surmised to occur in unexplored extensions of known deposits

or in undiscovered deposits in known uranium districts, and

which is expected to be discoverable and could be produced in

the given cost range. The tonnage and grade of Estimated

Additional Resources are based-primarily on knowledge of the

characteristics of deposits within the same districts."

From Table IV-1 it can be seen that the estimated total resources for

resource categories each contain approximately 2.4 million short tons

Of U308 at $30/lb. Of U308. About 80% of the reasonably assured uranium is

*This section prepared by Lorin R. Stieff.
Iv - 35

Table IV-la

World Uranium Estimates

(8)

(b)

(c)

(d)

(e)

Categories are by reference to price.

Estimates in this price range are preliminary, restricted only to

principal deposits, and thus very conservative.

Does not include 54,000 tonnes U as a byproduct from

phosphates or 15,000 tonnes U as a by-product from copper

production which might be recovered in the period to the

year 2000.

includes some 80,800 tonnes U reasonably assured resources in

ignites in the cost range $15-30/lb U3O o for which the

availability is uncertaln.

The 350,000 tonnes U total uranium resource for South Africa

as given in Part ll has also been Supplied apportioned as a best

estimate to the various resource categories although reservations have been expressed concerning the accuracy of split

figures.

(a)

(b)

(c)

(d)

(a)

Categories are by reference to price.

Estimates in this price range are preliminary, restricted only to

principal deposits, and thus very conservative.

The following additional potential resources of greater uncertainty are indicated by the US.

Possible resources <30$/lb: 978.103

t U

Speculative resources <30$/lb: 454.103

t U

lncludes some 63,800 tonnes U estimated additional resources

in Iignites in the cost range $15-30/lb U3O

8 for which the

availability is uncertain.

The 350,000 tonnes total uranium resource for South Africa as

given in Part II has also been supplied apportioned as a best

estimate to the various resource categories although reservations have been expressed concerning the accuracy-of the split

figures.

Australia 1750 (government); Canada 5580 (government); Japan S (producers); Mexico 40 (government); Portugal 350 (government);

Sweden 200 (users); United States 55000 (government), 3300 (producers), 15000 (users) and West Germany 1370 (government). Information

on stockpiles in other countries is presently not available.
Table IV-lb IV - 36

WORLD URANIUM RESOURCES BY CONTINENT – $30/LB U308

@ )

(EXCLUDES EASTERN BLOCK COUNTRIES)

THOUSAND TONS U3O8

REASONABLY

ASSURED

ESTIMATED

ADDITIONAL

NORTH AMERICA

Us.

CANADA

MEXi CO

DENMARK (GREENLAND)

AFRICA

SOUTH &SW AFRICA

NIGER

ALGERIA

GABON

C.A.R.

ZAIRE

EUROPE

SWEDEN

FRANCE

SPAIN

YUGOSLAVIA

PORTUGAL

FINLAND

GERMANY

ITALY

U.K.

AUSTRALIA

ASIA

INDIA

JAPAN

KOREA

TURKEY

SOUTH AMERICA

ARGENTINA

BRAZIL

TOTAL (ROUNDED)

880 1.860

640

225

8

8

500

359

65

36

26

10

2

520

3 9 0

72

30

9

9

3

1

2

2

430

60

38

10

3

4

40

27

1,060

787

0

13

160

96

39

0

13

10

2

140

0

52

56

20

0

0

5

1

5

100

30

30

0

0

1

11
Iv - 37

NOTES

Table IV-lb

a) “Foreign Uranium Sources - Status and Developments”, John A. Patterson,

American Nuclear Society, Executive Conference on Uranium Supply,

Moneterey, California, January 26, 1977.

b) Most recent ERDA estimates.

c) New discoveries should result in significant increases in this estimate.

d) This estimate reflects the uranium contained in the black shales of

Sweden. It is unlikely that this uranium will be available at $30/lb U308.

e) Company Data.

f) Government Estimate.
IV - 38

confined to six countries, the United States, Canada, Australia, South

and South West Africa, France and Niger. The large, reasonably assured supply

of very low-grade uranium associated with the Swedish black shales probably

should not be included in the table because the uranium from this source will not

be available at $30/lb. U308, and because the substantial environmental consequences associated with extraction from this source have not been resolved.

The total of approximately 2.4 million short tons of U308 in the category

of Estimated Additional Resources is dominated by only two countries, the United

States and Canada. These two countries possess approximately 1.85 million short

tons or roughly 75% of these resources. It is unlikely that these figures

reflect the true world distribution of the Estimated Additional Uranium Resources.

Rather, this large subtotal reflects the substantial exploration and resource

appraisal efforts that have been made by both the United States and Canada. It

seems reasonable to believe that the categories of Reasonably Assured and

Estimated Additional resources will increase as comparable exploration and

appraisal efforts are made in other parts of the world.
Iv-3 9

Thus the short term and probably even the mid-term supply of uranium

appears adequate. Nevertheless, it is necessary to add that prudence dictates

a much more conservative view of the tonnages of uranium that will actually be

mined, milled and available. This prudence stems from the fact that serious

errors in judgement on the long-term availability of uranium will have profound

economic and political impacts particularly on the major industrial nations;

that certain major decisions directly dependent on reliable long-term uranium

resource estimates must be made now or in the near future, such as national commitments to nuclear power and the decision on breeder reactor development; and

that it is difficult, if not impossible, at this stage to assign limits of

error to the estimates of “Reasonably Assured Resources” much less the “Estimated

Additional Resources”. Further, even though the quantities of ore in discovered

reserves may be adequate through a certain date, the time required in developing

them may necessitate the discovery and development of new deposits.

The uncertainty surrounding these appraisals is due, in part, to some

of the following factors:

- Insufficient geologic information on the occurance, distribution,

theories of origin and controls of ore deposition required to make the

necessary extrapolations involved in the quantitative estimates of

additional resources.

Inadequate statistical methodology applicable to the special problems

associated with uranium resource appraisal.
IV - 40

- Limitations in the availability of the relatively large amounts

of risk capital required for the exploration and development of uranium

mines and mills.

- Shortages in the supply of trained miners, skilled mill workers and

qualified professional staffs.

- Uncertainties, even in the four major suppliers of uranium, concerning

national attitudes towards nuclear energy and non-proliferation, national

policies governing the development of uranium resources and the sale of

uranium, and the stability of the political institutions essential to the

orderly development of a major natural resource and the confidence that

long-term contracts will be fulfilled.

Patterson (op. cit.) estimates that the current annual world requirement

for U308 of approximately 25,000 short tons is expected to increase to almost

200,000 short tons annually by the year 2000. The implied rate of growth for

both the mining and milling segments of the industry is formidable and can be

achieved only with considerable encouragement. The OECD/NEA-IAEA report is not

so optimistic. It states (op. cit.):

"In general, however, only ‘Reasonably Assured Resources’ can

be considered for specific planning and forecasting in the short

and medium term and even the availability of much of these resources

is constrained. If it were assumed that the present ‘Estimated

Additional Resource’ could be confirmed and developed, the total

of the two categories would still be inadequate to meet the long

term uranium requirement which has been estimated at up to four

million tonnes by the year 2000, possibly reaching 10 million

tonnes of uranium by the year 2025."

These projections have been reduced, but the urgency of the uranium resource

problem is still generally recognized. The concerted action by industry as well

as governments required to forestall serious problems in the late 80’s and 90’s

is still in the formative stage.

B. Conversion

Conversion is now concentrated in the four countries which operate

large-scale enrichment facilities--the U.S., UK, France and the USSR.
IV - 41

The capital costs of this process are not high, approximately $50 millions

for a plant that will fuel 82 reactors at equilibrium. See Table IV-2.

The technology requirements are not large. Production of florine, arid

its associated electric power requirement, is the primary technical task.

6

A 10,000 tonne/y plant requires about 300 workers and about 65 x 10 kWh/y

of electricity (or an assured capacity of 7 NW).

Countries supplying substantial volumes of uranium ore may wish to

convert concentrate to UF 6

to take advantage of the value that can be added.

In addition, the modest capital cost and technology requirements will not

present a problem. Therefore, conversion can be expected to spread to

countries without present capacity for it, such as Australia.
IV-4 2

Table IV-2

CAPITAL COST* OF NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE FACILITIES

NECESSARY TO SUPPORT A 1100 MWe LIGHT WATER REACTOR

UNDER EQUILIBRIUM CONDITIONS AND NUMBER

OF REACTORS SUPPORTED BY A LARGE COMMERCIAL FACILITY

Capital Cost of

Fuel Cycle Facility per 1100 MWe Reactor

Facility (in millions of dollars)

Mining (surface) 2.33

Mining (underground) 2.84

Milling 10.47

Conversion 0.61

Enrichment 26.98

Fuel Fabrication

(no Pu recycle) 1.75

Fuel Fabrication

(with Pu recycle) 6.12

Reactor Plant 460.0

Fuel Reprocessing 3.65

Number of 1100 MWe

Reactors Supported

by Facility

6

3

7

82

101

27

7

69

*lnstant construction mid-1974 costs.

c. Enrichment

Enrichment, now concentrated in the U.S., the USSR, France, and the

UK may be spread more widely, especially through the centrifuge and nozzle

diffusion techniques. At the present, world enrichment capacity is

6

25-28 x 10 kg SWU per annum, primarily in the U.S. and USSR. All of this

is not needed today and some “reproduction” is being undertaken so that

future capacity additions can be delayed. New capacity is now being added

by URENCO plants in Holland and the UK, and Eurodif (Coredif) expects to

be in production about 1980 with a plant which will realize 10.8 x 10 SWU. 6
Iv - 43

These additions plus U.S. uprating of its government owned diffusion

6

plants (an additional 10.5 x 10 SWU) will bring the total capacity by

6 6

1985 to over 50 x 10 kg SWU (it could rise as high as 70 x 10 kg SWU).

Table IV-3 lists existing and planned commercial plants and significant

pilot plant operations.

Equilibrium operation nuclear electric plants using enriched uranium

are stated to require from 119 to 137 kg SWU/y per MW of capacity at 65%

capacity factor. If we assume all future plants use enriched uranium--

an obvious oversimplification that emphasizes the need for separative

work capacity--and an average equilibrium consumption of 120kg SWU/MW

(60% plant factor), we find that the current capacity and postulated

additions to 1985 will supply the enrichment necessary for the continuous

running of about 385,000 MW. (In this and succeeding calculations we

consider that nuclear power is produced only by LWRs. The contribution

of HWR and other converters is estimated to be less than 5 percent before

the mid 1990s. Breeder reactors should have little effect before that

time.)

Enrichment plants operating before ’85 will generally be in the

nations that now produce enriched uranium. The FRG (recently announced

in public press) will make additions before then. It must be noted that

the French organized and operated COREDIF and EURODIF organizations have

additional partners, notably Iran and Spain, but also including Belguim

and Italy, who will contribute financial and other support. After 1985,

other nations plan to provide enrichment services. Brazil and the Union

of South Africa will be using varieties of the jet nozzle process if

current plans are carried forward. Japan has announced its intent to

use the centrifuge process. Iran may build its own plant, etc.
Table IV-3*

Capacity Schedule

Owner Location 10S SWU Operatio n

Gaseous diffusion process

Operating plants

ERDA

Total, US

USSR

CEA

UKAEA

China

Under construction

lmprovement and uprating

of ERDA plants - adds

Eurordif (CEA. Iran,

Belgium. Italy, Spain)

Under construction

ERDA

Coredif (Eurodif, CEA Iran)

Canadif (CEA Ouebec,

Canada)

Gas centrifuge process

Operating plants

Urenco-Centec

(UK, Holland, Germany)

Under coonstruction

Urenco--Centec

Exxon Nuclear Co.

Centar Associates

Garrett Nuclear Corp.

Separation nozzle process

Karlsruhe Nuclear Center

Nuc!ebras

South African process

UCOR

Laser-based processes

Avco-Exxon

Lawrence Rad. Lab.

Los Alamos Sci. Lab.

Oak Ridge,

Tenn. 4.7 3

Paducah, Ky. 7.31

Portsmouth,

Ohio 5“19

17.23

Siberia 7-10 '

Pierrelatte,

Franca 0.4-0. 6

Capenhurst,

England 04-0 6

Lanchow, China ?

10-5

Tricastin,

France 1 0 8

Portsmouth

Ohio 8-75

Tricastin,

France 9—1 o

James Bay,

Quebec ?

Capenhurst

England

Almelo, Holland 0-4 to 2-0

Capenhurst

England Adds

Almelo, Holland 8

USA 1“o to 3.0

USA 0.3 to 3.0

Texas 0.3 to 3.0

Japan 2

Steag A.G. 0.002

Brazil 2

Valindaba, S.A. 0.006

5

1975—1 985

1978—1981

1985

1985

?

1977—1982

1985

1982—1986

1932—1988

1982—1989

1998

Shut down in

1972

1989

Pilot unit ready

being

considered

Working material

Everett. Mass. U metal vapor

Livermore. Calif. U metal vapor

L OS Alamo s UFa Vapor

*

* *

+

From Nuclear Engineering International,

November 1976.

**Presented by Manson

Conference, June 1976.

Believed that 3M SWU available for export.
IV - 45

The capital investment required for enrichment is small compared

to that required for nuclear-electric power plants; it has been estimated

capital costs will range from $200 to $370 per SWU\y. A representative

capital cost of $310 per SWU converts to an expenditure of about $27

millions required to supply a single 1.100 MW nuclear power plant. See

Table IV-2. (Compare this cost with the approximately one-half billion

dollar cost for the nuclear power station.)

The diffusion process has a generally reported cost of 200-300 $\SWU

only in large size. The unit cost rises rapidly with decreasing size.

The economics of centrifuge and nozzle processes are much less sensitive

to size and can be installed in smaller units. The centrifuge uses

much less power (about 1/10 that of the diffusion), while the nozzle

processes use somewhat more power than the diffusion process. Large

diffusion plants require approximately 2,000 kWh\SWU. URENCO and others

expect that their centrifugation plants (as small as 0.3 - 1 x 106 SWU\yr)

will be competitive with large diffusion plants in the range of 9 x 106

SWU/yr. Thus, once centrifuge enrichment becomes a proven commercial

process, it is likely that plants could be built to economically serve

a nation with a nuclear electric capacity as small as 3,800 MW.

Even though some developing countries could afford the capital investment and match their enrichment needs with an economic centrifuge

plant, other factors may discourage that choice. Centrifugation requires

an equipment supply industry that must produce exceptionally precise and

high quality, high speed, rotating machinery

More skilled operating manpower will be necessary for a centrifuge

plant than for a diffusion plant. This is due largely to the maintenance
IV - 46

requirements imposed by the large number of precision centrifuges. We

nave estimated, from ERDA data, that 1,000 workers are required to operate

6

a 9 x 10 SWU/y diffusion plant. It is likely that the centrifuge plant

will require two to three times as many workers per unit output, for

6

example from 250 to 300 workers for a 10 SWU plant.

Thus we do not expect the number of nations producing enriched

uranium for a commercial electric utility market to increase greatly

in number. Instead of just the U.S., UK, France and the USSR capable of

serving world needs, we might foresee the following:

Australia

Brazil

Federal Republic of

Germany

Iran

Japan

South Africa

much discussion, but expected opposition from

environmentalists and unions would make

enrichment unlikely in the near term

(already has announced plans for 1989

production)

6

announced plans for a 10 SWU/y plant

(will have completely independent industry

and direct knowledge, through COREDIF, of

diffusion process)

(announced plans for 1988 production -

centrifuge)

(announced plans for larger pilot plant;

nozzle)

Several factors could limit growth. A very important one is the

potential for change in reactor type. A switch to heavy water moderated

reactors or to plutonium-uranium breeding reactor systems would eliminate

the need for expansion of enrichment services, and a gradual decrease

in loading for the plants already' built as they pass from service. Thus

investment in enrichment has a high speculative element, as indicated

by the unwillingness of U.S. companies to invest in this sector of the

nuclear industry without government protection.
Iv - 47

A smaller practical increment in investment is offered by the centrifuge* and nozzle processes but these are still not fully demonstrated

on large scale and thus have some risk. Also, as pointed out above,

the greater mechanical complexity of the system and the specialized

mechanical industry needed to support it could be difficult for a

developing country to supply.

It is possible that others of the more wealthy, highly industrialized

nations will supply enrichment services. They have shown no particular

interest thus far in such activities. On the other hand, political

decisions pending in the Netherlands have tended to slow plant development

and may remove that country as a producer.

D. Fuel Fabrication

In the fuel fabrication segment of the industry the capital investment required is not as large and the economics of scale less important

when compared with other fuel cycle activities. Substantial skill is

required in welding (automatic) processes and quality inspection and

and control. However, a nominal 600 tonne/y plant, sufficient in size

to supply about 30,000 MW of nuclear generation capacity, requires a

direct work force of only about 500 workers. The capital investment for

such a plant is small, as shown in Table IV-2.

Currently commercial scale production facilities for oxide fuels

are operating in 9 industrialized countries. See Table IV-4. Of the

total capacity, nearly 80% is in two countries--the U.S. and Japan--and

the U.S. has three/quarters of that fraction. Other producing countries

* Centrifugation is a unit process, therefore plant capital costs vary

nearly linearly with size.
IV - 48

Countries

Belgium

Denmark

France

Germany

Italy

Japan

Netherlands

Spain

Sweden

UK

USA

Total

Table IV-4*

1.WR FUEL FABRICATION CAPACITY (Tonnes Heavy Metal/yr)

.1974

200

270

300

910

30

250

100

3,050

5,110

1975

200

200

670

300

(910)

30

250

100

2,750

5,410

Planned

197 8

400-600

220

1,000

300

(910)

30

300

400

100

3,350

7,110

Projected

1980

400-800

500

1,400

600

(910)

120

400

400

(loo)

— 8,200.

13,230

Projected

1985

600-1,200

200-400

>1,100

2,000

(600)

(910)

200

800

(450)

(loo)

8.200

15,560

( ) Minimum figures.

*From "Uranium Resources, Production and Demand," Joint OECD/NEA-IAEA

Report, Paris, Dec. 1975.

are increasing their production capacity more rapidly than the U.S. ; but it

still will dominate the world with an estimated 60% of the world capacity

in 1980 (excluding the USSR).

The announced capacities for LWR fuel fabrication in 1985 of over

15,000 tonnes metal would be sufficient to fuel 783,000 MW of capacity at

the assumed 60% capacity factor. (If fueling of new plants is required

as well, then the fuel fabrication plants can handle over 500,000 MW of

existing plant.) Expansion beyond this projected capacity, necessary

only after about 1988, can occur in several countries. Developing nations
IV - 49

such as Iran with large nuclear power programs in prospect, could build

fuel fabrication plants. Brazil has announced its intention to do so;

others can if they wish. (But see Section IV-F.) Many of the fuel

fabrication facilities are likely to incorporate provisions for plutonium

recycle after this is demonstrated in the major nuclear countries.

E. @recessing

The recovery of the slightly enriched uranium and of the plutonium

discharged from power reactors and their preparation for reuse is the

final step in the fuel cycle. While the recovery step could improve the

economics of nuclear power by reducing the requirements for uranium and

for enrichment services, it is not essential for LWR systems and is not

now used for HWR fuel cycles. It would be essential to the operation of

breeder reactor systems when and if they become commercially viable.

(SRI estimates there will be no noticeable direct impact of breeder

systems on the nuclear fuel industry until 1995.*) At the present time,

reprocessing of uranium metal fuel elements is available through

government owned and/or controlled facilities in France and the UK. These

countries have plants run by government controlled corporations (those

with greater than 50% government ownership). In the U.S., similar

facilities exist and are operated by industry in contract to the

government in its plutonium producing operations. Facilities also exist

in the USSR and presumably in China.

* Even though the French and others have operated prototype breeders,

the expected time periods required for construction and commercialization

of a full-scale plant account for this estimate. Breeders could have a more

immediate indirect impact on the fuel cycle, however. Anticipation of their

future development may cause some stockpiling of retrieved plutonium in

competition with its potential use in mixed-oxide fuels for LWRs.
IV - 50

No commercial scale facilities for the reprocessing of oxide fuel

are in operation. The one commercial plant that did operate in the U.S.

is shut down and has been effectively abandoned by its owner. Another

plant with 1500 tons/y capacity at Barnwell, S.C., could be put into

operation in 2-3 years after decisions regarding licensing and waste

treatment are reached. Modified metal processing plants (with special

additions to handle oxide fuel) may be available in 1977 in France and

slightly later in the UK. Full scale processing plants specifically

designed for oxide fuels are not expected until after 1980. The status

of current and planned plants (excepting those of COMCOM) is shown in Table IV-5.

Additional capacity (approximately 1000 te/a) may be available in Spain.

by 1985-90.

These facilities are more capital intensive than many other of the

fuel cycle plants. Thus costs may rise beyond those quoted in Table IV-2.

In the U.S., the single commercial plant that was operated and the one under

construction have suffered from regulatory actions that required retrofit

and/or redesign, and costs have escalated. Operation of a large plant

may only be justified by nationally generated reactor fuel that amounts

to 500 t/y or more, equivalent to about 25,000 MW of installed capacity.

The plant would require an estimated 500 workers to operate.

Because of the capital investment, not many

LDCs would decide to build commercial plants. However, pilot size

facilities could be constructed and used to produce plutonium for weapons

or other use.

Again, Brazil has announced its intent to engage in reprocessing.
IV - 51

Table IV-5

SUMMARY OF REPROCESSING PROJECTS AROUND THE WORLD*

Operato r Type of plant Capacity Dat e Statu s

e: y operational

U.S.A.

West Valley NFS old , 300 1966 to 530 is processed before snut

N.Y. 1912 down for expanslon

Expanded, cxrde 750 early 1980s Dependent on new con.

struction permit

Midwest GE Oxide, advanced 300 — present for m

M rX T M, Ill. process Currently provIdIng fuel

Barnwell

storage

AGNS Commercial, oxide 1500 1977-7 8 Depending on GESMO

S.C. decisions

— Exxon Commercial oxide — mid - 1980s LOoking for site

*From Nuclear Engineering International.
IV-5 2

Japan and Germany are definitely interested. Other nations, including

Iran, Pakistan and South Korea, have discussed the possibility of importing the technology. Spain, perhaps Italy, and others would seem likely

candidate countries for

F. Fuel Cycle Summary

The major elements

they support (when each

full scale reprocessing activities.

of the fuel cycle cost much less than the reactor

unit is made to an economical size) as was shown

in Table IV-2, and countries which can finance reactors can finance the

support elements. However, if the fuel cycle plants (at an economical

size) are sufficiently large to load from 7 to 101 reactors**, their

installation will require that most of the developing nations seek an

export business.

Even with the optimistic assumption of the 1974 IAEA Market Study,

none of the countries considered in that study would, by themselves,

generate the fuel through-put necessary to justify in the year 1990 the

large scale plants considered economic by the U.S. Smaller sized fuel

cycle plants could perhaps be considered by Mexico, Brazil, Argentina,

Spain, Yugoslavia, India, Iran, Korea, Poland, Romania and Czechoslovakia

on the basis of their indigenous nuclear power programs. These are all

countries that:

1. Have large nuclear power programs in progress or well advanced

in planning, or

* Germany Is a partner in United Uranium Processors with the UK and France

** The larger number refers to a 8.75 x 106 kg-SWU\y diffusion enrichment

plant. Centrifuge plants serving many fewer large reactors may prove

economical.
2.

3.

IV - 53

2. Were singled out as likely to have substantial growth by the

IAEA analysis, and

Are, for the most part, not fully democratic, i.e. they are

countries where government policies can be implemented without

full consideration of public wish or direct business interest.

Fuel cycle activities, except for mining and milling, would not be a

logical economic investment for the others

extensive export trade.

G. Reactor Supply

The reactor supply business has been

countries. The U.S., Canada, the Federal

unless they could attract

pursued in several industrialized

Republic of Germany, France,

Italy, Japan, Sweden, and the USSR have viable operating companies

supplying nuclear reactors. See Table IV-6. These organizations

purchase heavy and special equipment such as pressure vessels and nuclear-quality

stainless-steel valves from a host of suppliers located in many of the other

industrialized nations of the world! Many of the components of the nowcoventional nuclear systems are larger than previously needed for other

industries, and new plants suitable for handling extra large and heavy

equipment have been built to fill the demand. Also exceptional quality

is required for many components and new standards of manufacturing performance involving physical operations, inspection activity, and quality

control are demanded. For several years general manufacturing capacity

fell behind demand, but today, following a drop-off in the rapid growth

of nuclear plant ordering, there is spare capacity in most if not all

segments of the reactor supply industry. The existence of this spare

capacity is one factor behind the several efforts to export nuclear

* Some examples are Austria, Finland, Netherlands, Belgium, Spain, and

Switzerland
IV - 54

Table IV-6

PRINCIPAL SUPPLIERS OF HWR AND LWR REACTORS

Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd

Siemans

Canadian General Electric

LWR

Kraftwerk Union AG

Framatron

Atomenergoexport

ASEA-Atom

General Electric Co*

Westinghouse Electric Co*

Toshiba

Hitachi

Combustion Engineering

Babcock and Wilcox

Ansaldo Meccanico Nuclear SpA

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries

Canada

FRG

Canada

FRG

France

USSR

Sweden

USA

USA

Japan

Japan

USA

USA

Italy

Japan

*AlSo European based subsidiary or joint companies.

systems to developing countries.

It is believed that for a reactor supplier to be fully competitive,

it must have a minimum of 4-6 orders per year. The reactor producers in

the U.S. have relied on export business to fill their factories. Sales are

hard for new suppliers. Proof of prior successful operation is an important

factor for a reactor sale. Examination of the history of nuclear power

development indicates that the purchaser ordinarily requires a high degree

of confidence in the supplier ( a not unreasonable demand). This is
IV - 55

evidenced in several ways. For example, a long term supplier-user relationship was required in the U.S. Of those companies who entered the reactor

supply business, full acceptance has been given only to companies who had

long standing relationships with utilities. In the international market,

government guarantees or favorable loans have undoubtedly influenced the

selection of particular suppliers. The existence of a strong relationship

between vendor and purchaser seems important here as well.r This must be

supplemented by aggressive marketing and seemingly a demonstrated ability to

field and operate reactor systems. For example, India, Italy, Japan, Spain,

and Switzerland bought their first reactor systems from recognized suppliers

in Canada, the UK, and the USA after the suppliers had built and planned

reactors in operation in their own countries. Now all of these countries

have their own nuclear component suppliers, many of which operate under

license, producing systems whose design was proven in Canada or the U.S.

If developing countries are to enter the market they must overcome

fierce competition from experienced suppliers. The optimistic IAEA

Survey does not indicate sufficient reactor business in any LDC in the

period 1985-1990 to justify market entry, and any such entry based on export

could only come at substantial cost. We recognize there can be exceptions.

India is now attempting to build a reactor supply business matched to its

modest reactor needs. Its department of atomic energy is engaged in the

construction of 880 MW of HWRs now expected to be operational between 1978-82.

The possibility of India making significant entry into the reactor

export business within the next ten to fifteen years is small. In doing so,

India would enter into competition with the AECL and Canadian industry
IV - 56

which have more experience and will probably have greater production

capacity. No Indian-built reactors have as yet become operational, and

as stated above, demonstrated success is an important consideration to

LDC buyers. In addition, the funds that most vendor nations make available

to LDCs as an aid to financing a nuclear project are not readily available

for India to lend.
Iv - 57

V THE VALUE OF U.S. NUCLEAR EXPORTS

Exportation of nuclear-related equipment, materials, and services

has had a significant effect on the growth of the U.S. nuclear industry.

The two largest American reactor manufacturers, Westinghouse and General

Electric, have together installed almost 6,000 MW of operating nuclear

capacity in foreign nations, and are supplying over 19,000 MW of capacity

to foreign plants currently under construction. Sale of these nuclear

steam supply systems (NSSS) accounts for the largest share of the revenue

obtained from U.S. nuclear exports. Other major contributors include

"balance-of-plant" (non-NSSS) equipment, engineering and construction

services, and enrichment services provided by the U.S. government. The

dollar values of these purchases greatly outweigh the revenues from the

other nuclear exports.

A primary incentive for the export of nuclear-related commodities

is the favorable cash flow that accompanies the sale of capital-intensive

equipment. Additionally, exports can be used to increase NSSS production

if domestic ordering falls. Reducing idle production capacity can be

extremely important, since much of this capacity is unique to the nuclear

industry and very costly.
IV - 58

Noneconomic factors can also provide some incentive for nuclear

exports. For example, because of the continuing replacement parts

requirements, technical aid, and fuel cycle services, some influence can

be gained by the exporting nation. This argument has been raised in

support of the continuation of U.S. nuclear exports. It is reasoned

that the safeguards required on

in the world nuclear scene will

Nuclear Plant Exports

American exports and an American presence

ensure our standards are met.

This country has historically led the world in nuclear technology.

The light water reactor concept, which was pioneered by the United States,

is now by far the most commonly used reactor system around the world.

Until relatively recently, America was the only exporter of LWRs, but

several other free-world nations have now developed LWR export capability

(based largely on U.S. technology and license arrangements). The most

important of these are Germany and France, which have already penetrated the

world reactor market with major sales. These nations can be expected to increase their share

and Italy may also

The USSR currently

is not expected to

of the market in the future. In addition, Japan, Sweden,

be expected to become exporters over the coming years.

exports LWR systems to the Eastern Bloc countries, but

capture a significant portion of the free world market.
IV - 59

Heavy water reactors, which employ natural uranium fuel, have been

*

successfully marketed by Canada. These systems typically require a

higher initial capital investment than LWRs, due largely to the high cost

of heavy water. However, the fuel cycle costs are lower because the

uranium enrichment step is not required. In addition, the use of a

natural uranium fueled reactor is desirable to many smaller nations

because of the freedom it provides from dependence on those larger countries that possess enrichment facilities.

As noted previously, the United States has installed nearly 6,000

MW of nuclear capacity in foreign countries. Seven percent of this

figure (two reactors for India with a combined output of 396 MW) was exported to LDCs; the remainder went to European nations and Japan. Total

reactor shipments to LDCs have accounted for 1,254 MW of capacity, as

shown in Table V-la. The four non-U.S. supplied reactors were HWRS, and

comprised about 68 percent of nuclear capacity installed to the LDCs.

Table V-1b lists the exports to LDCs of reactor systems for plants

presently under construction or on order. In order to show current trends,

these orders are split into three categories: those which have expected

commercial operation dates before the end of 1980, between 1980 and

the end of 1985, and after 1985. In the first time category, the Americansupplied capacity is approximately 4,700 MW or 72 percent of the total

* One was also exported by Germany.
LDC — — .

Argentina

India

Pakistan

Tot al

IV - 60

Table V-1a

OPERATING REACTORS IN THE LDCs

u. s ●

Supplied

(MW) —— .

198

198

396

Year of

Commercial

Operation

Non -U. S.

Supplied

(MW )

1969

1969

319 (German HWR)

207 (Canadian HWR)

207 (Canadian HWR)

125 (Canadian HWR)

858

Year of

Commercial

Operation

1974

1973

1976

1972

Tot al 1, 254*

* American, 32 percent

Non-American, 68 percent

Table V-lb

REACTOR PLANTS UNDER CONSTRUCTION OR

ON ORDER IN LDCs

Non-U. S.

