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DOCUMENTS "COM"
COM (77)199
V ol.1977/0078

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COMMISSION OFTHE EUROPEAN COMMUNITIES
COM(77)199 final .
Brussels ,27May 1977 *
 \
THE NUCLEAR PROBLEMS
(Working document prepared "bytheServices oftheCommission )
il''A;;.,#
COM(77)199final .

ÎTUCLE&'i PHOBLEÏS
Arworking' document prepared ,bytheservices ofthe Commission
Introduction
1 ■» *»■ r q
1,'Phis naporisintended -opr°"ide the basisi forageneral debaie by
the .Counoil oncurrent iiuclea -problems . Inthelight ofthediso:isoia
the Commission will come forwzjd indue course with specific proposalG
fornotion inareas within Conmunity competence .
I
Présent state ofnuclear r>ro,?ra'.ime
2.In::.id-1 $16,$1Gigawatts (GV7)ofnuclear power were already operati ;..;;,
ordered ,orfirmly plar.-.ed and 125 GVJwas regarded asarealistic tar-?:
fortheyear 19?5inthelight ofmember Governments *future policies .
'Jhi3 wasinitself asubstantial reduction from thetarget approved by
the Counoil inDecember 1974 -of160-200 GW.
%
3*I'/now seems unlikely that we3hall achieve more than '}0Z'.iin 1
Viiedifference between yOand 125 GUisthe equivalent of I",tons f;e'>
oilperyear ,or64 tons ofcoal .Ifthis a.-nour.t ofelectricity is
generated ,from oilitmeans that oil ^imoorte in19^5 *sayreach alevelpf700million tons ,representing 55'^ofourtotal encr.^y needs . r.-:e
table inAnnex 1shows total GVTnow oneratinj ineach country bytype
.(LV/Ii|AGRetc.),themid-1976 official pro<*ramme fcreach country ,er.d
tho current national indications . The table inAnnex 2shows the
contribution made bynuclear energy intotal energy demand .
Fast Breeder Reactors
'^'■1 » 11 11
* 1
4.Insd'dit ion,2prototype fast breeder reactors areoperating at.'.Kr.v ..sei•''
(2J0 1TV!1)int,heUnited Xingdon andatI.arcmile (233 I-VI)inFranco ;a
further 222 +;Uprototype unit isunder construction atKalkar ir.'ier -0.1*.
>Vance has,inpartnership vri LhItaly and 'Jcrraiv -,started buildirj
co^-ercial scale prototype (Super ]h£nix 12J0 Itisunlikely : -
fa3t breeders will beestablished and proved for full comercial cervi.:c
before 1990 * But amajor enc.eavour ofthi.B kind requires acontinuity
ofeffort ,decision and ordering ,otherwise tho important fast reactor
option (which enables over 53ofuranium atoms toprovide energy ,ins -.cad
of2jlasw^th current reactor types )will notbeopen tousforcommercial
exploitation .

-2-
Hrurh Tesnsrattire Reactors
5»Inthemeantime ,ahigh temperature experimental reactor (HTR)of13
KWehassuccessfully operated for many years atJulich (Germany )while
aprototype unit rated 300 MWeisbeJungconstructed ,also inGermany ,atUentrop /Schmehausen .Thepossibility ofafurther prototype built
byindustry for Community utilities using analternative technology -
isatpresent tinder study bythe Commission with help from member state
experts from UNICE"' 1"and UNIFEDE *.Such areactor might u«e anewfuel
cycle based onthorium ,ifitcan bedesigned tominimize proliferationrisks .Thetotal cost ofdeveloping mHTH would behigh and might be
attractive for development bythe Cossmmity incollaboration with USA.
ïïuclear Fuel Cycle
6*The uranium needs ofourcurrent programme are covered until theearly
1980s provided ,ofcourse ,that contracts arehonoured .The Council has
taken note ofaCommunity supported exploration programme todiscover
new uranium resources inthe Community ?but chances offinding major
newdeposits are nothigh and wearetherefore likely toremain major
importers facing risks ofshortages andpolitical interruptions .
7aAssome technical problems have delayed theavailability ofreprocessing
capacity ,irradiated fuel will have tobestored foratime .However ,a3
reprocessing capacity progressively becomes available itwill enable ourneeds tobereduced byabout 20$foruranium andbyabout 15%forenrich­
ment services ,besides providing plutonium forrecycle aodforusein
fast breeder reactors .
Research and Development
8®Inaddition toandcomplementing nuclear (fission )work byMember States
.•(costing about 700muc/year )theCommunity spends about 35muc/year .
Part ofthis Community effort isapplied tosafety research ,butsi.tnifi -
cant work isalso inprogressi onthetreatment and storage ofradioactive
waste ,ontherecycling ofplutonium {|Jidupon radiological protection re­search .Inview ofthecritical nature ofthe 'back-end' ofthefuel
cycle (reprocessing ,management andre–useofplutonium ,andwaste stora ,itisforconsideration that greater coordination ofnational programme
should beencouraged susdincreased CojjsEUZiity effort should bedevoted to
such problems .
+)Union desIndustries delaCc!rrcur ,2.u"t£Earopêsnse
s)Union Internationale desProducteur »
Sistxdbutrøx'a .d'^nergr .«

GVie*'
I:îfaclear Capacity on
I.5.I977line Mid^l976
ProgrammeCurrent National
Indications
1.5*1977I
GCR
ÂGR 111 11
LWR .Others
_____Total
B
D
DK
P
I
IRL
L
N
UK2.3
0.2
wm
7.71.7 .
5.9
1.2
0.4
0.50.1
0.3
0.41-7
6.0
3.8
0.6
0.5
8.15.5
37-42
0.9
40-45
17
1.2
0.5 -3.5
14.55.4
25 -30
35-40
7.4
1.2
0.5
10
10.2 9.7 . 0.8
t'20.7 116.6 a.129.6
says 12584.5 -94.5
say *90
■»)1GWe ■1000 Mtfe-1million kilowatts (electrical )
GCRi Gas cooled reactor
AGRs Advanced gascooled reactor
LWE:Light water reaotor

2
Indication of
thscontribution ofruclear energy m 1eOXelenergy demand
(in/o)
1976 19B0 1935
Belgium1
4,7 4;,9 10,4
Denmark
i
I•m
Federal Republic
ofGermany1,9 6-1 9,2/11,0
Prance 1.9 8,1 17,4/19,8
Ireland ** I
II
I
Italy O,È 1,2 ». 4,0
Luxembourg 20,0
Xetherlands 1,2 0,9 0,8
United Kingdom 3,2 4,9i
5,1 i
i
HJR 9 2,0 4,3 3,4/9,4
1■"» ■ 1 " <R