Commercial U.S. Supplied u. s . Supplied Non-U. S.

Operation (MW ) (percent ) (MW) (percent ) Total

1977-1980 4,657 72% 1,800 28% 6,457

1980-1985 4,570 38 6,817 62 11,987

Beyond 1985 0 0 600 100 600
IV - 61

LDC market. The only foreign competition over this time period comes

from Canada and Germany.

When reactors starting up in the LDCs during the next time period,

the end of 1980 to the end of 1985, are considered, the situation is

quite different. The U.S.-supplied nuclear capacity is approximately

4,600 MW, down only slightly from the preceding period. However, the

American-supplied fraction of the overall LDC market drops to 38 percent.

For this period, Canada and Germany have increased their share, and

France has entered the export market with two large reactors. To date,

only one order has been placed by an LDC for a reactor starting up

beyond 1985. This is for a Canadian HWR that will be shipped to Argentina.

The apparent trend is toward a smaller American share of the LDC

reactor market In fact, no new orders for LDCs have

American vendors for the last two years. (Exceptions

been placed with

are two reactors

that progressed from the letter of intent to the ordered stage during

the period. )

The share of the LDC market that the United States captures in the

future will depend upon many factors. Important among these will be the

cost and also the reliability of American nuclear plants.
IV - 62

Reliability can have a major impact on the planning of an LDC, because a

nuclear plant would typically represent a relatively large fraction of the

LDC’s total generating capacity. The on-line refueling capability of

the CANADA reactor system is attractive in this regard.

Another important consideration will be the type of governmental

restrictions that are placed on nuclear-related exports. It has been reported that. Iran had investigated the possibility of purchasing some

American reactors but felt that the agreement required by the U.S. government was too demanding. American export policy also prohibited the transfer of enrichment and reprocessing technology to other nations. In fulfillment of a contract signed with Brazil, Germany will not only supply

nuclear generating plants, but will also provide the know-how for the

construction of a demonstration enrichment facility. Canadian reactors

can be expected to remain a strong competitor with American LWRs for the

.

LDC’s market. The CANADA system has many characteristics that are desirable to the LDCs. As mentioned previously, employment of a natural uranium

fuel allows freedom from dependence on those countries that will be exporters of enrichment services. This factor would be especially important if LDC planners view the currently proposed enrichment capacity

around the world as being inadequate to meet the expected demand. The
IV - 63

1974 reversal of the AEC’s policy of booking orders for enrichment services

may have contributed to this view. In addition, recent occurrences such

as the defeat of the nuclear fuel assurance bill and the continued erosion

of private interest in enrichment could have only further reinforced the

fear of enrichment shortages.

CANADA reactors are built in a smaller size than most LWRs presently

being made. A typical CANADA plant is in the 600 MW range, whereas that of

a new American LWR is about 900 MW. The lower capacity of CANADA units

makes them more suitable for use in LDCs, which typically have low total system

capacities. Compared with LWRs, CANADA reactors are more efficient in the

production of plutonium, and are also able to produce a grade of plutonium

more suitable for weapon production. In addition, the on-line refueling

capabiility of these reactors would enable plutonium to be removed without

shutting down. These would be important characteristics to a nation that

wanted to acquire a nuclear weapons capability or give the appearance of

developing this capability.

It now appears that several countries may invest heavily in CANADA

systems in the future. Argentina has ordered a series of these reactors,

and Korea, with two American LWR plants currently under construction, has

chosen a CANADA for its third plant. Mexico has ordered two U.S.-built

reactors for its first nuclear plants. However, the Mexican government

has now requested a technical proposal for construction of a 600 MW CANADA,
IV - 64

and is reportedly leaning toward this type of technology. India plans

to produce its own HWR based upon Canadian technology, and is purchasing

heavy water from the USSR. The possibility of India making significant

export sales within the next ten to fifteen years, however, is small (see

Section IV G).

Three factors could work against the future spread of the CANADA system.

These are Canada’s potential lack of capital to help LDCs finance plants,

the strong export safeguard measures adopted by the Canadian government,

and potential limitations in the reactor production capability of Canada.

It is believed that after meeting its own reactor needs in future years,

Canada may have only about one reactor per year available for export.

At the present time, however, the Canada vendors (along with reactor

manufacturers in general) are facing the opposite problem of not enough

orders.

Political factors can also be expected to affect reactor sales to

the LDCs to a certain extent. For countries that have close American ties,

there will be some influence to purchase U.S. equipment. As can be seen

by the cases of Mexico and Korea, however, this influence is not a guarantee for reactor sales. Some LDCs have also developed a mistrust of larger
IV - 65

countries, and the superpowers in particular. This feeling could influence them to place orders with smaller vendor nations such as Canada.

It is very difficult to predict the future of reactor sales, but

trends can be evaluated and estimates made. As noted, the American share

of the LDC reactor market has been dropping ,and it appears likely that

this trend will continue. The data suggest that the United States can

be expected to supply between 35 and 40 percent of the LDC plants starting

up in the 1980 to 1985 period. A drop in this fraction, to the 25 to 30

percent range, would be a reasonable expectation for the latter half of

the next decade. Using the estimates for nuclear growth considered to

be the most representative of the future (see Chapter III), U.S. industry

should receive orders for 5,500 to 7,500 MW of capacity starting up in

the LDCs in the former period, and 8,000 to 10,000 MW in the latter

period. These estimates would result in a total installation of 18,000

to 22,000 MW of American-supplied capacity in the LDCs during 1977 to

1990. The future revenue to the United States that will result from the

sale of these power plants could be expected to range from $5 to $7

billion in 1976 dollars.

American industry has supplied approximately 5,500 MW of currently

operating nuclear capacity to developed foreign nations. The largest

share of these orders has gone to Japan, which accounts for almost half
Iv - 66

of the total. Table V-2 lists American-supplied reactors for plants in

this group of nations that are currently under construction or on order.

Spain can be noted as the major buyer of American plants in this category, accounting for 60 percent of the 17,000 MW U.S. export market to

developed countries.

Many of the same factors that were noted earlier as affecting export

sales to LDCs will play a part in determining future sales to developed

nations as well. In the case of developed countries, however, the possibility of the buyer becoming a reactor producer is much more likely.

Japan has developed LWR production capability and currently has operating

reactors built by its indigenous industry, and American reactor sales to

Japan have suffered because of this. In addition, the remaining share

of the Japanese market, which will be open to imports, may be less available for U.S. vendors, because Japan is reportedly investigating the possibility of importing reactors from Germany or Canada in the future.

Spain is currently developing indigenous manufacturing capability for

many reactor components and hopes by 1980 to be producing complete NSSS

units.

The fraction of reactor installation in developed countries, which

is open to the world market, can therefore be seen to be decreasing.

Also, competition from other reactor exporters is becoming stiffer for
IV - 67

Table V-2

U.S. SUPPLIED REACTORS ON ORDER

OR UNDER CONSTRUCTION IN DEVELOPED COUNTRIES

Japan Spain Sweden Yugoslavia

Capacity Capacity Capacity Capacity

(MW) Start-Up (MW) Start-Up (MW) Start-Up (MW) Start-Up

1,12 0 1977 883 1977 912 1977 632 1979

1,06 7 1977 9 0 0 1977 912 1979

1,12 0 1978 900 1978

883 1978

1,06 7 1979 882 1979

882 1979

935 1980

939 1981

939 1981

1,036 1981

970 1982
IV - 68

these markets. These factors can be expected to result in a smaller

American share of the reactor market in developed countries.

Table V-3 shows the American-supplied and total nuclear capacities

that are currently under construction or on order in Western Europe for

*

the periods from 1977 through 1980 and 1980 through 1985. The American

share of orders for plants starting up in the first time period accounts

for 18 percent of Western European installations. In the second time

period, this share has dropped to 9 percent. Considering this trend

and the envisioned development of the Western European reactor production

capability, an American share of approximately 5 percent would be likely

in the period from 1985 to 1990.

Using the expected growth of nuclear capacity in Western Europe,

American-supplied capacity in this region would range from 6,000 to 8,000

MW installed for plant start-up between 1980 through 1985 and 4,000 to 7,000

MW in the succeeding five years.’ These estimates result in a capacity

of 19,000 to 24,000 MW to be installed between 1977 and 1990. The contribution from reactor exports to Japan would increase this range to 30,000

to 35,000 MW of orders for American vendors over the same time period.

The revenue (in 1976 dollars) to the United States obtained in the period

through 1990 because of these nuclear plant sales would be in the range

1977

* The countries within this grouping, plus Japan, are the only developed

countries expected to make significant purchases of U.S. reactors.
IV - 69

Table V-3

AMERICAN SUPPLIED AND TOTAL

UNDER CONSTRUCTION OR ON ORDER

Commercial U.S. Supplied

Operation (MW )

1977-1980 8,700

1980-1985 3,900

U.S ●

(percent)

18%

9

NUCLEAR CAPACITIES

IN WESTERN EUROPE*

Non-U.S.

Supplied

(MW)

40,300

38,200

Non-U.S.

(percent)

82%

91

Total

49,000

42,100

* Includes Yugoslavia.
Iv - 70

of $5.5 to $7 billion. When this is combined with the revenue expected

from reactor sales to LDCs over the same period, the total value of

American reactor plant exports would be between $10 and $14 billion.

Exported reactor plants currently make up a moderate share of the

nuclear capacity produced by American industry. For American-built

plants starting up from 1977 through 1980, the exported fraction is 30

percent. For the entire period from 1977 through 1985, this fraction

*

will be approximately 18 percent. Once again, the long-range trends

are difficult to predict. It can be expected, however, that although

the relative importance of foreign reactor sales is decreasing, these

sales will continue to represent a significant potential source of income

to American manufacturers through 1930 and probably beyond.

Nuclear Fuel Cycle Exports

As noted earlier in this chapter, the sale of enrichment services

is another large contributor to the revenues obtained from nuclear-related

exports. American capacity is currently committed through 1985, and no

orders have as yet been taken beyond that date. Roughly one-third of

this capacity (about 70 million SWU) has been ordered by "foreign customers

for delivery in the 1977 to 1985 period. Assuming an average charge of

$80 per SWU, the revenue expected from this source will be about $6 billion.

* Tile shares of American-built plants starting up in the LDCs in the

1977 to 1980 and 1980 to 1985 periods are 8 and 6 percent, respectively.
IV - 71

Because of the many uncertainties surrounding the development of new

enrichment facilities in the United States and elsewhere, it is difficult to estimate the potential export value of this service above that

which is already committed. New U.S. capacity will face competition from

new centrifuge and diffusion enrichment plants under construction and

planned for Europe. However, if the U.S. has spare capacity, some enrichment services will be exported.

The export of fuel fabrication services presents a smaller revenue

to the United States than does the sale of power plants or enrichment

services. This process does not require a large capital investment and

is not highly technical; therefore, in the future, many countries can be

expected to be marketing fuel fabrication services. This will produce

strong competition for this market. In addition, the U.S. industry may be

nampered by the uncertainty about long-term permission to export fuel

services and by the existence of government-supported activities in other

countries. The value of the export of fuel fabrication services can

be expected to be on the order of $1.5 to $2 billion through 1985.

Tile future of spent fuel reprocessing in the United States is still

very uncertain. Even if the decision is soon made to go ahead with reprocessing

and plutonium recycle, it would be many years before a commercial industry

had developed sufficiently to provide reprocessing services to foreign

customers,
IV - 72

The effect of an American embargo alone on the export of nuclearrelated commodities would not be expected to have a major effect on

the use of nuclear power around the world. Competing manufacturers

such as Germany currently have spare reactor production capacity and

could increase their exports. In addition, fuel cycle services (with

the possible exception of enrichment in the short term) could be readily

obtained on the open market.

It is not clear what influence an American embargo would have on

the export policy of the other exporting nations. If it was to have

a major effect, then the use of nuclear power in many of the LDCs could

be significantly reduced.
Iv -73

VI CONCLUSIONS

In the current economic, political, and social climate many

difficulties arise in trying to forecast the future need for energy.

The continued influence of the OPEC cartel and rapid escalation of

construction costs have unsettled traditional methods for calculating

economic equilibrium. Formerly reliable assumptions relating energy

demand and electricity share to macro-economic parameters have been

questioned and new ones suggested.

In analyzing the role that nuclear power will play in the world,

SRI has evaluated the latest data available and drawn from other ongoing studies. For clarity, this task was divided into four segments:

1. The role of energy and power in economic development

2. Review of the major alternative forcasts

3. The movement of nuclear materials and equipment

4. The value of U.S. nuclear exports.

The following conclusions have been drawn with regard to these

major topics.

1. The role of energy and power in economic development

• The quantitative nature of the relationship between economic

growth and energy use in developed countries has been

reevaluated in many studies recently (for example, the Ford
IV - 74

Foundation Policy Report). However, it is certainly still

true that if the LDCs are to continue to sustain any measure

of economic growth, they will require increasing energy

consumption.

● A full forecast of power demand for the LDCs would require a

projection of the developmental pattern of each country (for

example, agricultural, industrial, or service orientation),

projections of regional fuel prices, demand-price sensitivities,

generation plant capital costs and regional efficiency of

energy use.

● Certain characteristics predispose a nation to the use of

nuclear power. The more important of these are a lack of

cheap and conveniently located alternative energy sources,

and a sizable (and preferably rapidly growing) power demand

in a single integrated system. Other factors favoring nuclear

power are compactness of demand area and the presence of

industrial operations with constant power requirements.

2. Review of the major alternative forecasts of installed nuclear

capacity.

● Jumps in the price of oil (and other energy sources) following

the 1973 embargo, coupled with rapid capital cost increases in

the 1974-75 period, outdated many of the cost assumptions of

the earlier forecasts (such as the IAEA market surveys).

● Direct comparison among the various forecasts is difficult

because they deal with different groups of countries and
IV - 75

different time frame. However, it is apparent that the more

recent the study, the lower the value estimated for nuclear

capacity growth. The major factors contributing to this are:

A decreased expectation for the growth of energy demand

around the world due to decreases in projections of

population and GNP growth, recent much higher average

prices for energy, increased emphasis on conservation

and improvements in the efficiency of energy use.

Increasing experience concerning the rising costs and

difficulties encountered in the construction and operation of nuclear power plants.

Public opposition to nuclear power around the world has

become increasingly effective.

● It seems now that nuclear fuel cycle costs and nuclear plant

capital costs

respectively,

1980s. These

other studies

may range as high as 7 mils/kW hr and $925/kW

for a plant beginning operation in the midcost estimates are higher than those in the

reviewed in Chapter III.

Ž In general, the forecasts reviewed did not adequately consider

the available alternatives to the use of nuclear power. For

example, increasing use of indigenous coal and development of

a world-wide trade in steam coal are likely. SRI believes
IV - 76

that tanker-type shipment of coal could” be achieved to supply

seaside power stations in the LDCs with coal at prices as low

as $17-$24/ton. For these special locations, coal would be

an obvious and economical choice.

● Competition to nuclear development could also come from hydropower and the use of natural gas that is currently a wasted

by-product of much oil production.

● Partially offsetting some of the above factors are certain noneconomic incentives that could be influential in expanding nuclear

development. These might include export pressures by

pliers, the desire for developing diversified sources

the prestige accompanying use of a modern technology,

interest in developing nuclear weapons capability, or

thereof.

nuclear supof energy,

and possible

the appearance

● Our own estimate of nuclear power growth is quite consistent

with that of the International Energy Agency as modified by

ERDA, the most conservative of the forecasts reviewed in

this report.

3. The movement of nuclear materials and equipment. The primary

conclusions for this topic can best be summarized by first

considering each segment of the nuclear fuel cycle:

● Uranium Supply - Uranium ore supplies at foreward production

costs of less than $30/lb are expected to be adequate for the

study period of this report. Canada, Australia, South Africa,
IV - 77

Gabon, and Niger will be the initial exporters; other nations

will undoubtedly become suppliers at later dates.

● Enrichment - Large-scale enrichment facilities, all based

upon the gaseous diffusion process, now exist in only four

nations. (The extent of capacity in one other country, the

Peoples’ Republic of China, is unknown.) Alternate processes

(notably centrifugation) promise to allow economical plants

at smaller sizes, and such plants are currently under construction in Europe. However, a large increase in the number

of nations providing commercial enrichment services is not

expected, due largely to the technical complexity and capital

costs involved.

• Fuel Fabrication - Commercial scale facilities for the fabrication of oxide fuels are currently operational in six

countries. This technique does not require high technology

or large capital expenditure, therefore it could potentially

spread to those less developed countries planning large

nuclear capacities such as Iran (Brazil has already announced

its intention to fabricate fuel). On economic grounds alone,

many facilities are likely to incorporate plutonium recycle

if feasibility is demonstrated in the major nuclear countries.

Ž Reprocessing - . - No commercial scale facilities for the reprocessing of oxide fuels are currently operational, but several

industrialized nations are expected to provide this service

by the mid 1980s. Due to the capital investment and technical
IV - 78

requirements of a full-scale reprocessing plant, not many

LDCs could be expected to build such facilities. However,

pilot size plants could be constructed and used to produce

plutonium for weapons or other use.

Brazil has announced its intent to develop a pilot reprocessing plant, and several other LDCs have also discussed the

importation of reprocessing technology. However, current

indications are that all of the important industrialized

nuclear countries are committed to an embargo on future

*

export of reprocessing technology.

● It is important to note that the large fuel cycle operations

considered economic in the U.S. are too large to be supported

by the nuclear capacity of any developing country, at least

until. after 1990. This is true even if the most optimistic

forecast, that of the IAEA Market Survey, is used. If an

export market could be established, smaller but reasonably

competitive plants especially for enrichment and fuel fabrication could be considered by 11 countries. These are Mexico,

Brazil, Argentina, Spain, Yugoslavia, India, Iran, Korea,

Poland, Romania, and Czechoslovakia. (Other activities

including fuel reprocessing for plutonium recovery could be

established if sufficient government support or incentives

were offered.

*

Nuclear Engineering International, January 1977.
IV - 79

● Large scale commercial use of breeder reactors is not expected

before the year 1995. Breeders would therefore not have a

significant direct impact on the nuclear fuel cycle before

the end of this century. However, anticipation of future

breeder development may cause some stockpiling of retrieved

plutonium in competition with its potential use in mixedoxide fuels for LWRs.

4. The value of U.S. nuclear exports

● The commercial importance to the U.S. of exporting nuclear

materials and services resides largely in the sale of reactors,

associated nuclear generating plant equipment, and enrichment

services. The dollar values of these purchases greatly outweigh the revenues expected from the export of other nuclear

services and materials.

● In the past, the U.S. has captured a very large fraction of

the reactor export market. However, with increasing competition from other vendor nations, the American share is expected

to fall. For the case of exports to the LDCs, the fraction

of U.S.- supplied nuclear capacity beginning commercial operation from the start of 1977 through the end of 1980 will be

greater than 70%. In the succeeding five year period, 1980

through 1985, the American share is down to 38%.
IV - 80

● The major factors contributing to this downward trend are .

uncertainties in the future availability of enriched uranium

from the U.S., governmental regulation of nuclear export sales,

and reluctance of LDCs to become even more dependent on U.S.

industry.

● Total foreign nuclear capacity currently committed to startup

between 1977 and 1985, that is being supplied by American

reactor vendors is in the 25,000 to 27,000 MW range. (Approximately 9,000 MW of this figure is scheduled for export to

developing countries.) The future revenue to the U.S. accruing

from these plant sales can be expected to reach $0-s billion.

● Additional new orders for plants coming on line by 1985 will

likely push total exports to the 34,000-38,000 MW range, of

which 10,000-12,000 MW would be to developing countries.

• By 1990, American-installed nuclear capacity in the developing

countries could be expected to range from 18,000 to 22,000 MW.

The revenues accrued from these sales would be on the order of

$5 to 7 billion.

● The withdrawal of American reactors from the world market

could have some political influence on the use of nuclear

power in some of the developing nations. However, because of
IV - 81

the many competing vendor nations that can be expected to

have excess production capacity, an American export embargo

alone would not significantly hinder the ability of LDCs to

obtain reactor systems. It is not obvious to what extent an

American embargo would influence other vendor nations to limit

their exports of nuclear materials. This influence could be

important, however.

● Enrichment services supplied by the U.S. government also have

a major impact on the value of nuclear exports. About 70

million SWU is currently committed to foreign customers

through 1985. Assuming an average charge of $80/SWU, the

revenue obtained from this source will be near $6 billion.

Beyond 1985, it is uncertain how much U.S. enrichment capacity

will be available to provide for export.
IV - 82

Appendix A. Nuclear Power Plant Manpower Requirements

The operation of nuclear power plants, per se, requires the skills

and abilities common to other large thermal stations. More careful training

is usually given to nuclear plant operators but they are recruited from the

general body of utility plant workers. It has been estimated that 95

skilled workers are required for normal operation of a nuclear power station

of 1,100 MW capacity and 65 and 80 and required for oil and coal fired

stations of 800 MW size respectively.

Maintenance of nuclear stations can require larger numbers of skilled

workers with ability to work carefully under conditions of stress and in

unusual environments. The radiation fields that can be encountered can limit

the working time of an individual worker. These same fields may also require

remote operations and thus reduce worker productivity. The presence of

radioactive materials can require the use of protective clothing, masks, etc.

These tend to reduce worker efficiency and can impair work quality as well.

Many more workers of a given skill (e.g., welder) may be required for maintenance of nuclear power plants.

While large utility systems in industrialized nations usually have the

required reserve of manpower for maintenance, it is not clear that developing

countries can easily have the reserve manpower that may be necessary for

nuclear

but it’s

power station maintenance. Importation of such manpower is possible,

use could decrease the apparent cost advantage of nuclear power.

Construction of nuclear power stations requires large numbers of

skilled workers, many of whom must be certified or otherwise specially

qualified. This labor is generally available in industrialized nations but
IV - 83

scarce in developing countries.* Even in the USA there is evidence that

proper construction labor is sometimes in short supply. The combined

pressures of the World Trade Center construction in NYC, the rapid construction

of an automobile plant in Ohio and the first wave of nuclear power plant

construction in the late 1960s created labor shortages, a competition for

labor through overtime authorization, and an inflated construction cost for

all projects. Similar effects have been noted during the construction

of the Alaskan pipeline. Relevant to this problem of labor scarcity is the

experience of Babcock and Wilcox who attempted to establish a plant at

Madison, Indiana, a labor surplus area, for the construction of LWR pressure

vessels. B. and W. recruited and trained previously unskilled labor for the

plant operations. As the labor force became trained in specialty welding and

other related skills, it was rapidly depleted by recruitment from other

employers and moved to other areas at higher wages. This could happen to the

native construction labor force in a less developed country.

In addition to the large numbers of construction laborers required, a

large staff with diverse skills

The erection of a nuclear power

is essential for nuclear plant construction.

plant requires trained engineering staff for

quality control, general engineering, design and other functions. The number

of engineering man-hours has risen to about 2 million over the past several

years as experience has shown the need. This particular labor requirement

will not impact on all developing countries equally as some will purchase

plant supply services from developed countries. Only a few, e.g., India,

will do the engineering support work themselves.

* This statement is generally true although even projects in industrialized

countries must provide specialist training to many workers.
VOL. 2, NO. 1 JANUARY 1977

APPENDIX B

Energy in a Changing World

V. Eugene Harless, directo r

Energy Economics Department

During the last, few years, crude oil

prices have increased to levels that most

of the world’s people would have considered unbelievable in 1970. Pronouncements have asserted that crude oil

supplies would not be adequate to meet

aggregate demand by 1990 or even

earlier. SRI’S Energy Center is frequently

asked what the availability and prices of

primary energy resources will be in the

future and how energy will affect future

economic developments and political

decisions. Single and multiclient studies

covering future energy developments for

various countries and for the world have

been prepared. Work is in progress on a

multiclient effort entitled “World Energy

Study- 1950 to 2000,” which will provide further insights into these questions.

A few observations from these projects

are given below.

● Future petroleum prices may moderate when expressed in constant dollars,

but they are unlikely to return to 1970

levels.

● Petroleum supplies probably will be

adequate for the remainder of the 20th

century.

. Demand for petroleum is expected

to increase at lower rates than earlier

forecasts had indicated because of conservation measures and substitution of

other energy Sources.

● Investment and operating costs for

energy production, processing and dist ribut ion, which in many cases had

increased more rapidly than inflation

during tile early 1970s, are anticipated

to increase at substantially lower rates

during the next few years because of

active competition among suppliers of

the various energy sources.

World supplies of crude oils were

abundant and low in cost after World

War II up to the early 1970s. This

materially contributed to the rapid postwar industrial recovery of the developed
IV - 85

countries and the concomitant long

period of general prosperity. Although

coal consumption increased moderately,

the majority of the growing demand for

energy was satisfied by the increased use

of natural gas and oil.

However. storm clouds were gathering

that would raise energy costs. modify

energy usc patterns, and even affect

future economic growth rates of the

developed and developing countrics.

The cumulative effects of several events

w’erc anticlpated by very few people,

and even these individuals did not perceive their full impact.

The 1960 reduction of 10 cents per

barrel in posted crude oil prices for the

Middle East was one of the important

factors leading to the formation of the

Organization of Petroleum Exporting

Countries (OPEC). During the early

1960s, OPEC was primarily concerned

with increasing the volumes of crude oil

marketed. The Six-Day War in 1967

resulted in the closing of the Suez Canal,

which necessitated the increased use of

large tankers to transport crude oil

around Africa for delivery to Europe

and the United States. Several events

occurred i n 1970 including Syria’s

cutting of the tapline in May and its

refusal to allow the line to be repaired;

Libya imposed restrictions on crude oil

production rates: the 1967 Clean Air

Act in the United States was amended

leading to increased oil imports to

replace some high-sulfur coal use; the

Environmental Protection Agency was

created in the United States; oil tanker

shipping costs increased; and Libya

forced the oil companies to increase

posted prices. which led to posted price

increases in other OPEC countries.

During 1971. the Tehran and Tripoli

Agreements provided for additional

increases in posted prices, crude quality

adjustments. and increased tax payments. The U.S. dollar was devalued late

in 1971, and OPEC raised the principle

of participation: the Geneva Agreement

of January 1972 provided for protection

of crude export values against furthe r

depreciation of the dollar.

Several Middle Eastern countries

signed participation agreements early in

1973, as well as a supplement to the

Geneva Agreement. Rapid economic

growth with substantial increases in

energy consumption rates was occurring

in the consuming countries, and concern

was growing over rising inflation rates.

This set the stage for the Arab oil

embargo in October during the Middle

East hostilities. By the end of 1973,

Saudi Arabian light crude oil had an

f.o.b. price of about $9.50 per barrel, an

increase of more than $8.00 per barrel

over the mid-1 970 price.

An oil price increase of this magnitude was sufficient to precipitate a

worldwide recession during 1974 in

nearly all non-OPEC countries. This cot]-

tributed to the positive benefit of moderating inflation rates. Economic recoveries were generally favorable in tile

developed countries in 1975 accompanied by declining inllation rates, indicating that the developed countries had

been able to adapt to higher energy

prices.

What will happen during the remainder of the 20th century? Speeches have

been given, articles written, and studies

prepared covering nearly every possibility that might occur. A few of the

more prevalent positions are repeated

below. Since 1970 there have been

recurring concerns that capital limitations will restrict future economic

growth in developing and developed

countries. Some believe that Inflation

rates cannot be kept under control.

which may lead to further recessions.

There have been frequent pronouncements that the world will incur shortages

of petroleum and uranium during this

period, leading to reduced economic

activity; also, there are those advocating

the need for crash programs to develop

nearly every possible substitute energy

source, regardless of its economic

viability. Some even believe that conditions will stabilize in a few years, resulting in economic and energy growth rates

again becoming similar to those occurring

in the 1960s.

Although all projections are subject

to error because of the many variable

factors, everyone (individuals, corporations. and governments) must provide

for the future based on an assessment of

what is likely to happen. SRI’S analyses

lead to the conclusion that major events

. 

of the last five years will cause repercussions for many years. Petroleum

prices, whether [hey increase or moderate on a constant dollar basis. are not

likely to return again to 1970 levels.

Economic activity. as measured by gross

national product. is expected to increase

at lowcr rates than prevailed in the 1960s.

Population growth rates should slowly

moderate.

The higher petroleum prices, lower

rates of economic activity, and moderating population growth rates are antici -

patcd to affect the demands for energy

and the prirmary energy mixes. As an

example of the magnitude of anticipated

energy consumption in 1990. a fairly

representative 1972 projection anticipatcd 116.3 million barrels per day of

free world demand for oil and 214.0

million barrels per day of oil equivalent

for total free world energy demand. SRI

has estimated 1990 free world demands

of 68.2 and 156.7 million barrels per

day of oil equivalent. respectively (reduced forecasts of about 41 and 27 percent ). The use o f oil is reduced more

than total energy because of conservat ion

measures and the substitution of other

energy resources. However. SRI’S

Energy Center believes that adequate oil

supplies will be available through the

remainder of this century. Conversely,

coal, natural gas, and,. uranium uses will

be accelerated because of high oil prices

and consumer desires to diversify supply

sources, especially from non-OPEC

count ries.

Lower expected consumption of

total energy and particularly the lower

requirements for oil would have wide

economic and political repercussions.

Tanker requirements for transporting

crude oil and petroleum products would

be reduced. Additional pipelines would

be required to transport natural gas.

Explorat ion programs for uranium

would be expanded as would the requirements for coal mining machinery and

coal transportation facilities. Reduced

economic activity and total energy consumption rates would adversely affect

industry in general by lowering overall

productivity y.

Although only a few examples have

been given. SRI has prepared studies to

quantify these effects in assisting clients

to develop their future long-range plans_ #
Appendix V: TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION OF FUEL

CYCLE FACILITIES

AND EVALUATION OF DIVERSION POTENTIAL
1.

2 .

2 . 1

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Appendix V

TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION OF FUEL CYCLE FACILITIES

AND EVALUATION OF DIVERSION POTENTIAL

Table of Contents

Introduction . .

The Nuclear Fuel

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Table of Contents, Continued

4. Diversion Potential of Reactor Fuel Cycle Material . . . . . . .

4.1 Exposure of Strategic Special Nuclear Material . . . . . . . . .

4.2 Diversion pathways for SSNM . . . . . . . . . . ● ● ● . . ● . ● ●

4.3 Conversion of Fuel Cycle Material to Weapons Material ● ● ● ●

5. Summary of Reactor Characteristics . . . . . . ● ● . ● . ● . ● .

Bibliography , , . . ● ● ● . . ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●

Appendix A . . . . . . ● ● ● . ● ● ● . ● . ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ● ●

Appendix B . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ● ● ● ● ● ●

U.S. Plutonium and Highly Enriched Uranium Exports . . . . . . . . . .

Page

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APPENDIX V

TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION OF FUEL CYCLE FACILITIES

AND DIVERSION POTENTIAL

1. INTRODUCTION

Considerable concern has been expressed over the possibility that

nations could extract from their nuclear power systems the fissile material

essential for nuclear weapons. There is, in fact, no intrinsic reason

why they could not do so, although no nation which has nuclear weapons

has effected them by these means. It is the intent of this section to

examine the existing and potential reactors and their associated fuel

cycles. With this background, the possibility of diversion from each system can

be understood and compared. In the past, proliferation potential has

not been considered as a parameter in the design of nuclear power systems.

If diversion is increasingly perceived as a problem, however, it may be

found desirable to favor those systems which are least vulnerable.

1
2. THE NUCLEAR FUEL CYCLE

2.1 INTRODUCTION

Nuclear energy is derived

by splitting or joining nuclei.

nucleus is struck by a neutron

from the conversion of mass

A fission reaction occurs

to energy

when a heavy

and shatters into two or more intermediate

weight nuclei and additional neutrons with slightly less total mass than the original nucleus. This mass defect is converted to energy - in the form of radiation and particle motion. The only naturally occurring nucleus that readily

235U (the isotope fissions (i.e. is fissile) when struck by a neutron is

of uranium containing 92 protons and 143 neutrons for an atomic mass

of 235). All others usually either deflect or absorb neutrons. There

are other notable fissile isotopes, all manmade. These are 233U and

all isotopes of plutonium.

A chain reaction occurs when neutrons emitted from fissioning nuclei

cause other nuclei to fission. This can happen only under certain conditions.

There must be sufficient fissile material present, arranged in an appropriate

geometry. A moderator may have to be present to slow the high energy (fast)

neutrons emerging from the fissioning nuclei so that they may be more readily

captured by other fissile nuclei. There cannot be too many other nuclei

present which absorb neutrons. To produce useful power some means of

control to keep the chain reaction at a constant rate must be included

and the heat generated must be removed by a coolant.

Uranium is naturally found as a mixture of two isotopes: the fissile

235U (0.71%) and 238U (99.29%). Natural uranium can be made to go critical

(i.e., sustain a chain reaction) only under very limited conditions

2
because the ratio of fissile to non-fissile material is low. Hence

235

for use as a nuclear fuel uranium is usually enriched in the fraction of u to

perhaps 3%. The criteria for the choice of coolant, moderator and structural

238U materials then become less stringent since fewer neutrons are abosorbed by .

When a nucleus absorbs a neutron without fissioning, it is converted into

another isotope of the same element. This may be itself a fissile nucleus of it

may indirectly result in one by a short term decay process. In this way the

238 239 “

uranium isotope U is transformed into U which after emission of an electron

(beta particle) becomes 239NP. This in turn decays by a beta emmission to become

239 232

Pu. In a similar way, the thorium isotope Th are said to be fertile. Reactors

can be fueled with any of the fissile isotopes and supplied with fertile material

to breed more fuel.

The fuelelements of nearly all power reactors contain both 238u and U235. In

238 239

normal operation, some of the U is converted to Pu, some of which is fissioned.

235

If the plutonium in the spend fuel is less than the U in the fresh fuel, the

reactor is called a converter or breeder. A sustainer reactor would be one which

produces the same amount of fissile material as it consumes. Some reactors, known

as breeders, produce more fuel from fertile isotopes than they use in operation.

Reactors operate on one of two major fuel cycles. The one used in most

reactors today is the uranium-plutonium cycle where the initial fissile material

is 235 238U U and plutonium is generated from the fertile . The other cycle is

233 232

thorium-uranium where U is fissile and Th is fertile. The major nuclear

reactions for these cycles are shown in Figure 1.

A neutron emitted by a fissioning atom has a high velocity and is referred

to as a fast or high energy neutron. As it strikes nuclei in its path, it loses

energy and slows down. It is then referred to as a slow or thermal neutron.

3
Figure 1. Uranium and Thorium Fuel Cycles. (Nuclides in the

circles are "fissile," that is, they readily undergo

fission in nuclear reactors. Nuclides enclosed in

square boxes are fertile. They undergo very little

fission themselves, at least in thermal-neutron

reactors, but are converted by neutron capture into

fissile nuclides.)

4
The efficiency of breeding of fertile material is dependent upon the neutron

energy spectrum. In general, thorium is bred more efficiently by thermal, or low

energy neutrons while 238U is bred more efficiently with fast or high energy neutrons.

Present fast breeder reactors are generally based on the U-Pu fuel cycle although

there is interest in a Thorium fast breeder. Thermal breeders must be based on the

Th-U fuel cycle. The reactor neutron energy spectrum is mainly determined by the

type of coolant and/or moderator.

As illustrated by the above discussion, there are many characteristics which define a nuclear reactor. Figure 2 illustrates a fission

power reactor characterization tree. Since the reactor is the dominant

part of the fuel cycle, the fuel cycle itself is generally characterized

by the reactor. Typically, the fuel cycle is expected to contain those

elements depicted in Fig. 3. At present, fuel is not being reprocessed,

and the cycle ends with spent fuel storage. The component which are most

vulnerable to diversions are uranium enrichment, spent fuel processing and the

transportation of their products. Each of the major elements will be discussed.

The reactor concept will be identified

2.2 MININ G

Uranium is the principal fuel required for present nuclear reactors.

It has been estimated that uranium constitutes 2-4 ppm of the earth’s

crust. Most of it, however, is such low grade (less than 0.001% U308)

that its extraction may not be economical. Presently, commercially

5
GAS COOLANT

FAST SPECTRUM

LIQUID-METAL COOLANT

NEUTRON SPECTRUM COOLANT MOLTEN SAL T

& THERMODYNAMIC CYCLE

GAS TURBINE

STEAM TURBINE

BOILIN G

MODERATOR&COOLAN T

ORGANIC 

HEAVY WATERCOOL E D )

PRESSURE TUBES

Th23 2

HIGHENRICHMEN T

LOWENRICHMEN T

NATURAL URANIUM

METAL

MICROSPHERES OXIDE

Fig. 2 . Fission Power Reactor Classification

I
,

cd

7
attractive ores must contain at least 0.05% U O . Deposits mined currently

3 8

contain between 0.1 to 0.5%. In some cases however, uranium ore is a

byproduct of the recovery processes of other minerals such as gold or

phosphates. About 12,000 metric tonnes (MT) of U308 are produced annually

in the U.S. Proven reserves in this country are 500,000 MT. The total

recoverable resource is probably several times this. World resources

are discussed in Appendix VIII, but it should be noted that most nations

have at least some low grade ores. A typical reactor requires about 150 MT

of U O per year.

3 8

Thorium is generally estimated to be three to five times more abundant than

uranium and is found in veins, sedimentary rocks and sands. Most of the

thorium currently produced in the U.S. (see Fig. 7) is a byproduct of

rare earth extraction. The annual production is about 150 MT. There

appears to be more than 100,000 MT of Th02 at $10/pound in the U.S.; world

supplies are five to ten times this amount.

A typical uranium or thorium mine may process about 1,000 MT ore/day.

This would yield about 1,000 MT U308 or 1,500 MT of Th02 per year.

The ratio of overburden to ore ranges from 1 to 10. The capital cost

for the mine would range from $10 to $20 million, with an operating cost

of $1 million (about $0.50/lb for operations). Required equipment is

similar to that required for other mining operations. Mines are either

open pit or underground depending on depth. Underground mines are more expensive to develop but are more secure from surveillance than pit mines if

8
clandestine operation is required. The usual hazards of underground mines

are augmented by the presence of radioactive radon gas, which can in the

long term cause cancer in the miners.

2.3 MILLING

In the milling operation uranium is recovered from the ore and

purified in preparation for subsequent fuel fabrication operations or

conversion for enrichment processing. The product of the milling

operation is a uranium salt called yellowcake, which contains between

70% and 90% U 3 O 8

The established milling industry in the U.S. has

a capacity to produce about 20,000 tons U O3 8

annually in 16 mills. Individual

production capacity ranges from 400 tons of ore per day to 7,000 tons of

ore per day.

The unit operations at a mill include crushing, grinding, leaching,

solids separation, extraction and yellowcake precipitation. The specific

methods vary with the composition of the ore mined. A general flow sheet

for a uranium mill using the acid leach-solvent process is shown in Fig. 4.

Major plant features include an ore storage and blending area; a

crushing building; a mill building containing grinding equipment, leaching

tanks, precipitation tanks, drying and packaging equipment; a solvent

extraction building; a tailings retention system; a sewage treatment

system, and several auxiliary buildings needed for offices and maintenance.

A typical mill could process 1,000 MT ore per day, requiring a capital

investment of about $10 million with operating costs of about $10 per

ton of ore (about $1.00/lb U O ). The land required for the mill is about 3 8

300 acres. The equipment is similar to that in other ore milling industries.

9
ATMOSPHERE

t

I STOCKPILED

FILTER

+

.

. *

SCREENING AND

CRUSHING

r

I

I

I

I

I

I

H20

H2S04 ACID i

LEACHING I

NoC103

[

I

ISL URRY I

SOLID I

WASTES TO r

TAILINGS

1 I

* COUNTER-CURRENT J

RECANTATION

4 —— 

PREGNANT LIQUOR

 ~ TAILINGS

IORGANIC PREGNANT

I R ECYCL E

ORGANIC

I

SALT 

SOLUTION -

STRIPPING CIRCUT

+ *

n

I b J

NH3 i -‘

*

PRECIPITATION

AND THICKENING

ATMOSPHERE

b

FILTER

U30B

PRODUCT

Figure 4. Generalized Flow Sheet for Uranium Milling

10
STOCKPILED ORE

# f

CRUSHING

GRINDING

I L

RESIDUE COUNTER- CURRENT

t - -

H2 O

TAILINGS DEcANTAT ION

PREGNANT LIQUOR

* 4

F LOCCULANTS

* CLARIFIER 81 FILTER

STRIPPING

I SOLUTION

PREGNANT LIQUOR I

LOADED ORGANIC

I 4

SOLVENT & h

EXTRACTION STRIPPING

RAFFINATE I

STRIPPED ORGANIC — I

- a 1

TO RARE EART H

LOADED STRIP I

RECOVERY SOLUTION

No~s204 t 1

FILTRATE I

FlLTRATION

L J

CAUSTiC DIGESTION

No OH

4

1 h

I

*

FILTRATE 4 FILTRATION 4

WASH

TAIL I NGS WATER

L

L * FILTER CAKE(Th ( OH) ~ )

Figure 5. Thorium Milling Flow Sheet

11
Recovering thorium from its ore requires milling and refining. The

milling process extracts the ore and upgrades it to predetermined specifications.

The techniques for current production of thorium from monazite sand are proprietary.

The thorium mill may employ an acid leach-solvent extraction process, as depicted

in Fig. 5. The major steps in this milling operation include crushing, leaching,

decanting, solvent extraction and precipitation to from a crude mill product.

The second part of the thorium recovery process is to refine this mill

product into material suitable for nuclear reactor fuel. One requirement is

that the uranium content must be less than 10 parts per million because of isotopic

dilution of the U-233 formed in the reactor.

The large neutron cross section of the lanthanides requires that their

concentration be reduced to 1-5 ppm. The most economical method of purification

is considered to be the counter--current solvent extraction process. A flow

diagram of the refinement is given in Fig. 6.

The capital and operating costs for thorium processing are likely to

be similar to those for uranium.

2.4 CONVERSION

For those reactors requiring enriched uranium, i.e. concentration of

U-235 greater than . 71%, the U308 must be converted to uranium hexafluoride (UF6), the only compound of uranium which is gaseous at a

temperature low enough for easy handling. In a conversion plant, the

yellowcake is purified and converted to approximately 99.9% Pure UF6 and

12
FILTER CAKE

I i

DISSOLVER HN03

4

~o

i

THORIUM NITRATE SOLUTION I

LOADED ORGANIC

STRIP

SOLUTION

v

SOLVENT SALT

EXTRACTION STRiPP!NG

LOADED STRIP SOLUTION

RAFFi NATE

TAILING S

.

DRYER

t

THORIUM NITRATE CRYSTALS

(NUCLEAR GRADE)

Figure 6. Thorium Refining

13
ROASTED URANIUM CONCENTRATE

‘3°8

‘2

REDUCTION

‘2

UO2 ATMOSPHERE

.HF HYDRO -

FLUORINATION SCRUBBING -

U F4

LIQUID WASTE F

2

FLUORINATION

SOLID

WASTES COLD TRAP

BURIED

DISTILLATION

UF6 PRODUCT

Figure 7. UF6 Production-Dry Hydrofluor Process,

Simplified Block Flow Diagram

14
is shipped in special cylinders to the enrichment facilities.

Conversion plants in the U.S. use both a dry (hydrofluor) and

a wet process. Total production capacity is

per year as UF6, with the hydrofluor process

of this total. A simplified flow diagram of

shown in Fig.

about 20,000 MT of uranium

accounting for about 75%

the hydrofluor process is

A typical plant would have a capacity to convert 5,000 MT of uranium

to UF6 per year. This plant capacity requires approximately 1,000 acres

and a capital cost of about $35 million. Operating costs for a plant

of this type run about $1.25 per pound of uranium. Typical chemical

process equipment is required.

If uranium is recycled from the reprocessing plant, it must be

converted to UF for reenrichment. 6

The reconversion is performed in a

plant specifically dedicated to that task; it converts UO2

 (N03 ) 2 

6 H

2

0

to UF6* A typical plant might have a capacity of 1200 MT/year, with

capital costs of about $50 million and operating costs of about $1.00

per pound of uranium.

There is no counterpart process for thorium because it contains

no fissile isotope to be enriched.

2.5 ENRICHMENT

In none of the fuel cycle steps considered so far is the uranium in

a form suitable for use in weapons; the concentration of the fissile

isotope U-235 is far too low. The next step for most uranium reactor

types except heavy water reactors is to enrich the uranium. Light water

reactors (LWR) require 2-4% U-235 (still not suitable for weapons), but

some power and research reactors use “fully enriched” uraniums which

contains 93% U-235. Because of its potential for producing the highly

#15
enriched uranium required for nuclear weapons, the enrichment plant is of

great concern in preventing proliferation. Even if a plant is built to

produce low-enriched fuel for LWR’s, it could be restructured, possibly

even clandestinely, to produce weapons-grade uranium.

For all enrichment techniques, a key parameter is the separative

work unit (SW), which is a measure of the work to obtain a certain degree

of separation. It is defined in reference to a kilogram of uranium.

An enrichment plant will use 1 kg of SWU in processing 2.35 kg of

natural uranium feed (0.71% U-235) to provide 1 kg of product enriched

to 1.4% 235U (twice the natural enrichment) and 1.35 kg of waste

(called “tails”) with a concentration of 0.2% 235

U. This is illustrated

in Figure 8. The SWU required to enrich uranium depends in a complex way on the

concentrations of 235U in the feed, product and trails. In general, a higher

tails assay requires fewer SW’S and more feed. If resource utilization were

not important a given quantity of enriched uranium could be obtained with less

work by raising the tails assay.

The quantity of natural uranium feed and the separative work required for a

product enriched to a specified level with 0.2% or 0.5% Tails assay is shown

in Figure 9. For example, with 0.2% Tails, 4.3 SWU and 5.5 kg of Feed are required

for 1 kg of 3% product. For one kilogram of 90% 235U, 227 SWU and 176 kg of feed

are required.

weapons grade

feed.

Less than twice as much separative work is required to produce

material as is needed to enrich uranium to 3% from a given amount

Enrichment plants are designed for a specific SWU capacity. Other

factors can be adjusted fairly easily however. Increasing the tails

assay and the feed permit one to raise either the output or the enrichment

level. The Chinese may have produced their first uranium bomb by converting

a U.S.S.R. supplied low enrichment plant. The use of partially enriched

uranium as feed would also increase the output of the plant. A given

amount of separative work can, of course, be achieved by a small plant

over a long period of time or by a large plant working for a short period

of

16
2.35 kg Natural Uranium (0.7% 235U)

FEED

Enrichment Plant

I

1 Separative Work Unit

I

WASTE PRODUCT

1.35 kg Uranium

Tails (0.2% 235U)

1.0 kg Enriched

Uranium (1.4% 235U)

Fig. 8 Example of One Separative Work Unit
100

Ic

1,

.1

Feed and SWU Requirements

* 4 a

/ /
of time. It is for this reason that plant capability is expressed in

separative work per unit time.

Although many processes have been investigated for potential applications to uranium enrichment, only relatively few are now considered

to be serious candidates for practical applications. Thermal diffusion

and electromagnetic separation were developed to the pilot plant stage

during World War 11 and were found to be very inefficient. Techniques for

laser isotope separation and plasma centrifuges are now under development

but more work must be done before feasibility can be properly assessed.

Isotopic enrichment by ion exchange processes is another candidate for

possible future development.

All large scale enrichment facilities currently

gaseous diffusion. Recently the gas centrifuge has

operating utilize

been attracting

more attention because of its potentially smaller size and lower power

consumption. Several pilot plants have been built, and larger facilities

are planned by several nations, including the U.S. (See Table 2.) The

jet nozzle is another technology under development but is

only where electrical power is abundant and inexpensive.

istics of various enrichment techniques will be discussed

attractive

The characterbelow.

2.5.1 Gaseous Diffusion

The gaseous diffusion

arises from the phenomenon

process depends upon the separation effect that

of molecular effusion (i.e., the flow of gas

through small openings). In a mixture of two gases, the molecules of

the lighter gas have a higher velocity at a given temperature and therefore

will strike the walls of the vessel more frequently, relative to its

concentration. If the walls of the container (the barrier) are porous

19
with openings large enough to permit the passage of individual molecules,

but sufficiently small so that bulk flow of the gas as a whole is prevented

(i.e., with opening diameters approaching the mean free path dimension of

the gas), then the lighter molecules will pass through the barrier more

readily than heavier ones. and this gas will be enriched with respect to the

lighter component of the mixture. In this method, the degree of separation

is determined by their relative velocities which depends upon the square root

of the ratio of the masses of the isotopes. For UF6 the maximum separation

per stage, that is, the ratio of final to initial concentrations of U-235, is

1.00429. If one-half the input flow passes through the barrier and one-half is

recycled to a lower stage, the theoretical separation factor is 1.0030. In

practice, the properties of the barrier are not ideal. Back-diffusion through

the barrier and some bulk flow through pores reduce the separation.

UF6 is introduced as a gas and made to flow along the inside of

a porous barrier tube containing thousands of submicroscopic openings per

square inch. Through molecular effusion, the diffused stream is slightly

235 enriched with respect to U, the lighter uranium isotope, and the stream

that has not been diffused is depleted. The enriched UF6 in the outer

cylinder is removed for input to the next stage. The process is illustrated

in Figure 10.

Because

235

U content)

parallel,

the separation factor (ratio of final to initial

is . highest at low throughput, it is necessary to use many

connected units, each with the same composition of feed

material. This group of units is called a stage. Because the separation

factor in a single stage (1.003) is very small, it is necessary to utilize

many stages in series. A series of stages is called a cascade. The large

20
More concentrated mixture

to higher stage

Hex gas /

(UF.) feed, — —

pressure \

uranium-235

Porous nickel barrier More dilute mixture recycled to

lower stage to recover

remaining uranium-235

.

Figure 10. Gas Diffusion Barrier

21
number of stages makes the minimum economical size of a gaseous diffusion plant

quite large. A large amount of electric power is also required to pump the

UF6 through the barrier in each stage. A cascade is shown in Figure 11.

The need to use uranium hexafluoride as a working gas has a large impact

on the design of the plant. This substance is a gas at a pressure of one

atmosphere at 60°C. It reacts strongly with most materials. The system must

be kept absolutely air tight so that it does not decompose to form particulate

uranium dioxy-difluoride which will block the pores. Since corrosion rates must

be low to insure a long life only a limited number of metals such as nickel

or aluminum which form stable fluoride layers or fully fluorinated plastics

can be used for the

diffusion plant.

Table 1 gives

construction of the

the characteristics

barrier in an element of a gaseous

of the three operating gaseous

diffusion plants in the U.S. A new enrichment facility (now expected to be

a centrifuge plant) is projected to have a 9 million SWU/year capacity,

operating at .3% tails and if based on gaseous diffusion, would require 2,500

MW of electricity. Capital costs would be on the order $3 billion, or $333/sw

(about the same for gaseous diffusion or centrifuge). This could produce

1800 Tonnes of uranium enriched to 3% per year, enough to provide fuel for fifty

1000 megawatt power reactors.

2.5.2 Centrifuge

A centrifuge is a means for applying a high artificial gravitational

field to separate fluids of different weights which would otherwise remain

mixed because of the thermal motions of the molecules. A cylinder filled

with uranium hexafluoride turns about its axis at high speed. The centrifugal field establishes a radial pressure gradient which results in an

enrichment of the lighter isotope at the center and the heavier isotope

at the wall.

22
ENRICHING SECTION OUTPUT

I L *

co71y

STRIPPING

SECTIO N

1

I

*

STRIPPING SECTION

OUTPUT

Figure 11. Cascade
Table 1.

Location

Completion Dates

Separative

barrier stages

Feed Range ( 235U)

Enrichment

Range (235U)

Capacity, 1970

(million SWU)

Disturbed area

(acres)

Ground coverage

(acres)

Electrical Power

(MW(e))

Recirculating

Water System (gpd)

Characteristics of existing U.S. enrichment plants

Oak Ridge

Aug. 1945 - June 1954

5,104

0.3-1.1

0.7-4

4.730

640

105

1,600

400,000,000

Paducah

Jan. 1953 - Dec. 1954

1,812

0.3-0.711

0.7-1.1

7.310

345

74

2,550

500,000,000

Portsmouth

Nov. 1955 - Feb. 1956

4,080

0.3-1.1

0.74-97.65

5.190

515

93

1,900

450,000,000

24
A schematic diagram of a gas centrifuge suitable for use in an enrichment

facility is given in Fig. 12. The rotor might be 40 to 300 cm long with a

radius of 6 to 22 cm. A distinguishing feature of this counter-current gas

centrifuge is the toroidal internal circulation of gas in the axial direction --

an upward flow in the center of the rotor and downward along the walls. As

238 the gas moves up the rotor core, the U diffuses outward in the centrifugal

field. The gas arrives at the rotor top as a stream enriched in . 235U

Similarly, the peripheral downflow stream arrives at the rotor bottom enriched

in 238U .

A counter current flow may be induced either by establishing a small

temperature-difference between the ends or by introducing a frictional mechanism

(such as the scoops used to withdraw the product end waste). Due to the

recirculation of gas within the tube, the separation achieved is greater than

that expected for a single element.

An attractive feature of the centrifugal process is that the degree of

separation depends upon the difference of masses of the isotopes rather than

on their ratio as with gaseous diffusion. For a heavy element such as

uranium, the ratio is close to unity. Thus a much larger separation factor per stage

is possible with the centrifuge method. 

The major challenge has been to produce high speed centrifuges suitable for largescale operations, because the separation factor for a centrifuge varies with the

fourth power of the peripheral speed of the rotor. A major research problem has

been to find materials for rotors that can withstand such high rates of rotation.

Maximum rotor speeds vary from 300 m/see for aluminum alloy or high–strength

steel, to a potential of 700 m/see for a carbon fiber/resin rotor. Separation

factors of greater than 1.1 per stage are feasible.

speeds vary from 300 m/see for aluminum alloy or high-strength steel, to

a potential of 700 m/see for a carbon fiber/resin rotor. Separation factors

of greater than 1.1 per stage are feasible.

If the speed is doubled the theoretically predicted separating power will

increase by sixteen times. A twenty percent increase in speed, will result in

a doubling of its performance.

25
WASTE

FEED

LINE

LINE

v

14 II

. PRODUCT LINE

VACUUM SYSTEM

UPPER SUSPENSION

SUBASSEMBLY

ROTOR SUBASSEMBLY

CASING SUBASSEMBLY

POST-SUBASSEMBLY

DRIVE SUBASSEMBLY

LOWER SUSPENSION

SUBASSEMBLY

Figure 12. Schematic of Gas Centrifuge

26
The separation achieved also depends on the length to diameter ratio of

the rotor. Long rotors can be expected to give increased performance. However,

design of the unit may have to make provision for it to pass through “critical

speeds” (corresponding to renounces of the tube) before it reaches operating speed.

A second difficulty is the fact that each centrifuge can handle only a small

feed even though the separation per stage is high.

produce 2 to 5 kg of SWU per year. This means that

needed for a 300.000 SWU/year plant. Table 2 gives

for a plant of this size. The estimated fractional

An individual centrifuge can

100,00 machines would be

the number of machines per stage

cost of the plant is .3 for the

machines, .35 for the plant, .10 for machine replacements, 15

and .10 for operation and maintenance. An Anglo-German-Dutch 

has successfully demonstrated the first cascades of two small

each with a planned capacity of about 200,000 kg. Separative

for power consumption

enrichment

centrifuge

work (SWU)

group, Urenco,

plants

per year

at Capenhurst,

yet been build

to build them.

The major

England and Almelo, Holland. No full size production plants have

● However, both the United States and Urenco have announced plans

advantages of centrifuge plants over diffusion plants are that

they are expected to cost less to build per SWU, can be much smaller without

losing economies of scale and have power requirements which appear to be

about one-fifteenth as great. Difficulties can result from the thousands

of complex mechanical units operating at very high rpm. Machine failure

rates of less than 2% per year have been achieved, however, and it is believed

that a plant can operate economically with failure rates as high as 2.5%

per year.

2.5.3 Other Enrichment Processes

There are several other techniques which have been used in the past,

demonstrated technically or show promise. An aerodynamic process,

known as the jet or Becker nozzle process, has been under active development for the

27
Table 2. Centrifuge machines for 300,000 SWU/year enrichment

plant to produce 2.8% enriched uranium with .2% tails

Centrifuges per Stage

2,160 Product

4,850

8,190

12,360

Feed 17,570

15,990

14,020

11,580

8,540

4,740 Tails

27a
past decade. It utilizes the pressure gradient developed in a curved expanding

supersonic jet of a mixture of uranium hexafluoride and hydrogen to achieve a

separation of the uranium isotopes. As the expanding jet traverses the curved path

the heavier components tend to diffuse preferentially toward the curved

outer wall. A knife edge placed relatively near the outer wall divides

235 the jet stream into two fractions, the inner one enriched in U and the

outer one enriched in . 238U The two streams are then pumped off separately. The

placement of the knife edge in the jet stream is critical with respect to separation

performance. The diameter of the curved deflecting wall is on the order

of 0.1 mm and the spacing between the knife edge and the outer wall may

be about 10 m, with a tolerance of

P

±1 m.

P

The process is illustrated in

Fig. 13.

Because of the higher separation factor a jet nozzle plant will require about

one-third the number of stages in a gaseous diffusion facility which will provide

the same degree of enrichment. At the present time, the specific energy consumption

estimated for the separation nozzle process is larger than that for gaseous diffusion.

However, significant progress has been made. The specific energy consumption projected

for the process has been reduced in recent years and may be further reduced to the

present level of the gaseous diffusion process within the next few years.

A manufacturing process has been developed by a German firm for the

mass production of the separation nozzle slits with the required tolerances,

thereby leading to reduced capital costs. The development group at Karlsruhe

is confident that the process technology will be advanced to the point where

its unit cost for separative work will be equal to or less than that for

gaseous diffusion by 1977. A joint development program has been arranged with

Brazil, which is scheduled to lead to a full scale plant. This plant will

take advantage of the otherwise unuseable cheap hydroelectricity in a remote

region of the Amazon. South Africa has developed a similar process-and is now

constructing a production plant,

28
/

Figure 13. Becker Nozzle

29
The calutron process is one of the older separation methods. A

compound of uranium is vaporized in an electrically heated container. The

vapor passes through slots into an arc chamber where it is ionized by an electron beam. The ionized uranium is accelerated by electrodes in another slot.

The high velocity stream then enters a vacuum tank where it is forced into

a 180° curve by a large electromagnet. The 235U and 238U follow slightly

different paths because of the different centrifugal forces and are collected

separately in properly spaced graphite receivers. The graphite reacts

with the uranium ions to form uranium carbide (UC). The receivers are

processed chemically to obtain the separated isotopes. The calutron,

although considered the best of the electromagnetic processes, was not

economically competitive with the gaseous diffusion process for large-scale

235U enrichment of . A pilot plant was built during World War II and found to

be very inefficient , although it was adequate to producemuch of the enriched uranium

used in the Hiroshima bomb.

During the past thirty years there have been many advances in technology

are relevant to the development of electromagnetic separation of uranium on a

scale. These include magnets,pumps, controls and apparatus for carrying out

related chemical operations.

A significant contribution may be the techniques and hardware which have

which

large

the

been developed for ion propulsion of spacecraft. It would be necessary, of course,

to modify the systems to provide very intense focused beams of singly charged

uranium ions instead of broad diffuse beams of lighter elements such as cesium.

Some progress has been made in the development of electrohydrodynamic sources in

which ions are extracted directly from the surface of a liquid metal. A reduced

accelerating potential would permit the use

limited size.

If the many scientific and engineering

of lower intensity magnetic fields of

problems can be solved, it seems

30
possible that an electromagnetic isotope separator based on this technology

can efficiently produce enriched uranium. Because individual units are small

and are able to effect a rather high degree of separation of isotopes this

process may be suitable for the production weapons grade uranium.

Within the past several years, two additional concepts for isotope

separation have shown considerable promise, the plasma centrifuge and laser

isotope separation (LIS). The former is similar to the gas centrifuge. As

the name implies, the feed material is converted to a plasma, and centrifugal

action is achieved electromagnetically. Theoretically, much greater rotational speeds can be achieved in the plasma centrifuge than in the gas

centrifuge because

solids may be used

early stage of its

its feasibility is

no rotating parts are involved. Another advantage is that

as feed materials to the plasma. This concept is in the

development and no published experimental evaluation of

available.

The feasibility of LIS, on the other hand, has been demonstrated on a

microscale and it has been stated that a pilot plant could be built

within five years. This process differs completely in principle from the

physical separation mechanisms of the other methods. In this case, separation

depends upon the ability to activate, in a specific manner, one of the isotopic species to be separated. A beam of uranium atoms (another LIS process uses

uranium hexafluoride molecules) is generated in an oven, collimated and then

directed through an evacuated region. In this region, two photon beams are

applied; one laser beam selectively excites one of the uranium isotopes, while the

other laser beam ionizes the previously excited uranium isotope. The ionized isotope

is then removed from the atomic beam by an electric or magnetic field and collected

on a plate. The process is still in the laboratory stage, where only minor quantities of uranium have been enriched. The ultimate industrial feasibility and economic

31
practicality of this technology has not yet been fully defined and demonstrated.

Laseer separation plants of commercial size would require individul lasers with at

least 1 to 10 kw average power, a level significantly beyond the present state of the

aret. One advantage that lasers have over most other enrichment methods is that

extremely high levels of enrichment can be achieved in a single pass. Separation

factors of nearly 100 may be feasible. Numerous material problems must be solved

before this method can be applied on a large scale basis.

Some of the other processes which have been or are being studied are

phase equilibrium processes -- such as gas-liquid chemical exchange; exchange

chromatography or ion-exchange; diffusion processes -- such as thermal

diffusion or sweep diffuson; aerodynamic Processes‘- such as Fenn-shock

process; molecular flow processes, and nuclear spin processes. None now appear

likely to become economically competitive with either the gaseous diffusion

or gas centrifuge processes in the near future.

2.5.4 Uranium Recycle

The Uranium spent fuel from an LWR contains about 0.9% 235U. If it is to be

recycled, it must be reenriched or blended with more uranium of much higher enrichment. This recycled uranium will contain traces of various radioactive fission

products, actinides and many uranium isotopes. Facilities for the reenrichment of

recycled uranium may

these contaminants.

both the product and

require special traps such as cobaltous fluoride to remove

Other uranium isotopes, such as 232U and 236 U will “contaminate”

the tails. “The 232U may present a radiation hazard. Both

232U and 236U will reduce the worth of the enriched material because they absorb

neutrons in the reactor. It is expected that an enrichment facility will be dedicated to the reenrichment of recycled uranium if reprocessing is carried out.

32
2.6 FUEL FABRICATION

Depending upon the specific reactor type, the fabrication of

many types of fuel elements is required. Light water reactors use slightly

enriched uranium; gas cooled reactors require the fabrication of highly

enriched fuel, while breeder reactors require cores containing depleted

235

uranium or thorium as fertile material and U and plutonium fuels.

2.6.1 Light Water Reactor Fuel

In the U.S. , the existing LWR fuel fabrication industry *

consists of nine commercial plants, each of which performs

part or all of the fuel fabrication operation. These facilities

and their locations are listed in Table 3. Three of the facilities produce complete light water reactor fuel assemblies using

enriched uranium hexafluoride (UF6) as the feed material, while

two other plants start with uranium dioxide (U02) powder or U02

pellets to produce fuel assemblies. The four remaining

facilities produce only U02 powder or pellets from enriched UF6

as feed for fuel assembly plants. Current capacity of the

industry is about 3000 metric tons of uranium as fuel assemblies

per year.

The dominant process used by the commercial facilities for

production of U02 fuel for an LWR reactor is basically a threephase operation:

1 ;:

Final Environmental Statement, LWBR Program, ERDA 1541, June 1976

37
Table 3 LWR Fuel Fabrication Plants

Plant Plant Feed Plant

Licensee Location Material Product

Babcock & Lynchburg, U 02 Pellets Fuel 

Wilcox Va. Assemblies

Comb us t ion Hematite, U F

6

U O2 Powder

Engineering Mo. or Pellets

Combustion Windsor, U 02 Powder Fuel

Engineering Corm. Assemblies

General Wilmington, U F6 Fuel

Electric N.C. Assemblies

Exxon Nuclear Richland, UF6 Fuel

Assemblies

Kerr-McGee Crescent, U F6 U O2 Powder

Okla. or Pellets

Nuclear Fuel Erwin, UF6 UO2 Powder

Services Term. or Pellets

B&W Nuclear Apollo, UF6 Fuel

Materials S.D. Assemblies

Division

(Formerly

NUMEC)

Westinghouse Columbia, U F6 Fuel

S.C. Assemblies

38
1. Chemical conversion of feed material to powder,

2. Mechanical processing of materials into solid fuel

pellets, and

3. Scrap recovery and recycle.

2.6.1.1 Chemical Conversion

Enriched UF6 is the feed material used in the fabrication

of LWR fuels. The enriched UF6 gas is converted to U02 powder

before being formed into pellets. The principal method employed

to convert UF6 to U02 i s the wet process which involves the use

of ammonia to form an intermediate ammonium diuranate (ADU

slurry) compound prior to processing to U02 powder. The

ammonium diuranate process shown schematically in Figure 14

involves :

1. Volatilizing and hydrolysis of the enriched UF6

to form uranyl fluoride solution,

2. Precipitating ammonium diuranate by the addition

of ammonia,

3. Dewatering the ammonium diuranate by centrifuging

or filtering, and

4. Drying and reducing the ammonium diuranate to U02

powder in a hydrogen atmosphere.

There are two alternative processes used to convert uranium for fuel fabrication. These are the pyrohydrolysis and

the Perclene methods.

In the pyrohydrolysis process, a continuous flow of

gaseous UF6 enters into a fluid bed conversion unit where

the UF6 combines with steam to form solid particles of uranyl

fluoride. The uranyl fluoride particles then overflow the

reaction bed and are collected in hoppers. In a batch-type

process, the uranyl fluoride powder is placed in a second

fluid bed reactor where it is reduced to UO2 by the action of

a fluidizing gas consisting of hydrogen and steam. The off39
Lx

u-l om

40
gases, consisting of hydrogen fluoride, hydrogen, uranyl fluoride

and UO2 particles pass through a centrifugal collector and a

metallic filter to remove uranium-bearing particles which are

then returned to the fluidized beds.

The perclene process involves the reaction of UF6 with

perchlore.ethylene to form tetrachlorodifluorethylene and

insoluble uranium tetrafluoride (UF4) . The UF4 is removed

by filtration and pyrohydrolyzed into U02. This process

requires the recovery and recycle of perchloroethylene and

the recovery and disposal of contaminated tetrachlorodifluoroethylene gas, in addition to recovery, neutralization and

solidification of hydrogen fluoride.

2.6.1.2 Mechanical Processing

In the mechanical processing of the uranium oxide powders

to a specific “fuel form, the principal process steps are shown

in Figure 15.

The steps utilized in forming fuel elements from the oxide

powders are similar for all heavy metals. These steps are:

1. Powder Prepress - In the powder prepress or slugging

operation, the powder is prepressed into short wafers

to increase the bulk density of the material and to

reduce the amount of entrapped air in the powder.

2. Powder Granulation - The short wafers are conveyed

to the granulator where the material is granulated

and screened through approximately a 14-mesh screen.

The granulation process yields a standard agglomerate size of material for feed to the pellet press,

which is important in obtaining a uniform die cavity

fill. The amount of oxide granules in each die fill

affects the pellet length and density parameters.

3. Pellet Pressing - The granulated powder is automatically fed into the die cavity at the pellet

press where pellets of uniform density and size are

pressed. A die lubricant, approximately 0.2 weight

percent sterotex, is applied to the surface of the

die walls and punches during pellet pressing. The

sterotex is vaporized from the pellets during the

sintering step and is expelled with the furnace off-gas.
L I I I k 1 J I , ●

a

42
4. Pellet Sintering - The pellets are transferred from

the pen et pressing operation to the sintering furnace

complex in molybdenum trays. The pellets are then

sintered to the required density at a temperature of

approximately 1700 C for approximately 12 hours in a

hydrogen atmosphere. The exit flow of hydrogen from

the furnace sintering atmosphere is diluted (with

argon) to less than the explosive concentration prior

to passage through the HEPA filter system and discharge at the stack.

5. Pellet Grinding - The sintered pellets are checked

for correct density and dimensions and then transferred to the centerless grinder. The sintered

pellets are dry-ground to a specified diameter.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

11.

Pellet Storage and Sampling - The dioxide pellets are

statistically sampled, analyzed, and inspected to

assure that pellet specifications have been met prior

to further Processing.

Rod Loading - The fuel rod loading operation includes

the receipt of sintered pellets, tubes with welded

bottom plugs, springs, and top plugs. Dioxide pellets

released by quality control are mechanically pushed

into the empty tubes. Each fuel rod contains a pellet

column length and weight which has been recorded and

is in compliance with the specification requirements.

A spring is then inserted into each rod and a top

end plug is pressed into place.

Rod End Closure - The end plug welding is performed

in a welding chamber with an inert helium gas atmosphere. The welding chamber is pressurized with

helium gas and the rod is seal welded.

Rod Inspection - Each fuel rod is subjected to

various inspections, including helium leak test,

rod assay, visual, dimensional) fluroscopic~

cleanliness, and X-ray.

Fuel Element Assembly - After final inspection and

quality control release, the fuel rods are stored

in critically safe arrays prior to mechanical

assembly into modules of reactor core.

Storage - The fuel assembly modules are inspected

and held in storage in critically safe arrays until

shipment.
2.6.1.3 Scrap Recovery and Recycle

Chipped or broken pellets and pellets that do not meet

density or dimensional standards are recycled as oxide

powder. Some of the material, however, is not suitable for

dry scrap recovery and must be recycled through a solvent

extraction process.

2.6.2 Highly Enriched Fuels

Many research reactors and

Reactors (HTGR) require highly

reactor fuel may be of the MTR.

High Temperature Gas-cooled

enriched uranium fuel. Research

plate type, the HFIR plate type,

or TRIGA rods. The fabrication process of the uranium oxide

fuels is similar to that discussed in 2.6.1. HTGR and TRIGA

fuels are unique and have custom fuel manufacturing facilities

In handling highly enriched fuels, particular attention must be given to fuel

geometry so that all operations are Performed within geometries that do not

allow the accumulation of critical masses of material.

The HTGR fuel elements consist of a graphite block which

serves as the reactor moderator. Each block is 79.3 cm

high with a hexagonal cross section that is 35.9 cm across

the flats. The graphite block is drilled lengthwise with

two sets of holes: one allows the passage of the helium

coolant, while the second accommodates the fuel rods. Fuel

rods are formed by molding selected blends of fuel particles

with a graphitic pitch; each fuel rod is 5.1 cm in length and

has a diameter of 1.58 cm. Fuel particles are the basic

material for the rods and elements, and have a core of either

235 2 33U

uranium dicarbide (highly enriched in U or recycle

o r T h o2 (thorim oxide). Particle diameters are 500 to 800 um.

44
TRIGA fuel elements are fabricated from an alloy of

enriched uranium and zirconium. The alloy is produced by

simultaneous vacuum arc melting of small pieces of uranium

and zirconium into an ingot about 5 Cm in diameter and

50 cm long. This ingot is jacketed to prevent oxidation

during further processing, forged and rolled into a thin strip.

The jacket is removed from the strip, the surface cleaned by

pickling and the strip is chopped into small pieces. These

pieces are remelted and cast again into an ingot. The double

melt technique is necessary to provide the required uraniumzirconium alloy homogeneity.

The remelt ingot is pickled and machined to approximate

size. The ingot is then heated to about 900°C in a heattreating furnace with a hydrogen atmosphere to form zirconium

hydride. The hydrided ingots are machined to final size and

inserted into either zircalloy or stainless steel tubes with

one end cap already welded in place. The partial fuel rod

assembly is swagged (to improve the mechanical contact between

the cladding and the fuel), the assembly is evacuated and the

second end cap welded.

2.6.3 Breeder Fuels and Blankets

The fabrication of depleted uranium oxide elements for

breeder blankets follows essentially the same steps as discussed in 2.6.1.* Thorium fuels are required for thermal

breeder blankets.

Processes similar to those used for uranium dioxide fabrication are used to produce Th02. For powder conversion, the

feed material most commonly in use is in the form of nitrate

crystals. The oxalate process used in the conversion of

throium nitrate crystals to Th02 powder, shown in Figure 16

involves:

10 Dissolution of thorium nitrate crystals,

*Environmental Statement - LMFBR Program, WASH 1535, December 1974.

45
/4 .
20

3.

Precipitation

oxalic acid,

Filtration of

Drying of the

of thorium with the addition of

the thorium-oxalate slurry,

moist filter cake, and

5. Calcination of thorium-oxalate to Th02 powder.

The mechanical processing of Th02 powder to a specific form

is identical to that used in the fabrication of U02 fuels.

The recovery of scrap is similar, with somewhat different

chemicals used when solvent extraction is needed.

The fabrication of 233 U fuel from a thorium blanket

requires special consideration due to the 232U contamination.

Only a few hundred parts per million of 232 U is a sufficient

quantity to prevent contact fabrication and handling techniques.

Thus, a 233 -

U fabrication facility must be designed for

operation and maintenance. The processes are the same

shown in Figure 17.

Plutonium fuel is normally fabricated as an oxide

with uranium. Because of the toxicity, all operations

remote

as those

mixed

are

performed in multiple enclosures to prevent releases to the

atmosphere. Thus, glove boxes enclose all processes and, if

recycled plutonium is fabricated, the glove boxes must be

shielded. plutonium dioxide (Pu02) powder is mechanically

blended and milled with the U02 powder in the desired ratios.

The mixed oxide powder is then pelletized and the remainder

of the process is the same as shown in Figure 15 (See section

4.3 for plutonium metal production.)

Some applications may involve metal or carbide fuels. For

these fuels the fabrication techniques will be different from

those previously discussed, with the differences depending upon

the specific applications. The fabrication of uranium metal

can be by conventional means, including casting, rolling,

47
extrusion, forging, swaging, drawing, and machining. Hotrolling of the alpha phase is a useful method for forming the

metal. Because of the ease with which uranium oxidizes,

especially at higher temperatures, it must be protected from

air during fabrication either by means of a fused salt or by

an inert gas atmosphere. The metal can be machined moderately

easily if suitable lubricants and coolants are present to prevent oxidation. Uranium parts can be joined by welding or

brazing. Fusion welding is achieved by using a Heliarc torch

in an inert atmosphere.

2.7 FUEL STORAGE

It is necessary to store several types of fuel -- fresh

fuel that is waiting to be loaded into the reactor, spent- fuel

which has been irradiated and reprocessed fuel.

2.7.1 Fresh Fuel

Fresh fuel may be in many different forms, depending upon

the type of reactor in which it is to be utilized. This fuel

may be stored at the fuel fabrication facility) at the reactor

facility, or in both locations. The length of storage time

depends on schedules and operating history of the reactor but

would probably be at least 30 days at each location. For

power reactors, the fuel elements are generally very large (a

LWR fuel element may be 4 meters long and weigh 300 to 700 kg) .

Fuel elements for research reactors may be less than a meter

long and weigh less than 50 kg.

2.7.2 Spent Fuel —

Irradiated (spent) fuel is removed from the reactor and

stored on site to allow the fission products to decay. This

storage time varies considerably and in the near future will

depend on the availability of reprocessing facilities or high

level waste repositories. Due to the radioactivity and heat
generated, the spent fuel must be handled remotely and shipped

in shielded casks or stored in shielded facilities. Storage

may occur. at the reactor site, at the reprocessing plant or

both. Light water reactors replace about one-third of their

fuel each year and must be shut down for up to 30 days to

perform refueling. Some reactors, such as the CANDU; can be

refueled on line, while other reactors, such as

Salt Breeder, have continuous refueling.

The specific characteristics of spent fuel

the Molten

depend upon

the integrated exposure (burnup) frequently quoted in megawatt days/metric ton (MWD/MT). The isotopic content depends

on the neutron energy spectrum and the burnup. See the discussion on reactor types for specific information (Section 3) .

2.7.3 Reprocessed Fuel

Reprocessed fuel elements may

235 U with enrichments which depend

233 yield plutonium, U and

upon the initial loadings.

This “raw fuel” is different from the enriched UF6 leaving an

enrichment plant, in that it may be stored as a liquid or as

a solid (oxide). Storage requirements are dominated by the

necessity to prevent the arrangement of material in a critical

geometry, the heat dissipation rate, and the physical security

requirements. This fuel may be stored at the reprocessing

facility or the fuel fabrication facility for periods up to

months, depending

2.8 REPROCESSING

A spent fuel

upon the overall fuel cycle used.

reprocessing plant is a complex of facilities

designed to recover fissionable

active wastes. Reprocessing of

numerous problems in the past.

plants which have operated (see

material and to process radiospent reactor fuel has had

There are, however, several

Table 4). The

49
z II

50
TABLE 4 (Cent)

NUCLEAR FUEL REPROCESSING PLANTS

Type of Fuel

Metal Nat U

LWR

Highly Enriched

U and Pu

Start of

Operation

1964

1970( 76)

1982

Feed

Capacity

(Tonne U/yr)

2500

400

400

1

,

I (a) For LWR fuel we use an average production rate between

Pu Product/yr (a)

at Capacity (kg)

10,750

2580 (645)

2580

----

JWR and BWR fuel.

Comments

Shut down 1973 after processing 100 Te will restart 1976

at 200 Te/yr and 1977 400

Te/yr

We assume a mature fuel cycle

which produces 6.45 kg of fissile plutonium per tonne of uranium reprocessed. Heavy Water Reactor (HWR)

fuel is assumed to have an average recovery of 2.3 kg Pu/TeU. Metal Fueled Reactors (that are used for

power production) are assumed to produce 4.3 kg of fissile Pu per tonne of unanium.

(b) MTR - Materials Test Reactor uranium aluminum alloy fuel. Usually enriched to 20% or higher in 235U

9

normally produces very little Pu.

(c) Assumes all 167 tonnes of uranium that have been processed were LWR fuel.

Reprocessing References

1. The Nuclear Industry, 1970, p 264.

2. Nuclear Engineering International, February 1955, page 82, World Digest.

3. Epstein, William, “The Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons”, Scientific American, Vol. 232, Number 4,

April 1975, p 18.

4. Schuller, Walter, “Reprocessing in Europe”, ANS/CNA Joint Topical Meeting on Commercial Nuclear Fuel

Technology Today, April 28-30, 1975, Toronto, Canada.

50 Science Vol. 184, No. 4144, p. 1315, June 28, 1974.
plant performs five major operations: (1) the receipt and

storage of spent fuel assemblies, (2) the processing of the

fuel assemblies to separate the fissionable materials from

the other fuel assembly materials, (3) the conversion of the

recovered uranium to UF6 for return to an enrichment facility,

(4) the conversion of the recovered plutonium to plutonium

dioxide (Pu02), and (5) the processing of radioactive wastes

into an appropriate form for transfer to a waste repository

if uranium and plutonium are recycled, special design Considerations must be given to the added neutron fluences,

heat loads and criticality issues.

A simplified block flow diagram of the Purex-type reprocessing plant is shown in Figure 17* The significant features

of the process are described below:

1.

2.

3.

4.

Irradiated fuel elements are received at the

reprocessing site in shielded casks via rail

or truck. Fuel is removed from the shipping

casks and stored under water until it is ready to

be processed. The irradiated fuels are cooled

for at least 150 days to assure the decay of

short half-lived radionuclides.

Fuel awaiting processing is stored in the storage

pool where fuel storage canisters limit fuel element placement to an array which is always safe

from a criticality standpoint.

The uranium spent fuel rods are transferred to

the Purex separations facility where they are

chopped by a shear into short lengths (approximately 1 inch) to expose the core material and

then charged directly to a dissolver. A semicontinuous dissolution of the oxide cores is

performed to minimize, as well as control, the

peaking of off-gas release.

A soluble nuclear poison is used in the nitric — acid dissolvent to-assure nuclear safety in the

dissolver.

1 ‘proposed Final Environmental Statement - LMFBR Program

WASH-1535, December 1974.

52
I I I 4Iz0 I

J i

53
5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

11.

12.

13.

Centrifugation is used to remove any suspended

solids in the extraction feed.

A centrifugal contactor is used for the first

cycle extraction where uranium and plutonium

are separated from bulk fission products.

Pulsed columns are used for the partitioning

(separation) of plutonium from uranium in the

first cycle extraction.

Plutonium and uranium are processed simultaneously

and separately in continuously operating solvent

extraction columns. Uranium solutions are given

a final silica gel filtration adsorption for removal of any residual zirconium. Final solutions

of these plant products are concentrated prior

to storage and/or further processing, such as

UF6 and PU02 generation.

Solvents used in fuel recycling operations are

treated in two parallel solvent treatment systems

before reuse.

All aqueous raffinates containing small quantities

of fissile material (except solvent treatment

wastes and the high activity waste stream) are

passed through a recovery extraction system prior

to concentration and storage. All potential

fissile-containing organic raffinates are recycled

through the partitioning column prior to routing

to solvent treatment.

The combination of iodine and 14 C02 scrubbers and

inorganic adsorption beds give multiple assurance

of effective iodine and 14C02 cleanup of gas discharged to the atmosphere through the stack.

Tritium is released as water vapor from an evaporator through the stack. Nitric acid is recovered

and reused.

The high-level wastes are chemically denitrated

to a nitric acid concentration of 1-5 molar

prior to interim liquid storage in cooled stainless steel tanks. High-level waste is transferred from the original tanks as the requirements

for cooling decrease due to the decay of the heatproducing radionuclides. The storage of acidic

high-level liquid wastes is an interim measure to

54
allow flexibility regarding their ultimate disposition. Multiple cooling systems for the tanks

provide back-up cooling in case the primary cooling

system fails.

A separate plant to convert the uranyl nitrate to UF6

for return “to the enrichment cascade may be included within

the facility. The capacity of the UF6 facility would be

compatible with the output of the Purex separations facility.

Figure 18 contains a schematic flow diagram of the conversion

process.

The solid waste (the spent fluorinator beds) contain the

bulk of the radioisotopes entering the process, including the

residual fission products and plutonium not removed in the separations facility. These are periodically replaced with fresh

inert bed material. The spent material must be monitored for

activity, packaged in suitable containers and transferred

with other solidified high-level waste to a Federal repository.

The Purex separations plant also includes a plutonium

product plant to convert recovered plutonium nitrate to

plutonium oxide powder and to provide storage for the product. A chemical process, the oxalate process, may be used

for this purpose. Figure 19 shows a block flow diagram for

the principal steps involved in the oxalate process to produce plutonium oxide powder from the plutonium nitrate solution. An alternative process, Coprecipitation, involving

the introduction of uranyl nitrate into the plutonium nitrate

stream, results directly in a mixed oxide. Figure 20 contains a schematic for this process.

The processing of Th02 fuels containing uranium may

utilize the Acid Thorex process (see Figure21 ).

Feed solution for these processes will be formed by

reacting chopped thoria-based element material with a solution

55
STEAM

-TO ACID RECOVERY

HEAT I

U03

H 2 + N2 TO ATMOSPHERE*

I

U02

F2

I

UF6 TO ATMOSPHERE* *(VIA REPR'G PLANTSTACK)

4

COLD TRAPS FILTER

* ● 1

U F6 PRODUCT

Figure 18. UF6 Conversion Plant

56
0

i ?

-J a)

57
J

w

1-

53
.

*

I

I

I

I

$-4

-a I

# -

L

- - i

a

59
containing nitric acid, hydrofluoric acid, aluminum nitrate

and a neutron absorbing material, such as boron or cadmium.

The resultant solution can be chemically adjusted to solvent

extraction flowsheet specifications and transferred into a

feed tank for the first cycle solvent extraction.

The first extraction cycle serves to separate the

uranium and thorium from the bulk of the fission products in

the aqueous feed solution. A simplified block flow diagram

of feed preparation and first cycle extraction is shown in

Figure 22. In the extraction-scrub column, uranium and

thorium will be extracted into the organic solvent and

scrubbed with nitric acid to remove fission products.

In the stripping column, the organic solvent phase containing thorium and uranium will be stripped from the solvent

using dilute nitric acid. In the solvent scrub column, the

aqueous uranium-thorium solution will be contacted with kerosene, and concentrated, by evaporation, to about 1.5 molar

thorium.

The uranium-thorium solution from the first extraction

cycle will be fed into an extraction-scrub column where the

thorium and uranium will be extracted into the solvent and

transferred to the partitioning column. In the partitioning

column, the thorium will be selectively stripped from the

solvent with dilute nitric acid. The thorium solution will

then contact fresh solvent to re-extract any remaining

uranium. If the uranium content of the thorium solution is

sufficiently low, it will be concentrated by evaporation and

transferred to the Th02 conversion facility, where the nitrate

solution will be precipitated using oxalic acid, air dried,

and then calcined to the oxide prior to storage.

A typical reprocessing plant will process 1,500 MT/year

of fuel, with capital costs for the reprocessing plant, waste

solidification and PU02 conversion of $1.5 billion. The
a

3

61

w
equipment required is typical of the chemical industry and

the processes can be scaled down to very low throughput.

Remote handling and maintenance are required.

Reprocessing of other fuels, such as the HTGR fuels,

requires some unique processes* Figure 23 is a simplified

block-flow diagram for HTGR fuel reprocessing. The spent

fuel elements are mechanically crushed and then burned to

remove the fuel element graphite and the pyrolytic carbon

coatings from the fuel particles. Leaching permits separation of the fissile particles (those originally containing

235 U) and the fertile particles (those originally contain233U) ing only thorium but now containing thorium and

because the fissile particles have a silicon carbide coating

which remains intact during burning and leaching, while the

all pyrolytic-carbon coatings on the fertile particles are

burned away. Attainment of a perfect separation of the two

particle fractions is not vital, but minimizing the loss of

233 U is important. The leach solution is treated by solvent

extraction to remove fission products and to separate the

bre d

2 3 3

U from the thorium.

The silicon-carbide-coated fissile particles are

mechanically crushed to expose the fuel and are burned to

remove carbon and oxidize the fuel material; the ash is

leached to separate the fuel and fission products from the

coating hulls. T h e

2 3 5 U is then separated from the fission

products by solvent extraction.

The acid thorex solvent extraction process is used to

decontaminate and purify the 233U and thorium and to separate

the 233U from the thorium:

Some fuels, such as those utilized in low power reactors,

might consist of aluminum clad uranium metal. This type of

fuel will be much easier to reprocess than the zirconium clad

‘death, C. G., and Spaeth, M. E. “Reprocessing Development for

HTGR Fuels”, Proceedings of Joint Topical Meeting on Commercial

Nuclear Fuel Technology Today, ANS & CNA, April 1975.

62
 CRUSH

4

SOLVENT

EXTRACT’

I

Figure 23.

WASTE

STORAGE, < — —

DISPOSAL

I

BURN

I

I

LEACH

SOLVENT

Block Flow Diagram

Reprocessing

for HTGR

63
t-h
A single repository will be capable of annually receiving up to 360m3 of high level waste, 2100 m3 (15,000 fuel

3 assemblies) of spent fuel and 6000 m for transuranic waste.

Capital investment for a repository will be $300 million,

with operating costs of $10 million/year.

2.10 TRANSPORTATION

The fuel cycle facilities which support light water

reactors are widespread, and a broad transportation network

exists to tie them together. Most shipments of nuclear

material occur in routine commerce, using conventional transport equipment; for some nuclear material, however, specially

designed containers, packaging, and transport equipment is

necessary. Typical shipments for each element of the fuel

cycle are presented in this section for U.S. operations.

2.10.1 Mine

Uranium ore is mined and shipped in bulk by open truck

to nearby mills. Ore shipments require no specialized

containers since the low concentration of naturally occurring

radionuclides poses no contamination threat. Approximately

30 MT of ore per vehicle can be transported. The nominal

distance in the U.S., from the mine to the mill, is 5 miles,

and the average shipment takes about 1/2 hour.

2.10.2 Mill

The uranium concentrates from the milled ore are shipped

to the UF6 conversion plant in 55-gallon steel drums. Approximately 15 MT of U308 is transported per truck and 38 MT per

rail car. The nominal distance in the U.S., from the mill

to the conversion plant is 1000 miles. The average shipment

takes 5 days by truck and 10 days by rail.

65
2.10.3 Conversion Plant — —

Uranium ore concentrates are processed and converted to

UF6, which is packaged in 2.5-, 10-, or 14-ton capacity steel

cylinders and shipped by truck or rail to an enrichment plant.

Unenriched UF6 is handled by typical bulk material techniques

for industrial chemicals whose primary hazard stems from the

chemical rather than the nuclear properties of the material.

Most shipments are made by truck with one 14-ton,two 10-ton,

or four 2.5-ton cylinders per vehicle. The nominal distance

for the shipment is 500 miles and the average shipment time

is about 10 hours.

2.10.4 Enrichment Plant

The low-enrichment UF6 product is shipped to fuel fabrication plants in 30-inch-diameter cylinders which are placed

inside protective structural packages designed to protect the

enriched UF6 from impact and fire. Commercial vehicles can

accommodate up to five 2.5-ton units at one time. Such shipments are transported an average distance of 750 miles and

take about 1-1/2 days. The transportation activity is the

same for shipments to a fresh fuel fabrication plant or to

a mixed-oxide (MOX) fuel fabrication plant.

2.10.5 Fresh Fuel Fabrication Plant

For shipment to nuclear power plants, unirradiated fuel

assemblies are packaged in special containers designed to

prevent occurrence of a self-sustaining nuclear reaction in

the unlikely event that a sufficient number of assemblies

become separated from their shipping package, are arranged

in a particular geometric pattern, and flooded with water.

A nominal truck shipment contains 32 BWR fuel assemblies or

12 PWR fuel assemblies per truck. The average distance for

the shipment is about 1000 miles and takes about 3 days.

66


2.11

fuel 

PROSPECTUS OF FUEL CYCLE COMPONENTS .

A country may wish to establish commercial nuclear

cycle components within its borders to support its

power

own

nuclear reactors and possibly to compete in the world market.

An important question is what unit sizes make sense and what”

design, construction, and production lead times are required

before the facility begins to operate at design capacity.

Table 7 lists characteristics of some U.S. designed

fuel cycle facilities along with the estimated capital cost

in 1976 dollars. Of course, these cost estimates pertain to

U.S. economics and industrial capabilities and may differ substantially with cost estimates for other specific countries.

In addition, implicit in these estimates are U.S. environmental

considerations on effluent control, and U.S. radiation safety

requirements.

The fuel cycle components that are of primary interest in

a proliferation assessment are the enrichment facility, the

recycle fuel fabrication facility and the reprocessing facility.

The parameters for the enrichment facility are for a gaseous

diffusion plant, the present primary uranium enrichment method.

A severe economic penalty must be paid for smaller sized diffusion plants. However, centrifuge enrichment plants can be

scaled down more or less linearly with capacity. The total

capital costs for a 9,000 MT SWU centrifuge plant are expected

to be approximately equal to a simularly sized gaseous diffusion

plant .*

*Environmental Statement “Expansion

Capacity”, ERDA-1543, April 1976.

of Us. Uranium Enrichment

69
TABLE 5

CHARACTERISTICS OF FUEL CYCLE FACILITIES

Component

Unit

Capacity/Yr

Mining/Milling

Conversion

Enrichment

U02 Fuel Fabrication

.

Recycle Fuel Fabrication

Reprocessing

1000 MTU3O8

5000 MTu

9000 MT SWU

900 MTU

200 MTHM

1500 MTHM

Design

Construction

Lead Time (yr)

3

3

8

3

3

8

(1) Includes Plutonium Nitrate conversion to oxide

UF6 conversion

Waste treatment

MT+ metric tonnes

MTU + metric tonnes uranium

SWU + separative work units

MTHM + metric tonnes heavy metal

Production Estimated Approximate

Lead Time Capital Cost LWR’S

(yr) (106 $) Supplied/Yr

2 20 5

1.5 35 29

1 3,000 77

0.5 I

70 31

0.5 45 15

2 1 ,500(‘) 51
Reprocessing plants also exhibit a non linearity in capital

costs. A recent Savannah River Laboratory report* indicates

that a 3000 MTU plant has a capital cost approximately 1.5

times the 1500 MTU plant. It appears the higher throughput

plants are necessary to offset the required costs for remote

operations-, high shielding, etc.

An interesting feature of Table 5 is the relatively

long lead times required to bring a commercial enrichment plant

or commercial reprocessing plant into production. These substantial lead time periods create pressures for accurate projections for the need of these facilities. On the other hand

these time periods insure that commercial enrichment and reprocessing facilities will not proliferate the world in a short

time period without an indication that they will be built.

*"Light Water Reactor Fuel Recycle”" Savannah River Laboratory

Quarterly Report DPST-LWR- 76-1-1 Jan-Mar 1976.
3. REACTORS

As noted in Section 2.1, there are many ways to characterize current reactor systems. With the growing concern

over uranium ore supplies, enrichment facilities and plutonium recycle, there are numerous studies which consider

combinations of fuel cycles, such as increased use of thorium233 U, the use of lower enrichments for the HTGR, the use of

mixed oxides, and other possible alternatives for fast

breeders. This section presents the characteristics of

generic reactor types and the current or near term fuel

cycles. The many alternative fuel options are also considered in this section and in Section 4. In Section 3.8,

future systems are considered from the standpoint of their

ability to produce fissile material.

For each reactor type described, a detailed flow sheet

depicting material flow throughout the fuel cycle is given.

All power reactors are normalized to 1000 MWe with a 75%

capacity factor assumed. To obtain material flows for

another capacity factor , Z, and power

model plant data, XM (1000, 75%), the

should be used:

level, Y, from the

following relation

Y

x (Z,Y) = XM (1000,75%) 

Material flows for research reactors are based on

z

7 5

10 MWth .

72
3.1 LIGHT WATER REACTORS*

The dominant nuclear power reactor in use today is the

light water moderated and cooled reactor (LWR) . There are

two basic types -- one, the PWR, in which the coolant is

pressurized so that the water does not boil in the reactor,

and the other, the BWR, in which the reactor coolant is used

to drive a steam turbine directly. Both reactors utilize

slightly enriched (2-4%) U02 fuel clad in zircalloy. The

U02 pellets are inserted into the zircalloy tubing, with the

small void regions filled with a gas such as helium. The

enrichment, fuel management scheme, and burnup are dependent

on whether the LWR is a BWR or a PWR. Both types of reactors

must be shut down for refueling, which may take as long as

30 days.

3.1.1 Pressurized Water Reactors

PWR vessels are made of steel, are typically 20 meters

high, and about 5 meters in diameter, and have walls that

are about 20 cm thick. The hemispherical head is bolted

into place, but must be removed for refueling. The coolant

pressure is about 2250 psi and the outlet temperature is

about 320°C. The fuel elements are typically 3.5 to 4 meters

long and the core contains around 190 fuel assemblies. Each

assembly contains approximately 250 rods and each rod contains

about 250 pellets. The assemblies are approximately 20 cm

square and 400 cm long. The fuel pellets are generally .8 cm

.

in diameter and 1.3 cm long. The enrichment level of the

UO2, depends on the specific fuel management scheme, but will

typically be 2 to 3%. Reload fuel may contain fuel enriched

to 3.3% 235U. There may be several core regions of uniform

enrichments. Burnable neutron poisons are utilized to provide higher burnups and to balance power density.

>:

“Comprehensive Standards: The Power Generation Case”,

EPA No. 68-01-0561, Teknekron Inc., Report March 1975.

73
Approximately one-third of the fuel elements are

replaced each year. Frequently, the refueling schedule is

dictated by other plant maintenance requirements and not

necessarily by the estimated burnup. Burnup variations of

25% may exist within a single fuel element, and from fuel

element to element. A typical burnup appears to be close

4

to .8E x 10 MWD/MT, where E is the enrichment of the fuel.

This value may be altered by the burnable poisons and by the

fuel management scheme. Experience tends to indicate burnups

of 20,000 to 25,000 MWD/MT. With this type of reactor, a fuel

element suffering clad failure may be removed prior to

achieving full burnup by removing the entire assembly.

When the fuel is removed from the reactor, it is stored

on site for at least 150 days to permit partial decay of-the

fission products. The spent fuel is stored in racks in a

water pool at least 5 meters deep to provide the required

shielding. When the fuel is shipped, it is transported

through a canal and loaded into a shipping cask. A typical

reactor facility can store about 3 core loadings in the spent

fuel pool. Table 6 gives representative characteristics for

a PWR.

3.1.2 Boiling Water Reactor

BWR vessels are about 20 meters high, 6.5 meters in

diameter, with wall thicknesses of about 15 cm. The coolant

is pressurized to about 1000 psi which permits boiling at .

around 240°C. The steam-water mixture leaves the core and

flows through steam separators before leaving the reactor

vessel. The hemispherical head is bolted to the pressure

vessel, so both the head and the steam separators must be

removed for refueling.

The fuel assemblies are about 450 cm long and are 13.8

cm square. There are over 730 assemblies which may contain

74
either 49 or 64 fuel rods. Each fuel rod contains about

350 pellets. The enrichment varies by zone and can range

from 1.5 to 2.3%. Reload fuel enrichment levels can be as

high as 2.8%.

Approximately one-fourth of the fuel assemblies are

replaced annually. A typical burnup is about 25,000 MWD/MT

for equilibrium conditions and less for the initial loading.

As with the PWR, refueling of the BWR may be dictated by

other schedules and full burnup may not be achieved. Also,

the burnup may vary by 25% within a fuel element and from

element to element. Refueling will require about 30 days

and the reactor head and steam separators must be removed

and the core flooded. The spent fuel is stored on site for

at least 150 days. Table 6 gives general characteristics

for a BWR.

3.1.3 Material Flow in Light Water Reactors

The material flow (and particularly the discharge)

depends upon the burnup level achieved in the fuel. As noted

above, burnups of 33,000 MWD/MT are design goals. Table 7

contains the material flows for this burnup under the title

PWR 1. Also included, under PWR 3, are data for a 23,000

MWD/MT equilibrium burnup. As experience is gained, the average

burnup will probably be somewhere in between these two values.

One current fuel cycle issue is the recycle of plutonium.

Table 7 also contains, under PWR 2, the material flows for

a typical plutonium recycle case. It should be realized that

there are many options and that this may or may not be typical.

Figures 24-26 schematically illustrate the material flows for

these equilibrium cycles.

Table 8 contains fuel cycle requirements for a BWR

with and without plutonium recycle. This information is

schematically shown in Figures 27 and 28.

It should be noted that the material flows assume

uranium recycle. Depending on future decisions, uranium

recycle may not occur and the uranium requirements would

be made up for uranium ore.

75
3.2 HEAVY WATER REACTORS

3.2.1 Introduction

The use of heavy water, D20, in reactors has been considered for many years. Presently, only Canada, the West

Germans and, more recently, the British have actively pursued the concept for commercial power. Only the Canadians

are marketing heavy water reactors at this time.

Heavy water is desirable as a reactor moderator ‘due to

its satisfactory neutron slowing power and its very small

neutron absorption cross section. These factors allow natural

uranium to be used as a fuel. However, the need for large

quantities of heavy water partially offsets the advantages of

not needing enriched uranium. Heavy water costs are around

$50 per pound with an enrichment of 99.8% D2O. Even at the

.2% light water impurity level, the light water absorbs as

many neutrons as the heavy water. About one tonne of heavy

water is needed per MWe of installed capacity.

The greatest advantage of heavy water moderated reactors

is their ability to use natural uranium fuels or fuels of

near natural enrichment with high neutron economy, long

reactivity duration, and, therefore, high fuel utilization.

Burnups in the neighborhood of 10,000 Mwd/T of natural

uranium fuel are possible in heavy water reactors. Higher

burnups have been achieved in other reactors, but only with

enriched fuels. Natural uranium can also be used in graphitemoderated reactors, but the burnups there are comparatively

low due to physics and metallurgical reasons. There is a

great incentive, therefore, to develop heavy water reactors,

particularly for those countries with no fuel-enriching

facilities. The capture-to-fission reaction rates in heavy

water reactors make it possible to more fully utilize the

natural uranium.

The strength of the economic incentive to develop heavy

water reactors depends upon the different methods used for

estimations and projections. In Canada, for example, it is

76
believed that natural uranium-heavy water moderated reactors

can produce power at a lower cost than enriched-fuel reactors.

Canada has, therefore, concentrated on developing this type

of reactor. These Canadian-type reactors are now being built

in such countries as India and Pakistan. In the United States,

however, it is believed that cheaper power can be obtained

from enriched-fuel, light-water reactors and that, even if

heavy water is used, power would be cheaper if enriched

fuels are used. The factors that influence this decision are

the higher capital costs, the large, expensive heavy water

inventory needed, and the availability of large enrichment

facilities.

Heavy water reactors can use either metallic or oxide

natural fuels. Metallic fuels are more desirable when parasitic neutron absorption is considered, while the oxide fuels

are desirable from the standpoint of resistance to radiation

damage. The oxide fuel consideration favors the use of U02

in power reactors where higher burnups are sought. Cladding

materials of low neutron absorption must be used in all

natural uranium reactors. Zircaloy, beryllium, and beryllium

magnesium alloys are suitable for the higher-temperature

natural uranium power reactors. Aluminum may be used in lowtemperature reactors.

Heavy water moderated reactors require large moderatorto-fuel volume ratios. Such reactors, therefore, require

large-diameter reactor cores. Because of this large diameter, large power reactors operating at high temperatures

and pressures require larger, thicker, and costlier pressure

vessels than ordinary-water reactors of comparable output.

Both pressure vessel and pressure-tube designs have been used.

The latter design allows the use of lower-pressure, less costly

vessels but adds the expense of constructing a leaktight

calandria vessel, free of differential expansion. It also

77
results in the separation of the coolant and moderator.

Operational problems associated with D20 reactors are the

loss, by leakage, of the expensive D20 and the high activity

associated with the decay of tritium formed in the reactor.

Presently, the dominant heavy water reactor concept is

the CANDU-PHW (Canada Deuterium Uranium-Pressurized Heavy

Water) reactor in which D20 is utilized as both the moderator

and the coolant. Reactors in the range of 500-750 MWe are

currently operational. Reactors of 850 MWe capacity are

under construction. HWR reactors cooled with light water or

organic materials are also possible. A prototype station

(Gentilly 1) , in which a light water coolant is allowed to

boil in the pressure tubes, has been in operation since 1972.

This reactor, CANDU-BLW (Canada Deuterium Uranium-BoilingLight Water) , is very similar to the Steam Generating Heavy

Water Reactor (SGHWR) now being developed in Great Britain

as their next generation of power reactors. The organic

cooled reactor concept (OCR) has the potential for achieving

high temperatures. Table 9 summarizes several characteristics

of the various heavy water reactor concepts.

3.2.2 CANDU-PHW*

Atomic Energy of Canada Limited (AECL) is presently the

only commercial manufacturer of HWRs. A 600 MWe unit has

been selected by AECL as its standard model. The so-called

CANDU 600 units are being installed in Canada (at Gentilly

and Lepreau) as well as in Korea and Argentina.

The uranium oxide fuel is supported in a suitable spatial

arrangement in the heavy water-moderator which is contained

in a vessel called a "calandria”" This spatial arrangement

is provided by a system of tubes which pass through the

calandria in a regular pattern (lattice) . Due to the moderating

McIntyre, H. C., “Natural Uranium Heavy-Water Reactors”,

Scientific American, Vol. 223, No. 4, October 1975.

78
characteristics of D20, the optimum lattice spacing of the

fuel is relatively large compared to the lattice spacing in

a light water reactor.

To permit removal of the nuclear heat, the fuel bundles

are contained in pressure tubes which pass concentrically

through the calandria tubes, but are separated from them by

an insulating gas gap. The nuclear heat is removed by a

coolant which is pumped through the pressure tubes. The

heavy water coolant transports the heat, in a closed, highpressure circuit, to heat-exchanger boilers where it generates

steam to drive the turbine.

A principle feature of the CANDU reactor is the complete

separation of the moderator system from the heat transport

system. The moderator system is a cool (non-boiling) system

maintained at substantially atmospheric pressure. The

typical primary coolant system, on the other hand, operates

at a reactor outlet temperature of approximately 300°C and

2

a pressure of 100 kg/cm . The CANDU coolant is contained

inside the 10 cm diameter pressure tubes as it passes through

the calandria. This separation of systems reduces the severity

of the design basis accident and some believe that the HWR

is, therefore, safer than the LWR. The large heat sink, which

exists in the form of the relatively cool heavy-water moderator in the calandria, minimizes the consequences of pressurecontaining component failure within the reactor core.

The reactor is fueled with natural uranium in the form

of compacted and sintered cylindrical pellets of uranium

dioxide (U02) . Approximately 30 of these U02 pellets, stacked

end-to-end, are sealed in a zirconium alloy sheath to form

a fuel element. Thirty-seven of these elements are welded

to two end-plates to form the cylindrical bundle. The elements are separated by split spacers.

79
The reactor is refueled by two remotely controlled fueling machines, one at each end of the horizontally-tubed reactor. The fueling machines, working at opposite ends of the

same fuel channel, insert new fuel and remove spent fuel

while the reactor continues to operate. The spent fuel

is transferred under water, through a canal and transfer

lock to the spent fuel bay.

At the present time, it is not economically feasible to

reprocess the spent fuel to recover the plutonium. Storage

space adequate for accumulation of 10 reactor-years of spent

fuel is a design requirement. It is not expected, however,

that Canada will have a reprocessing capability within 10

years and must, therefore, provide either additional storage

facilities at the reactor sites or a rational program of

interim storage. Three concepts have been proposed for long

term spent fuel storage; one wet storage concept and two dry

storage concepts utilizing concrete canisters and convection

vaults.

Several studies have analyzed the use of thorium and

mixed oxide fuels in the HWR. The feasibility of the use of

these fuels depends strongly upon the long term uranium prices

and the feasibility of reprocessing. A conversion ratio of

.9 is feasible if enriched uranium or bred fissile fuels are

used.

3.2. 3 Heavy -Water Moderated Boiling Light Water Reactor

The HW-BLW reactor is a conceptual 1000 MWe design

developed jointly by AECL, and Sargent and Lundy. The design

features a vertical pressure tube calandria-type reactor,

cooled with boiling light water. The coolant enters the

bottom of the reactor at about 1,000 psi and exits at the

top as 30% quality steam. The steam, after separation, goes
directly to the turbine. The fuel assemblies for this

reactor consist of 19-rod, Zr-4 clad oxide pellets. Five

assemblies, each 1.5 m long, are stacked in each of 688

pressure tubes. Burnups of about 8,000 Mwd/MT are possible.

3.2.4 Heavy Water Moderated-Organic Cooled Reactor

The fuel cycle for a 1000 MWe natural uranium carbide

fuel HWOCR is based on a design developed at ORNL. There

appears to be little current interest in this approach. The

main asset of an organic cooled reactor is an increased

plant efficiency, resulting from a higher temperature operation.

3.2.5 Material F1OW in Heavy Water Reactors

Table 10 summarizes the material flow in the various

heavy water reactors. It is noted that the 235U content of

the discharged fuel from the CANDU-PHW is .22%, which is

less than the current tails assay from the enrichment plant.

Figures 29-31 illustrate the fuel cycle material flOWS.

3.3 GAS-COOLED REACTORS

3.3.1 Introduction

The attractiveness of gas cooling lies in the fact that,

in general, gases are safe, are relatively easy to handle,

have low macroscopic neutron cross sections, and may be operated at high temperatures without pressurization. The main

disadvantages are the lower heat-transfer and heat-transport

characteristics of gases, which require large contact surfaces and flow passages within the reactor and heat exchangers,

and their high pumping requirements (between 8 to 20 percent

of plant’s gross power) .

81
To partially overcome the inherent disadvantages of gas

coolants and, at the same time, to obtain attractive thermodynamic efficiencies, it is necessary to operate the fuel

elements at high temperatures (commensurate with metallurgy)

and to permit a high gas-temperature rise in the reactor by

reducing the gas mass-flow rate and pressurizing the gas.

Because the fuel operates at high temperatures, fuel-element

and cladding-material choice and fabrication in gas-cooled

reactors present major problems, and the trend seems to be

toward using ceramic fuels in such reactors. Because gascooled reactors are inherently large, they are particularly

suited to large-capacity power plants, but the reactor itself

may impose structural and foundation problems. The size of

the units can, of course, be reduced to a certain extent by.

increasing the fuel enrichment.

Significant gas-cooled reactor development and commercialization programs have been undertaken by Great Britain,

France, West Germany, the United States, and the USSR. Historically, the British led the way with their natural uranium,

carbon-dioxide cooled and graphite moderated reactors. Since

the fuel was in the form of metallic uranium rods, canned

within a magnesium alloy cladding, these plants became known

as MAGNOX reactors. In an attempt to improve the steam

conditions by raising the coolant temperatures, a second

generation of gas-cooled reactors evolved in Great Britain.

These advanced gas-cooled reactors (AGR) are characterized by

their carbon dioxide coolant, graphite moderator, and stainless steel clad rods of slightly enriched uranium dioxide.

Continued efforts in raising the coolant temperatures have

resulted in a class of high temperature reactors. The two

outstanding examples are General Atomic’s HTGR and the West

German thorium high temperature reactor (THTR). Both are

82
graphite moderated and helium cooled, and operate on the

uranium-thorium fuel cycle. Presently, 300 MWe demonstration plants for both the HTGR and THTR are nearing commercial operation, and large commercial plants (in the neighborhood of 1000 MWe) have been designed.

The basic differences between the HTGR and THTR lie in

the fuel design and refueling procedures. In the HTGR,

microsphere of fuel are mixed with a graphite binder to form

fuel rods which are subsequently inserted into prismatic

blocks of graphite. Annual refueling is anticipated for the

HTGR. On the other hand, the THTR is a pebble-bed concept,

designed for continuous on-line refueling. A design for even

higher coolant temperatures is referred to as the very high

temperature reactor (VHTR). Finally, a gas-cooled fast

breeder reactor (GCFR) has been proposed. The basic idea is

to combine the helium coolant technology from the HTGR program with fuel development from the liquid metal fast breeder

program and produce a GCFR with a minimum of additional

research effort. In Table 11 the general characteristics of

each type of gas-cooled reactor are given.

3.3.2 High Temperature Gas-Cooled Reactor**

The HTGR is a thermal reactor characterized by a helium

coolant and a uranium-thorium fuel contained in graphite

blocks which serve both as moderator and core structural

material. The entire nuclear steam supply system, which

includes the reactor core, steam generators, helium coolant

circulators, control rod drives, and the auxiliary core

cooling system, is housed in a pre-stressed concrete reactor

vessel. The unique material requirements demand about 2

million cubic feet of helium and over 50 cubic meters of

graphite per core for a

“Development Status and

Temperature Gas-Cooled

Institute, April 1976,

1160 MWe plant.

Operational Features of the High

Reactor”, Electric Power Research

EPRI NP-142
The basic fuel element in the HTGR is a graphite

with a hexagonal cross-section. Each element is 35.6

block

cm

across the flats and 78.7 cm long. The fuel is in the form

of coated particles of uranium dicarbides and oxides as the

fissile material and thorium oxide as the fertile material.

These are bonded in a graphite matrix to form fuel rods

which are located in vertical blind holes in the fuel elements. Vertical coolant holes are provided for helium flow

through the fuel elements. The core is formed by stacking

these graphite blocks into 493 columns, each eight blocks

high. The core is divided into 73 fuel regions. Each region

is composed of a central control fuel column surrounded by

six columns of standard fuel elements, except at the core

periphery, where reflector columns replace some of the fuel

columns. Each group, called a refueling region, rests on a

graphite support block and is located directly below a refueling penetration that houses a control rod drive assembly.

The refueling regions are grouped into four segments for

refueling purposes, and one segment is refueled each year.

The fuel cycle for HTGRs is based upon the 93% enriched

235 233U

U-thorium fuel cycle, with recycle of bred . This

fuel cycle can involve two different modes of operation over

the lifetime of the plant. These are:

1. Non-recycle operation, in which fuel removed

from the core is placed in storage awaiting

processing and recycle. Core operation is

sustained by the introduction of additional

fresh fully enriched fuel.

2. Recycle operation in which the fuel removed 233U from the core is reprocessed and the U

is fed back into the core along with sufficient 2

35U.

The utilization of 233U has advantages because, 1) 235U

233U

yields about 10% fewer neutrons per absorption than 9

84
2) the fission rate per atom

ture sensitive than 233U and

236 U are formed by radiative

of

3)

235 U is much more temperasignificant amounts of

neutron capture in 235U . Since

236U is an undesirable neutron poison) the continued use of

the uranium fissile material may be limited to one recycle.

Two types of fuel particles will be used. The recycled

235 U, as well as the highly enriched uranium feed, will be

contained as UC2 in the kernel of the fissile particle which

has a special coating. The thorium will be contained as

Th02 in the kernel of the fertile particle. The fuel particles are blended in suitable proportions and formed into

fuel rods using a graphite matrix as binder material. The

fuel rods are about 16 cm in diameter and 5 to 6 cm long.

The fuel rods are loaded into a graphite block to make

completed fuel element. Each fuel block contains only

of the three types (initial or makeup, highly enriched

233 235U) as well as ‘he recycle U, and once irradiated

a

one

uranium;

fertile

thorium.

Refueling must be performed when the reactor is shut

down, the PCRV* depressurized to slightly subatmospheric

pressure, and the core inlet temperature reduced to about

120°c. The fuel elements and replaceable reflectors are

installed or removed through penetrations located in the top

head of the PCRV; these penetrations also serve as control

rod drive supports. During refueling, the control rod drives

are removed and the fuel handling equipment mounted directly

over the penetration. Removed elements are placed in a

transfer cask, which is shuttled to the fuel

During a normal refueling year approximately

visited and 1000 elements are replaced. The

time is believed to be about 20 days.

3

*Pre-stressed concrete reactor vessel

storage area.

18 regions are

total
3.3.3 Thorium High Temperature Reactor*

The pebble bed reactor is an alternative to the GA-HTGR

as a viable high temperature gas-cooled reactor concept.

Pebble bed reactors are characterized by a mixture of fuel

and some or all of the moderator, which is fabricated into

spherical “pebbles”. The pebbles are then randomly packed

into a suitable vessel, or bed,

Core cooling is provided by gas

between the pebbles. Figure 32

THTR and the HTGR.

to form the reactor core.

flowing through the space

schematically compares the

Development of pebble bed reactors has occurred principally in West Germany. The initial result of this effort is

the 15 MWe helium cooled pebble bed reactor at Jülich. A

300-MWe THTR (thorium high temperature reactor) is currently

under construction at Uentrop. Designs for 1000 MWe THTRs

have also been initiated.

The Uentrop THTR primary system is integrated into a

pre-stressed concrete reactor vessel. The core, i.e., the

pebble bed, is enclosed in a round graphite structure which

is 5.6 m in diameter and approximately 6 m high. The bed

contains 674,200 fuel spheres, each 6 cm in diameter. Control

rods enter from above the core. A bank of 42 rods may be

inserted pneumatically directly into the core and a total of

36 control rods may be inserted vertically into the reflector

Average core power density is 6 MWt/m3

surrounding the core.

The spherical fuel element of the THTR contains 200 gm

of graphite and 33,000 uranium-thorium oxide kernels, coated

with a layer of pyrolytic carbon which has a minimum thickness of 0.5 cm. Each kernel is 0.4 mm in diameter and is

enclosed in two layers of pyrolytic carbon 0.18 mm thick.

The metallic content of an element is 0.96 gm 235U and 9.62

gm

232T h . In order to equalize the radial power and helium

*

Oehme, H. , “Comparative HTGR Designs”, ANS Topical Meeting

Cooled Reactors: HTGR and GCFBR CONF-740501, May 1974.

Gas

86
outlet temperature, there will be two concentric core

ment zones. Average fuel burn-ups of 110,000 MWd/MTM

anticipated.

enrichare

A continuous refueling scheme has been adopted for the

THTR. Fuel elements which are discharged from the bottom

of the core are monitored for burn-up and either returned to

the core or disposed to waste storage. A pneumatic tube

mailing system is installed beneath the core to perform the

refueling. An average throughput rate of 1.8 times per year

is anticipated. Thus, an average of 5-8 passes through the

reactor are made by each element during its 3 year life.

The design principles of the Uentrop THTR can only be

conditionally applied to large pebble bed reactors of 1000

MWe rating. The increase in the number of fuel elements

required for higher thermal power cannot be accommodated by

the larger scaling of the core dimensions. Thermodynamic

and physical considerations limit the core height. Thus, a

relatively flat core with an enlarged diameter of over 10 m

is envisioned. Additionally, for the 1000 MWe system, a new

on-line refueling scheme is proposed. The fuel elements would

pass through the reactor only once. This scheme is known as

OTTO for Once-Through-Then-Out. The pebbles are inserted

through the top of the core by gravity discharge through 24

tubes and withdrawn at the bottom through 3 discharge tubes.

Since the pebbles are not recycled, the pneumatic fuel handling

facility and the burn-up measurement system are excluded. The

power distribution is shifted towards the cold upper region

of the core, which reduces the maximum fuel temperature and

increases the reactivity value of the shut-down and

rods in this core region.

Detailed fuel cycle information suitable for a

plant is not available.

control

1000 MWe
3.3.4 Advanced Gas-Cooled Reactors*

The Advanced Gas-cooled Reactor

second generation in Great Britain’s

(AGR) represents the

development of graphitemoderated and C02 cooled reactor plants. The objectives of

the AGR program are to construct nuclear power stations that

supply steam at conditions comparable with those in modern

fossil-fueled power stations and with a degree of integrity which

permits siting nearer population centers. Five commercialsized AGR plants are in various stages of construction and

operation.

These plants are very similar and each

of 2 reactors. The reactors have a thermal

1400 MWt, with reactor thermal efficiencies

plant consists

output of nearly

of 45.3% and

plant net efficiencies of 41.6%. Coolant temperatures at the

core inlet and outlet are approximately 300°C and 650°C,

respectively. Steam conditions at turbine inlet are about

550°C at 170 kg/cm2

.

The reactor core is a 16-sided structure constructed

from polygonal graphite blocks arranged in a square lattice.

The blocks are interconnected by graphite keys to provide

stability and to maintain the correct pitch. Large vertical

bores through the blocks form the vertical fuel channels.

Square interstitial graphite blocks are placed between the

polygonal blocks and contain coolant channels and control rods.

To maximize the temperature of the coolant while maintaining fuel pin integrity, a stainless steel cladding is

used. This cladding requires low enrichment fuel (~2% 2 3 5

U ) :

The fuel elements consist of 36 pins containing hollow U02

pellets. The pins are arranged in three rings within a

graphite sleeve. Eight such elements are linked together by

a tie bar to a fuel unit extending to the top of the refueling standpipe and terminated with a pressure closure. Fuel

*

"Hinkle Point B, A Survey

Engineering International,

of Design and Construction," Nuclear

Vol. 13; No. 147, August 1968.

88
and control rods are replaced on line.

MWd/MT are anticipated. The fuel cycle

Burnups of 18,000

does not generally

require axial shuffling of fuel elements.

Refueling of the twin reactors is accomplished with a

single refueling machine that runs on a moving gantry spanning both reactors. A central service block contains all

the shielded cells required for the assembly and dismantling

of fuel stringers, for the maintenance of control rods, and

for storing complete fuel stringers as necessary. During a

refueling operation, a stringer of spent fuel is removed

from the core and allowed to decay 10 to 12 hours before

being lowered into the Irradiated Fuel Dismantling Cell.

After the fuel stringer is disassembled, the spent fuel

elements are stored in a cooling pond. Provisions are available for sealing the fuel elements within a stainless steel

bottle which has an inert atmosphere before discharge to the

pond. It is anticipated that the spent fuel will be shipped

by rail and road to Windscale for reprocessing.

3.3.5 Gas-Cooled Fast Reactor*

This concept requires that the neutron spectrum not

degraded

neutrons

graphite

LMFBR.

The

cepts of

by a moderator so that the resonance capture of

i n 2 3 8

U is maximized. Consequently, there is no

moderator and the reactor core is similar to the

major characteristics of the current reference cona gas cooled fast reactor (GCFR) are based on minimizing development work. This results in the selection of

the steam cycle for power conversion and of bundle type fuel

elements containing oxide ceramic fuel pellets in steel cans.

Concepts have been proposed by General Atomic (GA), the Gas

Breeder Reactor Association (GBRA) , and Kraftwerk Union (KWU) .

The development of the HTGR and the AGR provides the required

*

“Development, Status and Operational Features of the High

Temperature Gas-Cooled Reactor”, Electric Power Research Institute,

April 1976, EPRI NP-142

89
background for designing a nuclear steam supply system

entirely housed in a pod type prestressed concrete reactor

vessel (PCRV) in all three cases. The major difference from

the LMFBR fuel element design is the need to withstand a

substantially higher coolant pressure in the GCFR

for adequate heat transfer. The current concepts are based,

therefore, on equalizing the pressure between the interior of

the individual fuel pin and the ambient coolant. Also artificial roughening of the fuel cladding is proposed to improve

heat transfer.

Considerable effort has been made to develop a 300 MWe

demonstration plant. Preliminary analyses for a 1500 MWe

commercial plant have been performed and are summarized in

the following paragraphs.

The reactor core consists of 271 hexagonal, vented fuel

elements, 2.5 m long and 21.36 cm across the flats. There

are 27 similar control elements. The core is arranged into

four enrichment zones and a radial blanket.

The fuel elements are made up of 331 individual, .696 cm

diameter fuel rods, fabricated from 316 stainless steel cladding with a wall thickness of about .037 cm. In this respect,

these rods are similar to LMFBR fuel rods except that these

employ surface roughening to enhance the heat transfer by a

factor of two and to reduce clad surface temperature. The

roughness results in a factor of three increase in friction

losses and, thus, increases the coolant pumping requirements.

Each fuel rod contains mixed (U,Pu) oxide annular fuel

pellets in the form of a right circular cylinder. The pellets

have a center hole to prevent center line melting. The U/Pu

fraction is such that the initial average fissile loading is

approximately 18 percent. Each fuel rod has a depleted U02

axial blanket below and above the stack of core pellets and

90
an individual alumina thermal shield and 3-inch activated

carbon fission-product trap. The radial blanket fuel rods

are similar to the core rods except that they are larger,

1.98 cm o.d., are not roughened, and contain only pellets

of depleted U02 without a center hole. Alternatively, the

radial blankets may be loaded with Th02 for the Production

of 233U . Because of the larger size, only 61 rods are

contained in the 126 blanket fuel elements.

Refueling is carried out with the reactor shut down and

at atmospheric pressure, with either air or helium in the

vessel. The fuel transfer machine is placed in the plenum

space beneath the core by raising it through a port in the

bottom of the vessel. This machine has a vertical receptacle

tube which can be positioned under any core or blanket element. Spent fuel elements are removed from the core by

lowering them into the receptacle tube by means of reach rods

which extend through nozzles in the top of the pressure

vessel. The elements are then transferred to a spent fuel

removal port in the bottom of the vessel, through which they

are discharged and moved to a storage pit. Cooling of the

fuel is provided during all stages of the fuel transfer.

3.3.6 —Material Flows in the Gas Cooled Reactors

The fuel cycle requirements for the HTGR and AGR are

given in Table 12. They are depicted schematically in Figures

33’ and 34 for both the start-up and equilibrium cycle. Data

for the pebble bed reactor were not available, but they are

expected to be similar to the HTGR cycle.

There are several options in the GCFR fuel cycle which

depend upon the use of thorium or uranium blankets and the

use of high or low burnup plutonium in the core. Table 13

contains fuel cycle information for the uranium blanket.

This information is shown schematically in Figures 35 and 36

Figure 37 shows similar results if a thorium blanket is used

with low burnup plutonium.

91
3.4 LIQUID METAL FAST BREEDER REACTOR*

The liquid metal fast breeder reactor (LMFBR) is the most

widely used breeder reactor concept under development throughout the world today. This concept utilizes a liquid metal

coolant, no moderator and is based on the uranium-plutonium

fuel cycle. Plutonium from LWR’S is needed to provide initial fuel loading but after startup the LMFBR generates all

the plutonium needed for subsequent refueling. Depleted

uranium (the enrichment plant tails) is used as the fertile

material. (There are some 200,000 tons of depleted uranium

238 stored in the U.S.) U is fissionable by fast neutrons

and about 20% of the fissions in the LMFBR are from the

238U .

The central core contains the fissile material and

provides the main source of energy. The core is surrounded

by radial and axial blankets of depleted uranium. The coolant

is generally liquid sodium and both loop and pot concepts

have been used. The loop concept is similar to the PWR

coolant system and the pot concept utilizes a large reservoir of sodium which contains the heat exchanger, primary

pumps and the reactor. Some believe, since the loop concept is more susceptible to a loss-of-coolant accident, that

the pot concept is inherently safer.

The decision to pursue a LMFBR program has been made

by every nation having a nuclear development program, with

the exception of Canada. Figure 38 shows the various LMFBR’s

which have been built throughout the

*

‘Proposed Final Environmental Impact

world along with the

Statement for LMFBR

Program, WASH 1534, December 1974.
planned higher power reactors. Major difficulties center

around the steam generator and material problems. The

Clinch River Breeder Reactor Plant, a 380 MWe demonstration

facility, is the lead fast reactor in the U.S.

The fissile loading of the core at the beginning of the

life cycle is essentially all 239Pu and 241Pu. Depleted

235 uranium, containing from .2 to .3% U, is utilized as the

fertile material. The core undergoes burnups of 70,000-

100,000 MWD/MT and the blankets will undergo from 5,000 to

20,000 MWD/MT. The axial blankets are generally part of the

core fuel element and will not be reprocessed separately.

The fuel is generally U 02- PU02 clad in stainless steel.

The core for a 1,000 MWe plant will be about 1 meter high and

2.0 to 3.0 meters in diameter and contain about 200 to 300

fuel assemblies. The radial blanket will contain another

100 to 150 assemblies, and may contain two or more radial

zones. The number of pins per assembly may range from 200

to 300 for the core, and from 50 to 100 in the blanket. The

plutonium loading in the core will probably vary from 10 to

20% Pu over several regions. The breeding ratio will be

around 1.2 to 1.3.

Refueling will occur once a year, replacing about onehalf of the core and one-third of the radial blanket. The

spent fuel will be stored on site for more than 30 days

before shipment to a reprocessing facility. The reactor must

be shut down for refueling but the fuel elements are withdrawn through the top of the reactor vessel. The spent fuel

will be stored in hot cells or in sodium-cooled decay tanks

on site.

93
3.4.1 Material Flow in the Liquid Metal Fast Breeder Reactor

Table 14 depicts the material flow in the nuclear fuel

cycle for a “typical” 1,000 MWe LMFBR. This material flow

is shown schematically in Figure 39. It is assumed that

the depleted uranium is recovered from the waste tails of

the enrichment plant, so that no mining or milling is

required.

3.5 LIGHT WATER BREEDER REACTORS*

The light water breeder reactor (LWBR) relies extensively upon the LWR technology and has the major purpose of

producing as much fissile material as it uses. The present

concepts are based on the pressurized water reactor (PWR)

and may be implemented by placing a different reactor core

and control system in present PWR reactor plants. The

reactor concept is being studied in the U.S. and a demonstration operation in the Shippingport reactor is scheduled

for the late 1970’s.

The LWBR is a thermal reactor which would convert thorium

to 233U . Because the breeding (conversion) ratio is near 1,

233 prebreeders are required to produce enough U for the first

few breeder cores. The prebreeder cores have different

neutron requirements. The basic core design utilizes the

seed-blanket concept, in which each fuel module contains

fissile regions (seeds) and a fertile blanket. A low water

content in the core is required to minimize neutron capture

in the hydrogen and a water-to-metal ratio of about 1/10

that of the standard PWR has been proposed.

To minimize parasitic neutron capture in control rods,

various designs utilize either fissile or fertile materials

as the control element. Fertile blankets increase the size

of the core but utilize the leakage neutrons. For a given

PWR reactor vessel, a LWBR core could produce only about 70%

of the power of the PWR. A prebreeder would not

significant derating

*Final Environmental

of power.

Statement LWBR Program, ERDA

94

result in a

1541, June 1976
Burnup of the core will be about 20,000-50,000 MWD/MT.

It is expected that the reactor will be refueled in a

manner similar to the LWRS. The reactor will be shut down

for a period of up to 30 days, and the pressure vessel head

removed to retrieve a portion of the fuel.

3.5.1 Prebreeder

The prebreeder will be obtained by placing a new core

in an existing PWR. For example, the Westinghouse PWR core

module could be replaced by one containing U02 and ThO2, rods.

About 190 modules will fill the 360 cm high,

core. Each module will contain 240 U02 rods

meter and 100 Th02 rods 1.7 cm in diameter.

enriched to 10-13% 235U.

3.5.2 Breeder

6

360 cm diameter

.75 cm in diaThe u02 is

A larger reactor vessel is necessary for a breeder core

to prevent derating an existing PWR vessel. The core will

be about 450 cm in diameter and have an active height of

320 cm, with a reflector region about 20 cm on both the top

and bottom and contain about 74 fuel modules. The 233U 02-

Th02 seed region of the fuel module will contain about 620

rods, .91 cm in diameter, and the blanket region about 445

rods, 1.7 cm in diameter.

3.5.3 Material Flow in Light Water Breeder Reactors

The material flow for both a prebreeder and a breeder

are shown schematically in Figures 40 and 41 . Table 15 provides more detailed information on the fuel cycles. Since

detailed data have not been published for a commercial size

plant, the data given should be applied with caution.

95
3.6 MOLTEN SALT BREEDER REACTOR*

The molten salt breeder reactor (MSBR) concept is based

on the use of a liquid fuel which circulates between the

reactor vessel and a heat exchanger. The fuel is a complex

salt (LiF-BeF2-ThF4-UF4) in the ratio of 71.7-16-12-.3 mol

percent. This chemically toxic salt melts around 500°C and

serves as the fuel for the reactor. The salt flows through

channels in a graphite moderator in the 6.6 meter diameter,

6.0 meter high reactor vessel. The coolant flow is about

4 m3

/sec and leaves the core at about 700°C. The heat is

transferred to another molten salt in a heat exchanger. A

fraction of the fuel (about 3 liters/minute) may be continuously removed for chemical removal of fission products. The

entire fuel inventory is processed about every 10 days. The

thorium, uranium and plutonium are not separated.

The major disadvantages of this reactor concept are

related to the containment and continuous processing of very

radioactive, toxic, and corrosive materials. Maintenance of

the system must be a dominant design goal.

cesses involved are not utilized elsewhere

industry, so the development costs will be

Most of the proin the nuclear

high.

3.6.1 Material Flow in the Molten Salt Breeder Reactor

As in other reactor concepts, there are several options

available. These options include the use of batch or continuous reprocessing, (this affects the breeding ratio) , the

use of plutonium as an initial salt, the replacement of the

graphite, etc. Figure 42 schematically illustrates the

fissile and fertile material flow. Table 16 provides additional characteristics of the reactor.

* , ,

The Use of Thorium in Nuclear Power Reactors,” USAEC

WASH-1097, June 1969.
3.7 RESEARCH AND MARINE REACTORS*

In this section research reactors and the low-power reactors designed

for propulsion of merchant ships are discussed. There are many types of

research reactors operating throught the world -- See Appendix B2. As with power

reactors, it is possible to categorize them in various ways --

by type of fuel, type of moderator, power level, type of

coolant, etc. Some general characteristics can be determined

without regard to detailed features. For example, Fig. 43 .

indicates the annual natural uranium fuel requirements of an

enrichment plant serving various types of 10 MWt reactors.

As expected, regardless of fuel enrichment, between 1 MT and

10 MT of fuel are required. The SWU requirements are given in

Fig. 44 and Fig. 45 shows the annual uranium fuel requirements

for the reactors. It is noted that for fully enriched uranium,

about 10 kg of uranium per year are required. (Marine reactors

(non Navy) are also shown in these figures) . Figure 46 summarizes the plutonium production, per MWt per year, for 75%

operation. The graphite reactors produce about .9 gm

239 Pu per day, per MWt. For high burnup cores, the plutonium

production rate may be high due to the assumption, in our analysis,

that none of the plutonium is fissioned. In the operation of research

reactors it is usual practice to replace a portion of the core and to shuffle

the remaining fuel elements in order to achieve a higher uranium burnup.

3.7.1 Heavy Water Moderated Research Reactors

These reactors are generally tank-type reactors, with

the heavy water acting both as moderator and coolant. A tanktype reactor has a closed, pressurized primary coolant system

which transfers reactor heat to a light water, secondary coolant

system. Fuel enrichments may vary from natural uranium to fully

enriched. The natural uranium fuel elements have relatively low

*“Power and Research Reactors in Member States,” 1974 Edition

International Atomic Energy Agency, Vienna, 1974.
burnup (600-1500 MWD/Ton) and are usually aluminum clad uranium

metal rods. Low enriched fuel elements include higher burnup

aluminum clad uranium - molybdenum alloy rods and clad U02 fuel.

Highly enriched fuel is generally dispersion type, of which

the Material Test Reactor, fuel element is a typical example. Straight place

elements are also in use. The MTR fuel element has aluminum

clad plates, with an aluminum-uranium dispersion fuel.

The MTR fuel element may contain between 10-19 curved or straight

fuel plates, with a variety of fuel enrichments (generally 20-93%)

235 and fuel loadings (8 to 19 gm U per plate). Due to its

flexibility, the MTR fuel element is widely used in heavy water

and light water research reactors.

Dispersion fuel reactors characteristically have high

burnup. Twenty percent enriched MTR-fuel heavy water reactors

have demonstrated 15,000-26,000 MWD/MT, while 90-93% enriched

heavy water reactors have reached burnups well above 200,000-

250,000 MWD/MT. The National Bureau of Standards is currently operating with

fuel burnups as high as 50-55% of fissionable material, which

corresponds to a burnup greater than 400,000 MWD/MT. Figure 49

illustrates the material flow for a 10 MWt heavy water moderator

research reactor.

3.7.2 Graphite Moderated Research Reactors

These reactors are generally air cooled, graphite pile.

Light water coolant may be required for high power levels. Fuel

is generally natural uranium slugs clad in aluminum. Some graphite reactors, such as the Brookhaven Graphite Reactor, have

operated with fully enriched uranium fuel. The natural uranium

fuel has a burnup in the range of 600-2000 MWD/MT. Fuel loadings are very high on the order of tens or hundreds

99
of metric tons. Typically, the BR-1 reactor, operating at

4 MWt, required approximately 24,000 kg of natural uranium.

High plutonium production rates are achieved with

natural uranium fuel. These reactors are easily fueled on

line. Figure 47 illustrates the fuel cycle feed/discharge

characteristics of graphite moderated reactors.

3.7.3 Light Water Moderated Research Reactors

These reactors may be pool-type (generally low power,

< 5 MWt), tank-type or pressurized water type (generally higher

power, > 5 MWt). This is a very simple type of reactor, without the multitude of supporting systems and secondary coolant

loops typical of the higher power, tank-type reactors and PWRs.

The fuel is enriched (10-93%) uranium in dispersion

type elements. Amont the types in widespread use are the

MTR type, previously discussed, and the TRIGA-type. TRIGA

elements are usually 20% or 70% enriched; however, 93% enriched elements are contemplated for use in the latest and largest TRIGA

core designs. — The fuel is a uranium-zirconium hydride

matrix, clad with aluminum (on the elements with the lowest 235U

loading) or stainless steel. Uranium loadings vary from 37 to

53 grams of 20% enriched uranium, to 136 grams of 70% enriched

uranium in each fuel element. A TRIGA core consists

of 85-100 fuel elements. Burnable poison is incorporated in

the 70% enriched fuel elements, which contain 1.6 W/o Erbium to

compensate for the high uranium loading. See Figure 48 for

a 10 MWt research reactor fuel cycle.

3.7.4 Critical Facilities

The assembly-machine type of critical facility provides

the designer the opportunity tO investigate subcritical

and critical reactor configurations with a wide variety of

100
lattice

ibility

arrangements, fuel loadings and fuel types. The flexof a plutonium critical facility is well illustrated by

the Zero Power Plutonium Reactor (ZPPR) which can accommodate

fourteen fuel types, including plates of unclad uranium metal,

clad Pu-A1 and clad U-Pu-Mo alloys and rOdS of clad (U-Pu)02

and U02. A wide range of enrichments of both Pu and U are

utilized.

An example of a ZPPR core

measuring approximately 120 cm

is

in

a 6000 liter, 2-zone core,

height, with an inner zone

diameter of 180 cm and an outer zone diameter of 250 cm. The

fuel is Pu-U-Mo, with an approximate critical mass of 2260 Kg

239 241 235U including 2083 Kg Pu, 144 Kg Pu and 33 Kg .

Critical facilities are generally characterized by very

low power levels, on the order of hundreds of watts, to a few

kilowatts. As a result, there is negligible fuel burnup or

fission product generation. In addition, there is negligible

plutonium buildup in uranium fueled cores and fuel loading is

generally accomplished by manually loading clad plutonium or

uranium fuel elements. Because of the flexibility required

in performing critical experiments, several researchers

will have access to the fuel.

3.7.5 Marine Reactors

To date, marine reactors (non-Navy) have been characterized by relatively low enrichment (4-6.5%), high burnup cores,

using U02 type of fuel elements similar to those used in commercial LWRS. The more recent designs, typified by the B&W

CNSG design, provide for extensive burnable poison zoning in

order to achieve high fuel burnup. The average

burnup is approximately 36,000 MWD/MT. This is

order of magnitude as the current generation of

PWR power reactors.

CNSG core

on the same

commercial

101
Current marine reactors are PWRs with stainless-steel

clad fuel. Their design may differ significantly from that

of land based PWRs.

The marine reactor fuel cycle is generally designed to

provide complete core replacement after a 3 to 4 year service

life. Because of this, the spent fuel elements are characterized by high fission product inventory, high 235 U burnup

and high plutonium buildup. Due to the long residence time

in the core, there is substantial burnup and transmutation

of 239P u . At the end-of-life, the 313 MWt B&W CNSG reactor

contains a total plutonium loading of 103 Kg, including

85.5 Kg of fissile plutonium. Operating Marine reactors are

considerably smaller than the current CNSG design. The U.S.

Savannah reactor was rated at 70 MWt and the German Ship Otto

Hahn operates with a 38 MWt reactor plant.

3.8 ADVANCED CONCEPTS

In this section, several specific topics are presented.

These include the use of the tandem fuel cycle, fissile

material production in fusion reactors and electric breeding.

3.8.1 Tandem Fuel Cycle

A variation on the basic light water reactor fuel cycle

concept is a tandem fuel cycle. This fuel cycle is based on

the use of nuclear fuel in LWR’s and, after mechanical refabrication, using it” as fuel first in LWR's and, after mechanical refabfuel cycle option does not involve the chemical reprocessing of

spent nuclear fuel from LWR’s. Most of the useful fissile

material content of the LWR fuel is utilized without separating

the uranium and plutonium from the radioactive fuel elements.

102
Because deuterium is a more efficient neutron moderator

than light water, HWRs can utilize fuel with a lower fissile

material content. Studies have indicated that PWR spent

fuel could generate an additional 30% to 45%

if the spent fuel is placed in a HWR.

more electricity

These analyses were

based on a 33,000 MWD/MT PWR fuel burnup, and indicated that

an additional 10,000 MWD/MTU burnup is achievable in a HWR.

(Current experience with LWR fuel indicates a burnup of only

about 25,000 MWD/MT, indicating that more than 10,000 MWD/MT

may be possible with the HWR.) This additional energy is

roughly equivalent to the energy which would result from the

reprocessing of spent PWR fuel and the recycle of both

recovered uranium and plutonium. Table 17 summarizes the

changes in fuel composition during the tandem fuel cycle.

TABLE 17

FUEL COMPOSITION

U-235

Pu Total

Pu 239 + 241

Fuel

Charged

(K/MT)

32 (,3 . 2%

U-235)

o

0

LWR HWR

Discharge Discharge

(33 ,000 MWd/MT) (45 ,000 MWd/MT)

7.2 (@.72% 2.8 (~O. 28%)

U-235)

9.1

6.4

8.7

4.8

It is interesting to note that the final 235 U enrichment of

HWR fuel is at or below the depleted uranium level from

enrichment facilities and that the total plutonium contained

by the HWR spent fuel is almost as great as that in the PWR

spent fuel but with a reduction in the thermally fissile content. The significance of these observations are as follows:

● The utilization of uranium resources by the tandem

fuel cycle is approximately equal to that of the

light water reactor with recycle.

103
●

Because of the depleted nature of the resultant

uranium and the low fissile content of the plutonium, the spent HWR fuel is probably economically

unsuited for reprocessing as a source of fissile

material for the LWR fuel cycle.

The spent HWR fuel represents a source of plutonium

which could be useful in future LMFBR development.

The spent HWR fuel could be stored as spent fuel

which would discourage unauthorized use.

The commercialization of the tandem fuel cycle requires

the resolution of several technical problems, detailed analysis

.

of economic potentials, and formulation of a new set of regulations and regulatory procedures. All of these issues are

inter-related and must be resolved.

The first technical step is the verification of the preliminary reactor calculations both by additional calculations

and actual reactor demonstration. The major technical difficulty is the mechanical refabrication of LWR spent fuel so

that it can be utilized by a HWR. The LWR fuel has a different

configuration than current HWR fuel, and the LWR spent fuel

has a high temperature history, variations in 235 U and fissile

plutonium content, and brittle fused chunks of fuel.

There are several approaches to the conversion of LWR

fuel for use in HWRS. Some are listed below:

1.

2.

3.

Mechanical disassembly of the LWR fuel with a

subsequent rejacketing and swaging into a HWR

configuration.

Mechanical disassembly of the LWR fuel followed

by grinding of the LWR fuel with subsequent reformation and fabrication in a suitable geometry.

Modification of HWR designs to utilize the LWR

fuel with minor modifications. This entails

recladding the fuel, as a minimum, and possible

power derating to allow for nonuniformity of

fissile content.

104
Problems associated with irregularities in fuels causing

low thermal conductivity, non-uniform power generation and

poor bonds between fuel and cladding must be addressed in any

utilization” scheme.

The fuel from three or four 1,000 MWe LWRs would supply

fuel for one 1,000 MWe HWR. Economic considerations include

the capital cost of constructing a significant number of HWRs

to accept the fuel from LWRs (HWRs are about 10-20% more

expensive than LWRs) , and the capital cost of facilities

required to refabricate LWR fuel to HWR as compared to the

LWR fuel cycle capital costs. Finally, the operating costs

of safeguards and security must be considered. These will

most likely be less than for a LWR recycle. The regulatory

problems of such a fuel cycle center around the licensability

by NRC. The basic Canadian HWR is not currently licensed in

the U.S. , although it is proven and used in several other

countries. The problems of licensing, considering the fact

that the fuel will have a unique and variable history, may

increase the cost of reactor construction.

3.8.2 Fission-Fusion Systems

One of the major efforts now underway to develop long term energy sources

is in the area of controlled fusion. At present, the major objective of the

fusion program is the development of a commercial electric power reactor. The

potential also exists for using controlled fusion to produce fissile material

although this is currently being pursued at a low level in this country. Of

the several possible reactions for a fusion reactor, the most promising is that

of the two hydrogen isotopes, deuterium and tritium (the D-T reaction). This

reaction produces a neutron and a helium nucleus, and releases 17.6 million

electron volts of energy- The kinetic energy of the neutron accounts for

about 75% of the energy releases by the reaction.

105
In a fusion device using this reaction, the neutrons would have two

functions. First, they would provide a source of heat to generate steam

and second, a fraction of the neutrons would be used to produce tritium,

to fuel the reactor, by reacting with lithium. The latter occurs in an

assembly, called a blanket, which surrounds the chamber in which the fusion

reactions take place. The lithium moves through the blanket as a liquid

metal. Only a small fraction of the lithium is converted to tritium by

reactions with the neutrons and the remainder is heated upon absorbing the

neutron’s kinetic energy. This heated lithium is extracted from the blanket

and passes through a heat exchanger where steam is produced.

As indicated, however, there are other ways to use the

produced by the fusion reaction. Because it is a source of

possibility exists of producing fissile material to be used

energy and neutrons

fast neutrons, the

n a fission reactor.

This could be accomplished by placing fertile material in the blanket which

would absorb a fraction of the fusion neutrons.

There have been several studies of fissile material production in

potential fusion reactors. Three candidate systems have emerged. The first

produces only fissile material and no energy is extracted to produce electricity. The second is a hybrid system that produces both fissile material

and electric energy from the fusion reaction. The third is also a hybrid

system but the energy production results from fission reactions in the

blanket and from the fusion reactions. In this case a portion of the neutrons

from the fusion reactions are used to produce fissile material which is

in a critical assembly, while the remaining are used to produce tritium and

heat the lithium. The scientific conditions that must be achieved so that

the system has energy gain are theoretically less stringent than needed for a

fusion reactor by itself because of the potential energy yield of the fissile

material. For a given sized device, however, the total energy yield would

106
be less than if one could achieve conditions needed for a fusion power reactor

so if the latter works, it should be less expensive. The conditions required

for successful operations appear to be less stringent for fission-fusion systems,

however, so they may become available sooner.

Of course, the fissile material produced in a hybrid system can also

be used for weapons, Therefore, fusion-fission devices would be subject to

problems of proliferation and safeguards considerably more severe than would

be the case for a fusion system alone. It is possible that the latter could

be modified after construction to produce fissile material but this would involve

placing fertile material in the blanket after it was constructed. In all

probability this would mean an entirely new blanket assembly since it is

unlikely that the original could be modified. The requirements of the blanket

assembly in terms of structure and neutron reactions with the lithium for a

given reactor means that it would have to be redesigned if fertile material

were also to be included in order for the fusion reactor to continue operation. Since the blanket assembly will be a large cost item for any potential

reactor and since it will not be easily accessed, it is probable that there

would be easier ways to obtain fertile material than to either modify an

existing fusion reactor or build a hybrid system.

A

Due to

by the

fertile blanket may contain natural or depleted uranium or thorium.

the rapid buildup of fissile material, the blanket lifetime is limited

power density resulting from the fissioning of the bred material.

Calculations indicate that about 1.5 kg of fissile material are produced,

per metric ton of fertilemetal, per 100 days in a blanket. A 600 MWe fusion

reactor might utilize a blanket containing 100 tons of uranium, so nearly
500 kg

energy

of Pu could be produced per year. Due to the high

neutrons and relatively low burnup, the plutonium

would contain greater than 95% fissile isotopes.

Experiments to test the design analyses of fertile

blankets are believed to be some of the goals of the Russian

T-20 fusion test reactor. The blanket design is probably one

of the least difficult portions of a fusion-fission system

and a fertile blanket could be incorporated into a fusion

reactor without a major development effort. Blanket refueling and heat removal are two major potential problems with

this system.

3.8.3 Electric Breeders

When high energy protons strike a high Z target, such as Tangsten,

many neutrons result. These neutrons could be used in a depleted

uranium or thorium assembly to produce fissile material. Alternatively

these neutrons could be directed into a reactor containing spent fuel

and convert some of the remaining fertile material into fissile material.

This concept may be viewed as a re-enrichment process and if metallurgical

issues can be resolved, the fuel could reenter a fission reactor without

reprocessing. Thus, an accelerator could be used to reenrich spent fuel,

burn actinides in the spent fuel, or convert fertile to fissile material. For

example, 233U could be produced form thorium for a denatured LWR fuel cycle

On the other had, the device could also be used to produce fissile material

for weapons. Hence the technology presents the same proliferations dichotomy

as advanced enrichment techniques.

This concept has been pursued more vigorously by the

Canadians than by other countries. Technologies utilized in

producing neutron beams in facilities such as the Los Alamos

Meson Physics Facility can be used to investigate this concept

in the U.S. An 800 MeV proton incident on depleted uranium

108
will produce about 25 neutrons with an energy spectrum not

much different from that due to fission. About 50 MeV of

energy will be depposited in the uranium target, per proton,

and this energy could be reconverted to electricity through a steam

cycle turbine. A 30 milliamp proton beam produces about

100 kg of plutonium per year. The heat removal for the high

power den

maximum

inherent

sity targets and the improvements on the current

beam currents of about 1 ma are two major problems

to this concept.

In the United States there has been recent interest in

electric breeding utilizing 500 MeV deuterons incident on

lithium targets surrounded by uranium or thorium. For a 375 ma

beam of 500 MeV deuterons about 1000 kg of plutoniun can be

produced per year at a cost of approximately $100/gram.
TABLE 6

REPRESENTATIVE PWR AND BWR CHARACTERISTICS

Reactor Characterization

Date of Information

Representative Reactor

Reactor Thermal Power (MWt)

Net Electrical Power (MWe)

Net Plant Efficiency (%)

Average Burnup (MWd/MTM)

Initial

Equilibrium

Core Inventory (MTM)

Core Height (m)

Neutron Flux (n/cmL/see)

Peak Thermal

Average Thermal

Peak Fast

Average Fast

Fuel Description

Number of Assemblies

(core/blanket)

Dimensions of Assembly (hxd)m

Number of Rods per Assembly

(core/b lanket)

Chemical Composition

(core/blanket )

Cladding Material/Thickness (cm)

Enrichment (%)

(Initial/Equilibrium)

Control Material

Control Rods/Assembly

Refueling Interval

Fraction Reload per Cycle

Conversion Ratio

(Initial/Equilibrium)

PWR

1974

3250

1050

32.3

15,000

25,000

80.12

3.65

193/ --

4. 06x0. 215

204/ --

Zr- 4/ 0.062

(2. 8/3. 3) U

235

Ag-In-Cd rods

B in solution

20

1 year

1/3 core batch

.5/ .6

BWR 1

1970

3293

1053

32.3

19,000

25,000

148.50

3.66

764/ --

4. 47x0. 138

49/--

uo2/ --

Zr-2/O. 08

(2. 25/2 .60) U235

B4C

H20 flow regulations

1/4 cruciform rod

1/2 curtain rod

1 year

1/4 core batch

0. 6/0.6

110
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Fig. 32.

HTGR

Comparison of the main systematic dif -

ferences of two typical designs with

pebbles and prismatic fuel.
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149
TABLE 1 4

FUEL CYCLE REQUIREMENTS (1000 MWe, 75% LOAD FACTOR)

REACTOR CHARACTERIZATIONS

Mining (103 MT)

Material Removed

Uranium 0.2% concentration

Thorium 0.2% concentration

Milling (MT U308)

Conversion (- ‘MT =Enrichment Feed)

(MT UF6)

Enrichment

SWU (MT)

Tails (MTU at 0.2%)

Enriched product (MTU)

Assay (% U-235)

Feed nat U (MTM)

Fuel Fabrication

Input (MT)

Output (MT)

No. Assemblies/year

Composition

Input U (MTM)

From Enrichment tails

Weight of Assembly (MTM)

Used in Reactor

Reactor load in

Quantity (MTM) U\Pu\Th

Isotopes (%)

u-233

u-234

u-235

u-236

u-238

Pu-239

Pu-240

Pu-241

Pu-242

LMFBR1-AI

Reference oxide

Initial Equilibrium

Load Cycle

15.453

15.3

138

depl.U02

43.733

(0.3%U235)

0.1109

radial,bl.

43.3/4.3/0

0 .3

99.7

71.5

25.2

2.4

0.9

2.558

2,533

23

depl.U02

1.302

(0.3% U-235)

0.1109

radial bl.

16.25/1.528/0

o

0

0.063

0.051

99.896

71.5

25.18

2.40

0.902

150
TABLE 45 (Cont)

FUEL CYCLE REQUIREMENTS (1000 MWe, 75% LOAD FACTOR)

REACTOR CHARACTERIZATIONS

Mixed Oxide Fuel Fabrication

Input (MT) U\Pu

output (MT)

No. Assemblies/year

Composition

Weight of Assembly

Used in Reactor

Waste Disposal

High Level Wastes

(MTM)

(HLW+Cladding hulls)

Volume (ft3)

Activity (106 Curies)

Activity of Pu (103 Curies)

Canisters (a 3.5 ft3)

Low Level Wastes

volume (ft3

)

55 Gallon Drums

Burial or Repository

Space (ft3

)

LMFBR1-AI

reference oxide

Initial Equilibrium

Load Cycle

28.28/4.343 13.728/1.545

32.3 15.120

274 128

depl.u02+PuO2 depl.u02+Puc2

0.’1179 0.1179

core & axial bl. core & axial bl.

220

24.3

83

63

16,000-42,000

2,240-5,880

3,200-8,400

151
TABLE 14(cont)

FUEL CYCLE REQUIREMENTS (1000 MWe, 75% LOAD FACTOR)

LMFBR1-A1

REACTOR CHARACTERIZATIONS

Reactor Discharge

Quantity (MTM) U/Pu/Th

Isotopics

U-233

u-234

U-235

U-236

U-238

Pu-239

Pu-240

Pu-241

Pu-242

Th

Fission Products (MTM)

Net Plant Thermal Efficiency (%)

Burnup in core (Avg. MWd/MTM)

Spent Fuel Storage

Decay Heat (W/kg)

Days Holdup

Activity at Discharge

From Pool (106 Curies F.P.)

Fuel Reprocessing

Input (MT)

Recycle Uranium (MT)

U-233

U-235

U-239

Plutonium Production (MT)

Pu-239

Pu-241

reference oxide

Initial Equilibrium

Load Cycle

41.8

40,000

15.135/l.815/o

o

0

0.042

0.056

99.902

71.7

25.1

2.38

0.76

0

0.690

41.8

67,600

149

30

301

17.653

0

0.006

14.967

1.2883

0.0429

152
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1-

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155
w

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157
158
Table 16

MSBR (1000 MWe 75% Capacity Factor)

Mining (103 MT)

Uranium 0.2% concentration

Thorium 0.2% concentration

Conversion (=Enrichment Feed)

(MT UF6)

Enrichment

SWU (MT)

Tails (MTU at 0.2%)

Enriched Product (MTU)

Assay

Feed nat U (MTM)

Reactor Load in

Quantity (U/Pu/Th) (MTM)

Isotopics %

u-233

U-234

U-235

u-236

U-238

Reactor Inventory

Quantity (U/Pu/Th) (MTM)

Isotopics %

U-233

U-234

U-235

U-236

U-238

Net Plant Efficiency (%)

Reload in kg/yr

Th-232

Graphite

Reload out kg/yr

U-235

U-233

Start Up

234

73

521

281

650

5 7 0

436. 9

2 . 4

93%

4 3 9

2. 419/ - / 136

0

0

93

0

7

0

0

93

0

7

43

9281

26219

4.2

42.8

Equilibrium

10.1

19.2

2. 3/-/ 136

68

17

7

8

43

9281

26219

4.2

42.8

159
Natural Uranium Required (kg)

Fig. 43. Annual Natural Uranium Requirements to Enrichment

Plant to Provide for 10 Mwt Reactor Annual Fuel

Requirements

160
161
.

162
FUEL ENRICHMENT ( % 2 3 5U )

%

UJ

El

LJ

a

/

o

● r+

r -

I

I

/

1

1

-i

163
URANIUM MINING & MILLING CONVERSION

[10% LOSS)

ANNUAL THROUGHPUT REQUIREMENTS FOR A 10 MWT BULK GRAPHITE OR

HEAVY WATER MODERATED AND COOLED TANK TYPE, NATURAL URANIUM

METAL FUELED RESEARCH REACTOR.

MIXED OXIDE FUEL

FABRICATION FOR

NATURAL

URANIUM

METAL

b

1255 Kg

NATURAL URANIUM

FUEL ASSEMBLIES

1255 Kg NATURAL URANIUM

(1246 Kg2238 U, 9 Kg 2235 U)

7 I

II

*

REACTOR I
z - .

Ll -

1’!.

\

\

165
4. DIVERSION POTENTIAL OF REACTOR FUEL CYCLE MATERIAL**

The proper perspective on nuclear weapon proliferation re -

quires knowledge about nuclear weapon material requirements and

their relation to reactor fuel cycle material. Since a detailed

analysis of nuclear fission weapon parameters would require a

classified report, the unclassified details reported below only

define the order of magnitude of the weapon requirements. In

any case, the exact amount, type, and geometrical configuration

of material depends upon a specific design for a desired explosive

yield

The isotopes of particular interest for the construction of nuclear

explosives are 233U, 235U, and 239Pu. (However, it should be noted that all

Pu isotopes are fissile to fast neutrons.) Since each of these isotopes have

different nuclear properties, differing amounts of these materials, in pure form, are required to sustain a critical reaction.

Inside an infinitely thick, heavy metal-reflector, approximately

5 kilograms of 239Pu or 233U, or 15 kilograms of 235 U are required for a critical mass (1,2)

None of the nuclear power reactor fuel cycles can be considered “ideal” sources for weapons material since they do not

contain isotonically pure, metallic* fissile material at any

1 . H. C. Paxton, “Los Alamos Critical-Mass Data”, Los Alamos

2.

*

* *

Scientific Laboratory report LAMS-3067, April 1964.

W. R. Stratton, “Criticality Data and Factors Affecting

Criticality of Single Homogeneous Units”, Los Alamos

Scientific Laboratory, July 1964.

HTGR fuel comes relatively close, in that highly enriched

uranium (93% 235U) is utilized.

See Appendix A for discussion of diversion potential from

critical fuel cycle facilities.

166
point in the fuel cycle. The fuel cycles do, however, contain

fissile material in other chemical forms such as oxides, carbides, or nitrates, typically mixed with other isotopes from

the same element.

The other isotopes ( 238U

240P u ,

242

> Pu) generally found in

fuel cycle material act as impurities as far as weapons are

concerned

The inclusion of these isotopes does

not preclude the use of the material for the con235U struction of weapons. Material enriched with 20% or more

and any isotopic form of plutonium found in a power reactor fuel

cycle could be converted to an explosive without

enriching the isotopic fissile content of the material. The

larger the percentage of these isotopes, however, the

less attractive the material becomes in terms of weapon parameters, such as explosive yield per gram, weapon size, spontaneous

radiation from the nuclear material, and predictability.

The stable chemical forms of fissile material found in fuel

cycles include the oxides, carbides and nitrate solutions. Theoretically, pure oxide and carbide fissile material could be used

(3) directly in a weapon core . As before, the oxygen and carbon

act as “foreign” elements by changing the fissile material density and scattering properties of the material. The nitrate

solutions could not be used directly in a weapon. All of these

chemical” forms can be converted to metallic form, however,

through standard chemical techniques found in open technical literature. On the national threat scale, the chemical form of the

fissile material presents no particular difficulty. This may or

may not be true for a terrorist or subnational threat.

3 . Mason Willrich and Theodore B. Taylor, “Nuclear Theft:

Risks and Safeguards”, Ballinger Publishing Co. , 1974.

167
4.1 EXPOSURE OF STRATEGIC SPECIAL NUCLEAR MATERIAL

An educational, but imprecise, technique for qualitatively

classifying reactor fuel cycles is to look at the fuel cycle

components for the various reactors having strategic special

nuclear material (SSNM) exposed at some point in the process.

(Exposed is defined to mean that the material exists in a pure

chemical form separated from other compounds and SSNM indicates

that no further isotopic enrichment is necessary to produce

weapons grade material.) This taxonomic procedure is useful but

does not necessarily rate the fuel cycles in terms of proliferation potential. A systematic consideration of the threat, plus

specific scenarios on the fuel cycle components, require additional information for a fuel cycle proliferation rating. For

example, in a country which contains only a reactor and no

other fuel cycle components, the proliferation potential of-each

of the fuel cycles is nearly the same. The only proliferation

difference exists in the difficulty of separating fresh fuel

SSNM versus the separation of SSNM in irradiated fuel.

In Table 18 the

reactor fuel cycles i

exposure of SSNM for the representative

S shown

ponents. A quick perusal of

reactor fuel cycle exists --

SSNM is generally exposed in

for the various fuel cycle comTable 18 indicates that no ideal

they all contain SSNM. 1n addition,

the facilities in the back end of

the fuel cycle (i.e. , reprocessing and recycle fuel fabrication) .

Before discussing additional details relative to the exposure matrix table, the typical exposure modes for fuel cycle

processes should be mentioned. In an enrichment plant, the

SSNM may appear as the output of the plant -- it is the end

168
I Ill

169
product of the process.

uranium hexafluoride or

The chemical form of the SSNM is

after conversion, uranium oxide (U02).

This material is input to the fuel fabrication facility, where

it is processed into fuel elements which are, in turn, input

to the reactor. After sufficient reactor operation, the irradiated fuel may be reprocessed; here the SSNM is exposed as the

reprocessing plant product. The typical chemical form for the

reprocessing plant product is a nitrate or after conversion, an

oxide. This material may be then input to a recycle fuel

fabrication plant and refabricated into reactor fuel and fed

back to the reactor.

The light water reactor fuel cycle without recycle does

not expose SSNM in its normal operation. This is the present

mode of operation in the United States, with the irradiated fuel

temporarily stored until a reprocessing or permanent disposal

decision is made. The irradiated fuel contains significant

amounts of plutonium. In the LWR fuel cycle with recycle, SSNM

(plutonium) is exposed at the reprocessing and recycle fuel

fabrication facilities. The rationale for recycle is more efficient utilization of the energy content in uranium fuel. The

economic

have not

would be

however,

basis for recycle is unclear, since total recycle costs

evolved into a predictable value. Uranium resources

extended by recycle by about 30%. It must be noted

that there are alternative methods of extending the

uranium resources to about the same fractional increase. The

use of more efficient converter reactors, such as the HTGR,

the development of a high burnup, throwaway LWR fuel cycle,

thorium fuel cycles, the tandem fuel cycle, or the development

of laser enrichment (with a decreased tails enrichment) would

all tend to extend the uranium resources. The economic value

and practicality of these alternatives has yet to be proven.

170
An alternative reprocessing scheme is also available and

technically proven. In this scheme the uranium and plutonium

are never separated but are decontaminated from the reactor

poisons (fission products) only. Some advantages of this scheme

include the following:

● A simplified reprocessing flow chart, with fewer

safety problems and improved efficiency.

● Improved recycle fuel because of the intrinsic

homogeneity of the coprecipitated uranium and

plutonium oxides.

● Improved safeguards because the uranium and

plutonium would only contain approximately 1.5%

fissile material. A diverter would have to divert

approximately 1000 kg of coprecipitated material

to separate out 5 kg of fissile plutonium for a

nuclear weapon. The safeguard advantages are

primarily against a subnational threat, since a

national entity with large resources could, with

relative ease, separate the plutonium from the

uranium.

The major disadvantage of the coprecipitation reprocessing

scheme is the recycle fabrication plant. Large amounts of mixed

oxide fuel have to be handled (increasing plant size), and all

waste and scrap streams are contaminated with plutonium. In

addition, the mixed uranium-plutonium oxide has to be enriched

to roughly 4% fissile content. These disadvantages incur

economic penalties which tend to detract from the advantages.

Heavy water reactors, like the Canadian CANDU, have a

rather simple fuel cycle, with no reprocessing and no exposure

of SSNM. Even though the SSNM is not exposed during the “standard” CANDU fuel cycle, this reactor does have proliferation

liabilities. Because of the on-line refueling capabilities of

the pressurized tube design, fuel management can be optimized

to produce weapons grade plutonium with no power production

penalty. Of course, the fuel throughput must be increased

accordingly; this, however, is a relatively minor economic

penalty.

.171
There are heavy water reactors which utilize a pressure

vessel design and consequential, off-line refueling. A

notable example of this is the German built reactor in Atucha,

Argentina.

The high-temperature gas-cooled (HTGR) reactor promoted

by the General Atomic Company in the U.S. is the only operational civilian power reactor concept that utilizes fully

235 enriched uranium (93% U) as fuel. The exposure of

SSNM in the front end of the HTGR fuel cycle requires

careful safeguards considerations, particularly if this concept becomes popular on a world-wide scale. The manufactured

HTGR fuel does have some intrinsic protection against a subnational threat, since recovery of the uranium is not a

trivial task.

The backend of the HTGR

developed, not even to the i

fuel cycle has not been fully

ncomplete extent of the LWR fuel

cycle . Consequently, a substantial uncertainty exists as to

the relative economic merit of various HTGR reprocessing and

recycling programs. A recent report (6) indicates that the

235 most economic schemes involve mixing recovered U and 233 U

for one recycle back through the reactor. After the one

recycle, the remaining 235U an d

2 3 3

U is retired. The indications are that the HTGR recycle has a significant economic

advantage over a throw-away fuel cycle.

limited to a one-time recycle because of

2 3 6U -- a reactor poison.

HTGR recycle may be

the build-up of

6 . N. D. Holder, V. H. Pierce, and M. P. Rothstein, “An Economic

Analysis of U-235 Recycle in the HTGR”, General Atomic report

GA-A13836, July 15, 1976.
HTGR recycle material has built-in protection against a

232U subnational diversion, because of the in-breeding of --

an active precusor of a highly radioactive chain of daughter

233 products. For example, 5 kg of U, containing 1000 parts

232 per million of U, would have a radiation dose rate near

10 Rem per hour, one foot from the material, after a 20 day

delay period following uranium separation. For longer delays,

the radiation dose builds up to saturation level roughly 10

years after separation.

There are alternative HTGR fuel cycle concepts to the

present fully enriched uranium-thorium fuel cycle. A 1968 /7\

General Atomic report{” concluded that a low-enriched uranium

fuel cycle, possibly as low as 6% 235 U, would have fuel cycle

costs comparable to a throw-away thorium cycle. A more recent

economic analysis tends to support this conclusion. The effect

of utilizing a low-enriched fuel cycle would lower the conversion ratio substantially (it would now be roughly the same as

LWRS), require more uranium fuel and introduce

quantities of plutonium into the fuel cycle.

remove the exposure of SSNM from the front end

fuel cycle.

substantial

It would, however,

of the HTGR

The liquid metal-cooled fast breeder reactor (LMFBR) has

SSNM exposed throughout its fuel cycle. The enrichment facility

is only needed in the fuel cycle, if the initial core load is

made of enriched uranium and not plutonium. Since the LMFBR

is a breeder reactor (it produces

it consumes) the reprocessing and

plants are required components of

feature of an LMFBR is the amount

fuel cycle. An initial load in a

more fissile material than

recycle fuel fabrication

the fuel cycle. An important

of plutonium involved in the

1000 MWe reactor would involve

some 3 to 4 metric tons of plutonium. Annual reload requirements

are roughly 1 ton of plutonium.

7 * P. U. Fischer, S. Jaye, and H. B. Stewart, "Alternate Fuel

Cycles for the HTGR," Gulf General Atomic report GA-9010,

October 4, 1968.

173
The light water breeder reactor (LWBR) necessarily exposes SSNM in the backend of its fuel cycle. Since it

operates on a thorium fuel cycle, the comments on the inbreeding of 232 U in the HTGR fuel are also relevant here. An

interesting feature of the LWBR is that it is just barely selfsustaining. Removal of significant quantities of SSNM from the

fuel cycle shut down the reactor for power production or require

a corresponding importation of fresh fuel.

The molten salt breeder reactor (MSBR), with its unusual

fuel cycle, does not expose SSNM during its operational cycle,

except for the possible production of roughly 3% excess fuel

per year. The initial core would most likely start up with

93% enriched uranium.

Research reactors are normally characterized by their

small core fissile inventory, an uncertain operational schedule

and lack of a commercial backend of the fuel cycle. These

features are generally considered positive assets for safeguards

purposes. On the other hand, research reactors are often sold

on the basis of their flexible fuel management options and

relative ease of refueling. This flexibility gives the operators many options.

MTR (Material Test Reactor) type fuel is often used to

generically describe uranium-aluminum alloy fuel clad in

aluminum. Fuel enrichments for research reactors using MTR

type fuel vary from slightly enriched to fully enriched (93%

235U), with typical enrichments at 20% and 93%. The MTP--type

fuel plate is relatively easily processed to separate out the

uranium. The chemistry involved is well known and available

in open literature.

TRIGA fuel elements consist of uranium-zirconium alloy.

The enrichment may be 20%, 70% or 93%. The reprocessing and

recovery of uranium from these types of elements is much more

difficult than for MTR fuel.

1 7 4
Heavy water moderated and cooled research reactors using

natural or slightly enriched uranium fuel, appear to be the

most easily safeguarded reactor. They are,

of producing plutonium on a small scale, as

May 1974.

4.2 DIVERSION PATHWAYS FOR SSNM

however, capable

India proved in

Assuming that a political/technical decision has been made

to develop the most effective nuclear weapons possible by

diverting material from a reactor fuel cycle, the most cost

effective, least detectable and lowest impact pathway to

acquiring the necessary SSNM must be determined. There is no

simple, unique manner to make this determination. It depends

upon the threat (large country, small country, sub-national

group), the resources available, and the specific reactor fuel

cycle under attack. In this section, we shall examine a few

representative fuel cycles to illustrate the impact on the

fuel cycle (power production, fuel throughputs, etc.) and the

additional facilities required to produce nuclear weapons

from fuel cycle material. Since fuel cycle plutonium is

not optimum SSNM for nuclear weapons production, we shall also discuss

fuel cycle tampering to produce fore favorable isotopic concentrations of SSNM.

At the bottom of Figure 49, the fuel cycle for a 1000 MWe

CANDU-type heavy water reactor is depicted with annual equilibrium cycle fuel flows. The most obvious, straightforward

method for achieving nuclear weapons capability without affecting

the power production is to reprocess spent fuel containing

approximately 0.4 tons of plutonium (72% fissile Pu) into roughly

57 nuclear weapons. This assumes a 1% Pu loss to reprocessing

and SSNM rework and fabrication. Each of the weapons would

240 contain 5 Kg of fissile Pu and nearly 2 Kg of PU + 242PU.

1 7 5
I

I IIII L((: IIIIIIIIIIII IIIIIII1IIIIIIIIII

176
Plutonium with a higher percentage of 239Pu

could, in principle, be achieved in a CANDU fuel cycle without

causing any power production losses. Instead of burning the

fuel to 7500 MWd/MT, the fuel

times faster, producing more total plutonium (.58 MT Pu) , with

a more favorable fissile content (90%). This procedure would

ultimately produce roughly 102 weapons per year for a 1000

megawatt reactor. The only tampering indication would be the

increased fuel throughput. The key safeguards management

point in the fuel cycle is the spent fuel. An account of all

the spent fuel emanating from the reactor counters this method

of clandestine weapons production.

A surveillance technique for fuel removal from a CANDU reactor has, in fact, been demonstrated.* The on-line refueling

machine, of course, complicates the accounting of fuel bundles

discharged from the reactor; however, the transfer channel can

be monitored (for high activity gamma ray sources) to count the

number of irradiation fuel bundles as they pass by on their way

to the storage bay. The item count of the stored bundles in the

bay correlated with the tamper proof continuous surveillance

monitor could -_ assure an inspector that all irradiated CANDU

fuel is accounted for. Monitoring of the spent fuel discharged

from CANDU reactors is not presently required.

In Figure 50 a simplified 1000 MWe LWR fuel cycle with no

recycle is depicted. This fuel cycle is representative of the

majority of power reactors operating in the world today.

Assuming 75% power production (i.e., 75% capacity factor) for

the year, this equilibrium cycle pressurized water reactor

produces approximately 230 Kg of plutonium each year. After

*

D.B. Siden, J.G. Hodgkinson, J.W. Cornbell, H.D. Kosanke, “Testing of Techniques for the Surveillance of Spent Fuel flow and

Reactor Power at Pickering Generating Station,” International

Atomic Energy Synposium on Safeguarding Nuclear Materials, 20-24

October 1975, Vienna, IAEA-SM-201/67.
LI

—

I

I

I

I

I

I

I

I

I

I

I

a

178
accounting for losses, this amount

31 nuclear weapons.

of Pu could produce up to

The isotopic concentration of the plutonium could be made

more attractive for weapons (i.e., from 69% fissile Pu to 90%

fissile Pu) by lowering the fuel burnup from 33,000 MWd/MT to

8100 MWd/MT. This, in effect, increases the fuel throughput

in the fuel cycle. For LWRs, however, the refueling must be

performed off-line. Consequently, a power production penalty

must be paid for the additional refueling required by a lower

burnup, higher fuel throughput. For the situation depicted in

Figure 50 the power loss is almost 1/3 the yearly power production, assuming that four refueling with typical down times (8)

are required. An additional indicator that an abnormal fuel

cycle is in operation is the roughly 3 fold increase in fuel.

If this material is being imported (i.e., the country has no

enrichment capability), then the abnormal situation is discernible. The lower burnup fuel can produce more plutonium

than the normal fuel cycle (even with less power production),

with higher Pu isotopic concentration. The resultant weapons

production increase is almost 50%.

There are, of course, other LWR fuel management schemes

available to a reactor operator which produce weapons grade

plutonium. The impact on power production, fuel requirements,

and weapons production may differ in detail from those depicted

above. The sense of the impacts is apparent, however. The

critical safeguards management point for LWR plutonium production is accounting for the spent fuel emanating from the

reactor (as in the case for the HWRs).

8. A. Fattah, R. Skjoeldbrand, "Performance Analyses on

Nuclear Power Plants from Operating Experience Data",

IAEA-SM-195/36, Symposium on Reliability of Nuclear

Power Plants, April 14-18, 1975.

179
LWR fuel assemblies have identifiable serial numbers that can

be utilized by safeguards inspectors for accounting purposes.

However, BWR assemblies can and occasionally are disassembled to

remove fuel rods. This practice, potentially, could be subverted

to produce optimum weapons material if a clandestine source of

fuel rods is available. A detection counter to this hypothetical threat is the use of tamper proof seals on BWR and PWR

fuel assemblies. These seals are presently under test and development.*

There is another credible weapons production possibility

associated with the LWR fuel cycle. The diversion of a portion

of the slightly enriched fuel to a clandestine centrifuge

enrichment plant could facilitate the production of nuclear

weapons. Assuming that a power production loss of roughly 1/3

is acceptable (to an overall capacity factor of 47%), thenalmost 10 tons of the 3.3% enriched uranium could be diverted

to the centrifuge plant. With a 0.7% tails enrichment, some

16 MT of separative work units (SWU) are required to produce

273 Kg of 93% enriched uranium. This corresponds to roughly

16 nuclear weapons. The number of centrifuges, at 5 Kg SWU/year

capacity, required to further enrich the LWR fuel is over 3,000,

These same centrifuges could be utilized to enrich natural

uranium to weapons material at 93% enrichment. This type of

clandestine operation could produce approximately five uranium

weapons, less than 1/3 the number produced by the fuel cycle

diversion method.

*

S.J. Crutzen, R. Haas, P.S. Jehenson, A. Lamourox, "Application

of Tamper-Resistant Identification and Sealing Techniques for

Safeguards,” International Atomic Energy Agency symposium on

Safeguarding Nuclear Materials, 20-24 October 1975, Vienna, IAEA
4.3 CONVERSION OF FUEL CYCLE MATERIAL TO WEAPONS MATERIAL

A country desiring an efficient, reliable nuclear weapons

capability, particularly one that would be handled by sophisticated delivery systems, would have to convert the fuel cycle

material into weapons material. This section summarizes the

resources and physical facilities required to convert either

plutonium nitrate or plutonium oxide to plutonium metal. The

conversion of highly enriched uranium to weapons material is

somewhat similar, except that less attention would have to be

paid to the containment of the uranium within the process.

The emphasis is on well-known and proven production processes

as opposed to R&D or laboratory scale operations. Other processes do exist and may be more efficient. The required techniques and equipment are more complex, however.

Assumptions

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

The simplest operational facility will be scoped.

No seismic or tornado design requirements will be

imposed on the design.

Minimum contamination containment systems will be

provided (i.e. only one level of filtration of

process cell air will be considered).

No scrap recycle or recovery will be provided. All

scrap material will be treated as waste.

All solid waste will be disposed of by shallow land

burial.

All liquid waste streams will be disposed of by

cribbing (shallow land disposal).

All remote operations will be done in glove boxes.

Recovery rates as low as 85% of the original material

as metal are acceptable.

All unit processes are batch type.

The two most important criticality control Parameters

will be batch size and equipment design. -

There are two separate process steps to be considered. The

first is the conversion of plutonium nitrate to plutonium oxide;

the second is the conversion of plutonium oxide to plutonium

metal. It is possible to go directly from the oxide to the

metal or to by-pass the oxide on the way to the metal, but these

processes will not be considered because of the assumptions

stated above.

181
There are two well-known, dependable processes for the

conversion of plutonium nitrate to plutonium oxide. These

processes are referred to as plutonium peroxide precipitation

and plutonium oxalate precipitation. The flowsheet concepts

are the same for both cases. The plutonium feed streams are

first adjusted for plutonium and acid concentrations. Next,

the precipitation agent, either oxalic acid or hydrogen peroxide, is added. This is followed by a digestion period, then

filtration of the plutonium precipitate. The plutonium cake

is then decomposed to plutonium dioxide by calcining the cake.

Figure 51 outlines a typical plutonium oxalate precipitation

flowsheet.

The conversion of the oxide to the metal is a two step

process. The plutonium oxide is first converted to plutonium

tetrafluoride by reacting the oxide with dry hydrogen fluoride.

Secondly, the tetrafluoride is reduced to metal by the high

temperature, high pressure reaction with metallic calcium.

plutonium metal can be prepared in the massive state by

reducing any of the several plutonium halides with an appropriate alkali or alkaline earth metal. In practice, plutonium

fluoride is used, principally because it is nonhygroscopic.

Figure 51 shows a typical material balance for reduction of

plutonium fluoride.

Operational Cycle

All unit operations are assumed to be batch type separations.

This allows the design of the equipment to be simple and manually

operated. Criticality control is also important in the design.

Based on a batch operation with approximately 5 Kg of

plutonium being processed, the following operational time cycles

might be expected:

1. Feed adjustment, precipitation,

and digestion 1.5 hours

2. Filtration 0.75 hours

3. Drying, calcination, and

hydrofluorination 4.5 hours

4. Reduction 5.0 hours

11.75 hours

182
#

FEED

P u o IOOG/LITER(lOO%)

H

+ 5M I

N O 5.8 M

10 VOLUMES

STRIKE SOLUTION

50% H2

0

2 0.5 V OLUME S

1 MH2 C 2 04 10.5 VOLUMES

OFF GAS

O* 150 VOLUMES

(S. I. P.)

1

PRECIPITATION

WASH

HN0 3 2M

H 2C20 4 0.05M

5 VOLUMES

SLURRY

pu4+ 0.5 G/LITER

Pu(c 2 0 4

)2 O.2M

H

+

3.0M

NO; 2.8 M

C2 o:- 0.1 M

DIG TIME 1 HR.

DIG TEMP 55° c

21 VOLUMES

FILTER CAKE

PU(C2 04)2 6H2 O

Pu 99%

HN03 0.8M

H2 O 20M

2 VOLUMES

Fig. 51 Plutonium Oxalate Precipitation Flowsheet

183
●

POWDER CHARGE

t f

P uF4 659 G

Pu 500 G

I

A

REDUCING AGENT

CALCIUM 225 G

25%

MOLAR EXCESS

m

BOOSTER

IODINE 80 G

0.15 MOLE

12

/ MOLE FUEL

4

CERAMIC CRUCIBLE

L

Mg O 500 G

v

MIXER

I

Mg O SAND

FILL ANNULUS

BETWEEN CRUCIBLE

& PRESSURE VESSEL

Mgo 470 G

m

VACUUM SOURCE I

VESSEL PURGE I

I HEAT SOURCE

I

E.G. INDUCTION

FURNACE

HIGH

PRESSURE

PRODUCTION

VESSEL

t -

500 Psl

1600 C

I

J .

INERT GAS

VESSEL PURGE

ARGON 1 LITER

I BUTTON I

BUTTON

I 7

Pu 489.9 G

/

FRAGMENTS

MgO 970G

CaF2 326G

Ca12 826

Ca 45G

Pu IOG

Fig. 52. Plutonium Fluoride Reduction Material Balance

184
The total cycle time for a one 5 Kg batch of plutonium

metal is approximately 12 hours. But it is important to

note that there are two independent operations which require

a majority of the process time. These are the hydrofluorination

step and the reduction step. This means that both operations

could be conducted at the same time, allowing a 5 Kg batch of

plutonium to be produced every six hours. This means a total

of 20 Kg of plutonium metal per day, with a single process

line using all of the equipment designed

of plutonium.

The selection of 5 Kg batch sizes is

considerations, in that it is reasonably

critically safe equipment for 5 Kg batch

sizes present more of a problem.

to handle 5 Kg batches

based on criticality

easy to design

sizes. Larger batch

For a single process line, it is conservatively estimated

that all of the process and support areas could be contained

2

within a 3,600 ft building. The actual glove box process

2

area would be no larger than 350 ft with operational glove

ports in the front and maintenance access through the back.

Cost Estimates

The following order-of-magnitude

process line operation.

Process Equipment

Building

Piping and Instruments

Glovebox system

Building Ventilations

Personnel Support Systems

TOTAL

estimate

$

is for

750,00 0

350,00 0

150,00 0

75,00 0

45,00 0

50,00 0

$ 1,420,000

a

185
These costs include all direct and indirect costs, such

as design, engineering, construction and startup. The numbers

are only representative of the simplest operating facilities.

There are three important time increments in any construction schedule. These time periods are:

● Scoping and design

● Procurement

● Construction

The controlling scheduling factor for the construction of

a facility such as the one being discussed is procurement. The

reason for this is that several major items of equipment must be

fabricated to specific design and require somewhat unusual

materials. The three longest lead items for procurement are

the hydrofluorination vessel, the hydrofluorination furnace,

and the reduction furnace. Following the detailed designs of

these items, procurement would probably require 14 to 24 months

fabrication.

It is important to note that detail design and construction

of the building and operational support systems can be underway during the procurement phase. With good coordination

between all phases of the project, operational startup could

be between 24 to 36 months after the start of the project.

1/36
5 . SUMMARY OF REACTOR CHARACTERISTICS

There are many characteristics pertinent to power reactors

that are decisively important to countries that wish to purchase

a reactor. The previous sections discussed in detail the general

technical and quantitative aspects of the power reactor fuel

cycles. This section will summarize some of these technical

detail-s concentrating on the resource utilization and safeguards

characteristics. Many of the other characteristics are often

subjective by nature or specific to a particular situation and

not amenable to a generalized technical discussion.

A partial list of reactor characteristics that

sidered by a country embarking upon a nuclear power

might be conprogram should

include the following:

1. Remaining R&D problems and

2. Resource requirements

3. costs

4. Fuel cycle independence

requirements

5 . Design available in size desired

6. Environmental effects

7. Safeguard characteristics

Remaining R&D problems and requirements are listed first on

the list, not necessarily because it is the number one consideration, but because it focuses attention on the power reactor fuel

cycles that would be considered by a country that wishes to purchase a reactor. At the present time only the light water reactors

and the CANDUS are available in essentially off-the-shelf designs.

187
The other reactor concepts require considerable R&D to achieve

a commercial status. We will limit the remaining discussion to

the reactors that might be commercialized within the next decade:

PWR, PWR with recycle, BWR, BWR with recycle, CANDU-PHW, HTGR,

AGR and LMFBR. (Over the next decade isotopic enrichment methods

are likely to advance faster than the other reactor concepts --

consequently in 10 years, uranium enrichment may have the clear

edge as a potential proliferation pathway.)

Table 19 summarizes the equilibrium fuel cycle material

flow characteristics along with other pertinent characteristics.

The material utilization is normalized to 1000 MWe and a 75%

capacity factor. The requirements for a BWR recycle reactor is

included in Table 19, however, it must be noted that there are

many recycle fuel management plans that could be utilized, some

of which differ significantly from that listed in Table 21.

The net fissile material utilized to produce 1000 MWe is

substantially less for a heavy water reactor like the CANDU

than for other reactor types (approximately 33% less than for

a PWR). This efficient use of fissile material is a direct

manifestation of the superior neutron economy of heavy water

reactors. If the amount of fissile material remaining in the

tails of the enrichment process is included this difference is

even higher. On the other hand, the amount of energy necessary

to supply the heavy water is not included. In addition, a more

efficient utilization of fissile material could be achieved in

the LWR’s via the use of a tandem fuel cycle, recycle fuel cycle

management plan, or an optimum throw-away fuel cycle. There is

little room for improvement in a heavy water fuel cycle without

substantial reactor design changes.
I

i

II

I

I

n

- . I

I =

.- I

C#

c%

-x

199
costs are certainly an important point in considering

a reactor purchase. However, the total capital cost often

is determined by the financial arrangements, We note here

that the total capital costs of LWRs are thought to be at

least 10% less than for an equivalently sized CANDU.

Natural uranium reactors such as the CANDU offer fuel

cycle independence to those countries not having enrichment

facilities. In addition, they are generally available in

smaller sizes (600 MWe is to be a standard export CANDU

whereas most present LWR designs are over 1000 MWe) . The

smaller size power station is often more compatible with a

country’s electric power grid. (Because of the necessary

shutdowns for refueling and maintenance, no single power station

should be more than approximately 15% of the total grid capacity.)

The environmental effects of the various reactors do

differ. The lower efficiency reactors such as the CANDU promote

more thermal pollution. Some reactors produce more of certain

types of radioactive isotopes. However, none of these considerations are decisive in a proliferation potential discussion.

In Table 20 some of the reactor safeguards considerations

relative to various threats are summarized. If a country

manufactures fuel rods from raw materials then the LWR with

recycle, the HTGR, and the LMFBR could be credibly threatened

by any of the groups listed. If a country receives only fresh

fuel assemblies then the threat diminishes somewhat for these

fuel cycles. All of the irradiated fuel from the various

reactors contain strategic special nuclear material. A credible

threat can be directed against this material if the group can

put together the necessary facility to separate this SSNM from

the highly radioactive fission products.

190
Table 20 REACTOR SAFEGUARDS CONSIDERATIONS

MATERIAL EXPOSURE

LWR

LWR with CANDURecycle HTGR AGR LMFBR

Reactor Fuel Materia l

PHW

Fuel (Raw Materials) o 3 0 3 0 3

Fuel Assemblies o 2 0 2 0 2

Irradiated Fuel 1 1 1 1 1 1

e $

0

1

2

3

No Strategic Special Nuclear Material (SSNM) involved

SSNM involved but must be separated in reprocessing plant

SSNM can be separated by standard chemical and mechanical

processes (no high radiation)

SSNM could be converted with little or no processing into

a weapon

MATERIAL EXPOSURE RATING VERSUS THREAT

Rating

Nation Desiring a

Quick Response Capability

Small Nation

Large Nation I

Subnational Group

o 1 ‘). 3

Credible Threat

I

REACTORS VERSUS THREAT CREDIBILITY

LWR

LWR with CANDURecycle PHW HTGR AGR LMFBR

r

Subnational Grou p c c c

Nation Desiring a

Quick Response Capability c c c — —

Small Nation u c c c u c

Large Nation c c c c c c

C- credible threat

17 - credible but unlikelv

191
It seems obvious that exposure of SSNM in the power

reactor fuel cycle either through the use of reprocessing

and/or SSNM in fresh fuel assemblies makes the fuel cycle

somewhat more vulnerable to a broader spectrum of threats.

The decision as to the relative significance of this increased

vulnerability might better be answered by other considerations

such as:

1. Can effective safeguard measures be incorporated

to counter this increased vulnerability?

2. How significant is this vulnerability relative

to the use of dedicated facilities?

Extensive programs are being conducted in the United States

by ERDA and NRC, and throughout the rest of the world to arrive

at acceptable answers to these questions.

192
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Snyder, A.J., “Computer Program NUFUEL for Forecasting Nuclear

Fuel Requirements and Related Quantities”, WASH-1348, USAEC

October 1974.

Rippon, Simon, “Reprocessing - What Went Wrong?" Nuclear Engineering International, February 1976.

Oehme, H., “Comparative HTGR Designs”, in Gas Cooled Reactors:

HTGR and GCFBR, ANS Topical Meeting, CONF-740501, May 1974.

Boyer, V.S., et al., “Fulton Station HTGR” Nuclear Engineering

International, Vol. 19 No. 2, 19 August 1974, pp. 635-658.

194
Walker, R.E., and Johnston, T.A., “Fort Saint Vrain Nuclear Power

Station”, Nuclear Engineering International, December 1969.

Brooks, L.H., Lotts, A.L., and Wymer, R.G., Progress in the

Thorium-Uranium 233 Reprocessing-Refabrication echnology, in T

CONF-740501.

Heath, C.A., and Spaeth, M.E., “Reprocessing Development for

HTGR Fuels, in Proceedings of Joint Topical Meeting on Commercial Nuclear Fuel Technology Today, AND and CNA, April 1975.

Study of Advanced Fission Power Reactor Development for the

United States, Vol. III, Battelle Columbus Laboratories,

BCL-NSF-C9&6-2, June 1976, pp. C-69 through C-76.

“THTR, Prototype-Kerkraftwerk Uentrop”, in Directory of Nuclear

Reactor Vol. X, IAEA, March 1976, pp. 305-311. . Pigford, T.H., et al., “Fuel Cycle for 1000 MWe High Temperature

Gas-Cooled Reactor”, Teknekron Report No. EEED 105, March 1975.

Pigford, T.H., et al., “Fuel Cycles for Electric Generation”,

Teknekron Report No. EEED 101, January 1973, Pg. 194.

CANDU Nuclear Power Station, AECL, October 1973.

CANDU 500 Pickering Generating Station, AECL, 1969.

McIntyre, H.C., “Natural Uranium Heavy-Water Reactors”, Scientific

American Vol. 223, No. 4 October 1975.

Masters, Richard, “Co-operation and Concentration Pay Dividends

in Canada”, Nuclear Engineering international Vol. 2, No. 244,

June 1976.

Taylor, M.L. and Therrien, M. “Gentilly-Commissioning and Early

Operation” Nuclear Engineering International, Nov. 1972.

Pen, G.A., “Candu-BLW-250” in Heavy Water Power Reactors IAEA,

Vienna, 1968.

Duret, M.G., “Plutonium Production and Recycle in Heavy-Water

Reactors”, in Heavy Water Power Reactors, IAEA Vienna, 1968.

An Evaluation of Heavy-Water Moderated Organic Cooled Reactors,

USAEC, WASH-1083, March 1968.

An Evaluation of a Heavy Water Moderated Boiling-Light WaterCooled Reactor USAEC, WASH-1086, Dec. 1969.

Lane, J.A., et al., “Comparative Evaluation of the Performance

and Economics of Heavy-Water-Moderated Reactors, in Heavy Water

Power Reactors, IAEA, Vienna 1968.

Barnes, R.W., and Mayman, S.A., “The Canadian Program for

Management of Spent Fuel and High Level Wastes”, in Proceedings

of Joint Topical Meeting on Commercial Nuclear Fuel Technology,

ANS and CNA, April 1975.

195
APPENDIX A

DIVERSION POTENTIAL OF CRITICAL

FUEL CYCLE FACILITIES
Fuel cycle facilities that may contain strategic special

nuclear material in a separated form are of particular interest

to a safeguards and proliferation assessment. The exposure

matrix (Table 18 ) lists the critical facilities for the various

power reactor fuel cycles. Enrichment plants, reprocessing

and possibly to a lesser extent recycle fuel fabrication plants

merit special attention as explicitly implied in Table 20.

The capability of an enrichment plant and reprocessing plant

to generate separated strategic special nuclear material makes

them particularly vulnerable to a diversion threat.

Reprocessing Plant

There have been a number of reasons expressed by various

countries for acquiring a reprocessing plant. Included among

these reasons are typically the following:

1) Going to light water recycle fuel to more economically operate LWRs, con-serve uranium resources,

and to gain more control over their LWR fuel cycle.

2) Eventually expect to go to a breeder fuel cycle

which must include reprocessing. The reprocessing

plant is needed to gain the necessary experience.

3) Spent LWR fuel assemblies have to be reprocessed

to generate an acceptable waste disposal form.

All of these responses have a base of validity; however,

the firmness of these bases is uncertain at the present time.

For example, the economic gain in using LWR recycle fuel is

a rather sensitive function of uranium prices and the cost

of reprocessing. Neither of these costs are firm at the

moment and they have a rather large uncertainty for a time

period eight years in the future (following the decision to

196
build a plant) when a reprocessing plant might come on line.

The conservation of resources argument is certainly true

with a most likely uranium savings of 25%. However, as

discussed in Section 4.1, there are alternative

ways of achieving roughly the same gain in resources without

resorting to the use of recycle LWR fuel. The other arguments (2 and 3) also have rather large associated uncertainties which preclude them from being definitive statements

on a perceived positive requirement for a reprocessing plant.

For example, it is clear that any breeder fuel cycle

requires reprocessing. However, it is not clear that breeder

reprocessing will utilize the PUREX process that is standard

for production metal fuels and the oxide fuels of LWRs.

Consequently, experience in reprocessing LWR fuel may only

apply in a limited way toward the reprocessing of LMFBR fuel

because of the higher burnup, higher plutonium throughput,

and possible fuel dissolution problems with LMFBR fuel.

The West Germans have repeatedly stated that reprocessing

of spent LWR fuel gives them a flexibility in developing waste

disposal forms that will be acceptable for disposal in their

country. Until recently, U.S. policy has assumed a base

case fuel cycle that includes reprocessing and waste treatment

prior to disposal. The alternative of directly disposing

spent fuel assemblies (after some treatment) has been assumed

to be technically feasible. There has not been an extensive

experimental program to demonstrate this, however.

An additional argument against a country developing an

indigenous reprocessing capability is that analysis indicates*

that large plants are by far the most economical. Large plants

mean a capacity of 1500 to 3000 MT (roughly 15 to 30 MT of Pu)

capacity per year, or fifty to one hundred 1000 MWe nuclear

*

“Light Water Reactor Fuel Recycle,” Savannah River Laboratory

Quarterly Report, DPST-LWR-76-1-1, January-March, 1976.

197
power reactors. Few countries outside the U.S. are expected

to develop a nuclear power reeactor electric generating capacity

of this magnitude. Moreover, there are design problems

associated with large capacity reprocessing plants (particularly for those greater than 1500 MT capacity) that have not

been completely resolved. These problems are primarily

related to ensuring that a sufficient criticality safety

factor is achievable under all credible circumstances.

Reprocessing plants have one obvious proliferation potential when viewed in the context of a national threat. If the

host country abrogates the Non-Proliferation Treaty and refuses

to allow IAEA inspection of the operating reprocessing plant,

then the country can rather overtly proceed to generate

weapon material from the stockpile of spent fuel. (The likely

amount of Pu that could be separated from spent power reactor

fuel is listed in Appendix B1 . for the various countries.

One result of an overt proliferation attempt might

be the shutoff of the imported fresh LWR fuel from

countries.

supplier

An assessment of covert diversion of plutonium from a reprocessing plant

by the host country or by a subnational group requires some

consideration of the material form and flow through the reprocessing plant.

Figure Al* is a schematic illustration of the principal

physical areas and average daily material flow through a model

1500 MT\year reprocessing plant. The principal areas are:

* G. Bray and H. Kendrick, ‘Spent Fuel Reprocessing Plant

Characteristics Important to an Integrated Safeguards Design”.

INMM 17 Annual Meeting, Seattle, Washington. January 22-24,

1976. PP. 485-494.

1 9 8
199
● Spent fuel receiving and storage

• plutonium, uranium and fission product separation

● Plutonium nitrate blending and storage

• Plutonium nitrate-to-oxide conversion

● Plutonium oxide storage and shipping

The average daily plutonium flow between plant areas is

shown in the figure. The daily plutonium flow is expressed

in kg Pu/day and as a percentage of the average 50 kg Pu/day

assumed coming into the plant. Plutonium assay stations

and accountability tanks, which are required for material

balance accounting are also shown in Figure Al. The data

and physical arrangement shown is intended to be representative of present design criteria.

The cress-hatched enclosures of the spent fuel receiving

and storage area and the separations area indicates the highly

radioactive nature of these areas. Material in these areas

is not attractive for diversion.

The plant processes manifest certain key characteristics

which relate to the attractiveness of the material to potential diverters, and to the accessibility of the material.

The attractiveness of the material can be expressed in terms

of the form (chemical composition, physical form, packaging,

etc.), concentration (grams plutonium per gram of material),

and the presence or absence of hazardous levels of radioactivity. The accessibility of the material is related to its

form, the type of processing or material-handling equipment

used, the degree of automation of that equipment, and the

quantity of plutonium available in a given location.

Key process characteristics have been determined for all

areas of a model reprocessing plant, including both mainstream

and sidestream material flows, and are shown in Figure A2

2 9 0
Quantity Normally

in Process Area

[

SPENT FUEL

RECEIVING

AND STORAGE

SEPARATIONS I —

[

Pu OXIDE

SKIPPING

Handling and

Process

Techniques

Time to Acquire

Scrap and Waste 100 Rem Dose at

Generation 1 meter from 1 Kg

x (TRACE)

x

x

x

x

x

\

SEPARATIONS

Pu NITRATE

8LENDING

AND STORAGE

Pu N[TRATE.

TO. OXIDE

cONVERSION

.

x

c) II Pu OXIDE

STORAGE

x s

x

1 x

x x

201
These figures illustrate the important differences in process

characteristics across the plant. The figures ‘on the left

side of Figure A2 represent the maximum quantity of plutonium

that normally might be present in the various plant areas,

.

the chemical form of this material, and the possible range

of plutonium concentration in this chemical form. Note that

the high points on the figures represent the more attractive

material from a diversion standpoint.

The three figures on the right side of Figure A2 are

measures of the accessibility of the material in the various

plant areas. The top figure on the right illustrates the

time necessary to acquire a 100 REM dose at a one-meter distance from one kilogram of material. As before, the high points

on the figure represent the more accessible material (i.e.,

less radioactive) . Scrap and waste (middle figure, right side

of Figure A2) generally is considered to be more accessible

material partly because it may indicate a process upset and

often is more difficult to accurately measure. Even though

the scrap may not meet the customer’s specifications, it may

still consist of relatively concentrated Pu material that can

be reclaimed and transformed to weapon material. In addition,

scrap and waste represent outgoing material streams from the

main process line. The lower righthand figure illustrates the

handling and process technique. The accessibility to the Pucontaining material is rated from manual through automatic.

Considering all of the characteristics of the various

areas delineated in Figure A2, the Pu nitrate blending and storage

area, the Pu nitrate to oxide conversion area, and the analytical laboratory all would appear to be critical areas for

material measurements and accounting. An indication of an

accounting system detection capability for the conversion area

of our model reprocessing plant that is operating with presently

available measurement equipment and an accounting interval

2 0 2
period of two months (U.S. NRC requirement) is that an individual or group has a 50 per cent chance of avoiding detection

by the accounting system if they divert 13.2 kilograms of

plutonium. For the analytic laboratory, the SO per cent

probability of detection amount is 1 kg of Pu for the two-month

accounting period. If these systems were upgraded to state-ofthe art measurement instrumentation, approximately 8.7 kg of

Pu from the conversion area, or 0.5 kg from the analytical

laboratory, or 11.7 kg Pu from the nitrate blending and storage

area could be diverted with a 50 per cent probability of detection by an accounting system. It is highly likely that these

upgrade numbers represent the most optimistic detection capability since many of the assumed measurement capabilities are

laboratory results that may degrade when introduced into a

production facility. The larger numbers quoted above are

achievable with proven measurement hardware and procedures.

Accounting procedures monitor nuclear material in the main

process stream, the associated sidestreams and, of course, the

sealed, item count material in storage. Undetected diversions

from these areas are statistically possible for measurement

and accounting systems as discussed above. However, the

material must then be removed from the process line or storage

area. Now a number of containment and surveillance procedures

come into play that are designed to detect the removal of the

nuclear material from its authorized location. Many of these

surveillance procedures can utilize tamperproof hardware that

can be left unattended by IAEA inspectors. A partial listing

of these procedures include the following:

● portal monitors for nuclear material

● CCTV surveillance

● door or glove box access alarms

● motion detectors

● random personnel or package searches

● clothing changes

● randomly located radiation detectors

203
The applicability of specific procedures varies according to the particular area; however, it should be possible to design and implement a set

of redundant protective measures to meet a specified subnational threat (for

example, six adversaries with two being inside employees) to the material

access areas. Consequently, an undetected diversion of nuclear material

would have to overcome the containment and surveillance systems in addition

to the measurement and accounting systems.

The reprocessing diversion potential as described above

differs if an alternative reprocessing scheme is employed.

For example, if a coreprocessing scheme (see Section 4.1) is

used so that none or only some of the uranium is separated

from the plutonium, then the model plant is changed along with

measurement procedures. Most significantly, the amount of

material a divertor would have to remove to obtain a strategic

amount of special nuclear material is increased. In addition,

the divertor would have to chemically separate the plutonium

from the uranium. For subnational groups, the required

chemical separation could be a significant obstacle to overcome.

2 0 4
ENRICHMENT PLANT

An enrichment plant is the only other nuclear fuel

cycle facility besides a reprocessing plant capable of

generating separated strategic special nuclear material.

A significant difference exists, however, in that a

reprocessing plant normally handles an intrinsic strategic

special nuclear material --plutonium; whereas an enrichment

plant built to service a LWR fuel cycle would only generate

slightly enriched uranium (approximately 3% 235U) . Consequently, the diversion/proliferation potential of an

enrichment plant exists in its potential capability for

generating highly-enriched uranium (typically 90% or greater

235U) ●

Since most commercial enrichment plants will only be

designed and operated to produce slightly enriched uranium,

the proliferation threat to the facility is limited somewhat.

It is not credible that a small group of adversaries (particularly outsiders) could subvert the normal plant operation to

produce hiqhly-enriched uranium. A credible threat would

have to include most of the

operating personnel.

the operating country

facility.

The remainder of

be primarily directed

Thus,

is of

plant management and many of the

a diversion threat directed by

most concern for an enrichment

this section on enrichment plants will

toward centrifuge enrichment plants.

There are two main reasons for focusing this discussion of

the proliferation- potential of enrichment plants on centrifuge techniques and facilities rather than the present

dominant enrichment technique of gaseous diffusion:

1) Centrifuge plants can be initially constructed

with a modest separative work capacity and

then added to as the demand for enrichment

services grows. Gaseous diffusion plants make

economic sense only in very large capacity such

as 9,000,000 kg SWU\year.

205
2 ) Gaseous diffusion plants require approximately 15

times more electric power per SWU than centrifuge plants.

(The Becker nozzle process which requires somewhat fewer stages but

consumes more than twice as much electric power as gaseous diffusion is

also not an attractive choice for production of weapons material.) Thes e

points are discussed in more detail in Section 2.5 and 2.11. The primary

effect on the above is that small enrichment plants, particular those

build with a limited amount of capital, will undoubtable be centrifuge plants.

The advanced isotope separation processes such as laser

are not likely to be available for use before 1985.

Before concentrating on the centrifuge

enrichment techniques

technique, it

is of interest to note a few technical differences between

gaseous diffusion and centrifuge enrichment that relate to

their diversion potential.

● Enrichment Limits

The amount of enrichment obtainable from a

single barrier in a gaseous diffusion plant

(GDP) is small and relatively fixed. Consequently, all barriers are connected in series,

thus limiting the maximum enrichment that can

be obtained with natural uranium feed. The

amount of enrichment from a single centrifuge

is much larger and variable as discussed below.

● Electric Power Usage

The amount of separative work performed in a

GDP is proportional to the power used to pump

the UF6 through the plant. Thus, the power

usage is a direct and external indicator of

the SWU actually performed. The power used

to drive the centrifuges is relatively small

and a poor separative work indicator.

● process Inventory

The process inventory of a GDP is orders of

magnitude larger than that of a centrifuge

enrichment plant. Since there is always a

rather large uncertainty associated with the

process inventory, this could create a rather

large MUF in GDPs.

206
To facilitate a coherent discussion of centrifuge

enrichment plants, we shall develop a reference centrifuge

plant following Kouts.* The characteristic parameters

listed are nominal values traceable to results reported in

the literature; however, there may be significant differences

between these reference values and those actually utilized

in a specific centrifuge plant. For example, European

centrifuge development (Urenco) is known to be concentrating

on developing highly reliable (failure rate less than 2

per cent per year), low-capacity centrifuges, whereas American

development efforts are reported to be directed toward higher

separative work capacity machines with a reduced reliability.

Hopefully, the reference characteristic numbers are somewhere in between these values.

Table A2 lists the design characteristics of the reference centrifuge enrichment plant. Note that this is a very

small plant (when compared with U.S. diffusion plants) ,

representative of the initial enrichment plants expected to

come on-line in Europe and Japan. A mature LWR industry

would require much larger plants with at least an order of

magnitude or more additional capacity.

Table A3 lists the design material flow through the

individual cascades. Table A4 illustrates the cascade that

produces 4% enriched . 235U Note there are 29 stages with

varying numbers of centrifuges in each stage. The other

cascades that produce a lower enrichment product are similar

in nature with fewer stages.

*

Herbert Kouts, "Reference Uranium Enrichment Plant,"

Technical Support Organization, Brookhaven National

Laboratory, December 6, 1972.

207
TABLE A2

REFERENCE CENTRIFUGE PLANT

Total Separative Capacity

MT SWU/Yr

Unit Separative CapacitY

kg SWU/Yr

Number of Cascades

Number of Centrifuges Per Cascade

Total Feed Rate

MTU/Yr (natural uranium)

Total Product

MTU/yr (various enrichments)

Total Tails 235U MTU/Yr at .25%

Centrifuge Floor Area

ft2

Centrifuge Building Area

ft2

Nuclear Power Industry Supported

1000 MW(e)

200

5

5

8,000

325.2

60.8

264.4

200,000

320,000

about 1.5

2 0 8
TABLE A3

MATERIAL FLOWS IN THE CASCADES

Product

Enrichment

(% U -235)

2.0

2.5

3.0

3.5

4.0

TOTAL

Feed

(Tonnes U/Yr)

79• 4

68• 7

62.6

58.7

55.8

325.2

Product

(Tonnes U/Yr)

20• 9

14• 1

10.5

8.4

6.9

60.8

Tails

(Tonnes U/Yr)

58.5

54.6

52.1

50• 3

48.9

264.4

209
TABLE A4

8000 CENTRIFUGE

represent centrifuge per

Enriching

Stages

I 1

480

538

I

602

—

569

532

492
An important feature to note about the above example

is that centrifuge enrichment plants are inherently

versatile --much more so than gaseous diffusion plants.

This versatility that is inherent with the overall

configuration of centrifuges in an enrichment plant also

extends to the operation of individual centrifuges. Figure

A3 illustrates the characteristic curies of enrichment for a

gaseous centrifuge. The top figure shows the variation in

separative work with feed rate and the bottom figure the

variation in the enrichment factor with the feed rate. The

implication of these curves are that changes in the plant

operation can produce an enriched product that is higher than

the design enrichment.

Measurements and material accounting in enrichment plants

that produce slightly enriched uranium can be viewed from a

different prospective than for reprocessing plants because

the normal product material does not contain strategic

special nuclear material. Nevertheless, material accounting

can be important for some diversion scenarios and it is of

interest to consider the various loss mechanisms as causes

of inventory uncertainty. A comprehensive list of uranium

loss mechanisms would have to include:

traps in vacuum system

centrifuge failure

centrifuge maintenance

accidental losses

wet air inleakage

reaction of UF6 with impurities

intermetallic diffusion

surface absorption of UF6

active chemisorption of UF6

The importance and absolute gram value of each of these

mechanisms is difficult to predict in the absence of experimental data from a production centrifuge plant. The total

loss might be comparable with that of a GDP which is 0.5

per cent of the product (for 4 per cent enrichment) .

211
Relative Feed Rate

2.20

2.00

1.80=

1.60

1.40

1.20

I 1 I

1:0

Figure A3. Assumed Centrifuge Characteristics

212
A quick consideration of material diverted within the material

measurement and accounting uncertainly indicates that this amount of

material is not very important for a plant the size of the reference plant.

Assume a physical inventory every three months. The expected accuracy of

material accounting (IAEA) should be .2 per cent of the throughput for this

period. This corresponds to roughly 1 kilogram of highly-enriched

uranium every three months if all this could be diverted and enriched to

90% 235U.

-Table A5 shows typical inventories inside the fenced

area. We note that the major inventories are in the feed,

product, and tails. These can be measured quite accurately

.2% and thus contribute a rather small total uncertainty

to the plant inventory.

To complete the reference plant model, a layout of the

plant is shown in Figure A4. The cascade area (which at

present is not accessible to IAEA inspection) also contains

the sensitive areas associated with the plant such as the

centrifuge maintenance, decontamination, and test areas

as well as the control room. In the U.S. and possibly elsewhere an outside perimeter fence would surround the entire

plant. The key measurement points (KMP) for flow, inventory,

and surveillance are as indicated on the figure.

As stated above the prime diversion potential associated

with these types of enrichment plants is related to an undeclared upgrading of material beyond the maximum enrichment

designed into the plant. There are a number of ways that

this could be accomplished:

1) Reconfiguration of unit cascades

2) Recycle of plant product

3) Off-design cascade operation

4) Internal cascade recycle

213
TABLE A5

TYPICAL IVENTORIES IN FENCED AREA

Location

Gas Phase in Centrifuges

Traps

Deposition in Centrifuges

Feed*

Product**

Tails***

Waste Recovery

kg u

4 0

100

2000

2300

3800

3800

Nominal

kg U-235

0.4’

1 . 0

20.0

16.4

114.O

9.5

* Assumes 1 half-full cylinder feeding all cascades

from feed purification, 1 cylinder waiting.

* * Assumes equivalent of half-full cylinder at each

product withdrawal point.

***Assumes tails from separate cascades sequestered.

Equivalent of half-full cylinder at each tails

withdrawal point.

2 1 4
H

x

215
The implications or details of

discussed in turn.

1)

2)

3)

4)

TO

each of these will be

The centrifuges in one or several of the cascades could be reconfigured to take natural

uranium feed to a 90 per cent enriched product.

A cascade that would accomplish this might

consist of 77 enriching stages and 10 stripping

stages. Each stage could, of course, contain a

minimum of one centrifuge. Consequently, this

covert cascade could conceivably be constructed

from one of the 8000-unit reference cascades.

If the 4 per cent product were fed into

another covert cascade that had a natural

enrichment tails, then 58 enriching staqes

would be required with 18 stripping stages.

Again, this cascade could be configured from

one or a portion of one of the model cascades.

The feed rate, product rate, and reflux ratio

(the relative amount of interstage circulation

to product flow) could be varied to produce a

more highly enriched product. The maximum

enrichment obtainable requires a detailed

analysis; however, it is not likely to exceed

20% 235U. Thus, this material would require

further enriching to achieve a 90 per cent

product. In addition, the off-design operation would lead to significant inefficiencies

in the cascade operation.

Each cascade could be equipped with lines to

recycle cascade product and tails into the

feed stream. If only the product were fed back

with a continuing tails withdrawal the product

assay would rise. The maximum rise might be to

roughly a 10 per cent enrichment requiring a

further enrichment for weapons grade material.

accomplish these undeclared upgrading operations? a

corresponding

Techniques to

(2) overstate

feed; and (4)

source of material would have to be developed.

accomplish this might (1) overstate the MUF;

the inventory; (3) have a stored undeclared

have a steady undeclared feed and takeoff.

2 1 6
Inspection techniques that are presently proposed for

enrichment plants include input-output monitoring of the

cascade area (basically considers the cascade area to be

black box with a detailed monitoring of all input and output

of material) .

Figure A5 shows a schematic of all inputs and outputs

from the cascade area of a centrifuge enrichment plant. At

present new equipment is an undeclared path. This creates a

problem since conceptually unaccounted feed material could

be introduced via this feed stream.

New

People Equipment

in

1

Fee d

CASCADE

AREA

Product

Tails

1 I

1

People Decontaminated

out Equipment out

Figure A5

INPUT-OUTPUT INSPECTION STREAMS

217
For input-output to be effective, all streams need to be

monitored. Physical inventory and surveillance methods need

to complement the continuous input-output monitoring. Other

complementary inspection techniques would include enrichment

monitoring (particularly checking the tails enrichment) and

the use of the minor isotope technique (311ST) to check the

product and tails U-235/U-234 ratio. Table A6 shows how this

would vary for the design

The effectiveness of

product.

these inspection techniques

centrifuge enrichment plant

One improvement that would

applied

has not

make all

allow

in an integrated way to a

been demonstrated as yet.

of these inspection methods more credible would be to

the inspectors access to the cascade area upon demand.

Inspection accessibility to the cascade area would certainly

not insure that the plumbing changes required for an undeclared cascade reconfiguration would be detected in the mass

of necessary piping in the cascade area. However, it

could act as a significant deterrent for any country

wishing to conduct a covert operation. In addition, undeclared feed, product, or tails takeoff would also have a

higher probability of detection.

218
TABLE A6

MINOR ISOTOPE CONTENT OF STREAMS

Product Enrichment Product

(% U-235) U-235/U-234 ratio

2 . 0

2 . 5

3 . 0

3 . 5

4 . 0

AVERAGE :

1 1 4

1 1 2

1 1 1

1 1 0

109

1 1 2

Tails

U-235 U-234 ratio

2 3 1

2 3 5

2 3 9

2 4 3

2 4 5

2 3 8

2 1 9
APPENDIX B

WORLD POWER AND

RESEARCH REACTORS
2 2 0
221
000 0

000 0

M

Lo L1

d

222
223
2 2 4
225
2 2 6
227
C-4

.

. . .

AJ

H

2 2 8
229
. b .

4

I

2 3 0
n

.

231
UNITED STATES

ENERGY RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT ADMINISTRATION

WASHINGTON, D.C. 20545

March 2, 1977

Ms. Audrey Buyrn

Office of Technology Assessment

Congress of the U.S.

Washington, D.C. 20510

Dear Ms. Buyrn:

As requested in your telephone conversation of February 17, 1977,

I am enclosing two schedules reflecting total United States exports,

by country, of enriched uranium of 20 percent or greater U-235 since

1968 and of all plutonium since the beginning.

Data on uranium enriched to 20 percent and above prior to January 1,

1968, has not yet been computerized, and accordingly, we are unable

to readily furnish you exports prior to 1968. This data iS now being

recovered from historical files and will be automated for recovery

by October of this year.

If I can be of further assistance, please call.

Sincerely,

Assistant Director for Information

Support

Division of Safeguards and Security

Enclosures:

As stated

232
From

Country

Schedule A

Plutonium

Exported by the United States

Beginning Through December 31, 1976

Grams

Argentina

Australia

Austria

Belgium

Brazil

Canada

China (Taiwan)

Columbia

Denmark

Eurochemic

Finland

France

Germany

Greece

IAEA

India

Iran

Iraq

Ireland

Israel

Italy

Japan

Korea

Mexico

Netherlands

New Zealand

Norway

Pakistan

Philippines

South Africa

Spain

Sweden

Switzerland

Thailand

Turkey

United Kingdom

Uruguay

Venezuela

Total Exported

5

6,577

296

16,349

80

4,928

683

80

81

14

2

41,442

767,126

192

44

82

112

16

16

605

129,097

111,227

8

164

790

80

1,083

117

32

159

6

9,143

1,502

80

368

22,417

80

10

1,115,093

233
SCHEDULE B

ENRICHED URANIUM

EXPORTED BY THE UNITED STATES

FROM JANUARY 1, 1968 THROUGH DECEMBER 31, 1976

(Transfer of 500 grams or more - enriched to 20% or more)

COUNTRY

Argentina

Austria

Belgium

Brazil

Canada

China (Taiwan)

Colombia

Finland

France

Germany

Greece

Israel

Italy

Japan

Korea

Netherlands

Portugal

South Africa

Switzerland

United Kingdom

Yugoslavia

TOTAL EXPORTED

KILOGRAMS

ELEMENT ISOTOPE

31

2

23

6

619

5

1

11

2,371

3,543

6

9

164

1,707

7

2

8

25

2

1,119

5

9,666

28

1

13

6

575

5

1

2

2,087

2,775

6

8

138

3

2

7

23

2

1,040

3

7,405

234
.

SCHEDULE B

ENRICHED URANIUM

EXPORTED BY THE UNITED STATES

FROM JANUARY 1, 1968 THROUGH DECEMBER,R 31, 1976

(Transfer of 500 grams or more - enriched to 20% or more)

COUNTRY

Argentina

Austria

Belgium

Brazil

Canada

China (Taiwan)

Colombia

Finland

France

Germany

Greece

Israel

Italy

Japan

Korea

Netherlands

Portugal

South Africa

Switzerland

United Kingdom

Yugoslavia

TOTAL EXPORTED

KILOGRAMS

ELEMENT ISOTOPE

31

2

23

6

619

5

1

11

2,371

3,543

6

9

164

1,707

7

2

8

25

2

1,119

5

9,666

28

1

13

6

575

5

1

2

2,087

2,775

6

8

138

3

2

7

23

2

1,040

3

7,405