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191. Japan's Nuclear Tremors After Quake

Author:
Jayshree Bajoria
Publication Date:
03-2011
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Council on Foreign Relations
Abstract:
The devastation wreaked by Japan's worst-ever earthquake and the accompanying tsunami continues to widen. Officials put the death toll at thirty-five hundred (UPI), while some reports say more than ten thousand have died (AP) in Miyagi prefecture alone. Tens of thousands of people remain unaccounted for, and the number of casualties is expected to rise, as large numbers are believed buried under rubble. Millions of survivors struggle without electricity, food, and drinking water. Fears of a nuclear meltdown from reactors damaged by the quake prompted Japan's Prime Minister Naoto Kan to declare the disaster the country's "most severe crisis" (BBC) since World War II.
Topic:
Natural Disasters and Nuclear Power
Political Geography:
Japan, East Asia, and Asia

192. Japan Crisis Not As Bad As Chernobyl

Author:
James M. Acton
Publication Date:
03-2011
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
Carnegie Endowment for International Peace
Abstract:
As the crisis deepens at the Daiichi reactors in Fukushima, Japanese authorities are working to cool the reactors and limit the spread of radiation. The severity of the situation is both unclear and fluid, since measuring gauges at the Daiichi reactors are unreliable and radiation levels have fluctuated greatly on-site. Speaking on NBC's Today Show, Carnegie's James Acton describes the Fukushima reactor crisis as worse than Three Mile Island, though less disastrous than Chernobyl. During the Chernobyl catastrophe, Acton said, a significant fraction of the reactor core explosively spread into the environment. In Japan, the primary threat comes from the melting of the reactor core, exposing fuel rods to the atmosphere. The amount of radiation that will be released from such melting is unclear, Acton concluded.
Topic:
Natural Disasters and Nuclear Power
Political Geography:
Japan, East Asia, and Island

193. Brookings Podcast: Japan's Fukushima Disaster Slows Plans for Nuclear Renaissance

Author:
Nathan Hultman
Publication Date:
04-2011
Content Type:
Video
Institution:
The Brookings Institution
Abstract:
As the depth of the disaster at the Fukushima nuclear plant in Japan becomes more clear, a long-expected increase in the global use of nuclear power to replace fossil fuels may slow down. Nonresident Fellow Nathan Hultman says planned nuclear plants in the United States and around the world were already suffering from high costs and questions about effective regulation - now, the safety concerns raised by Fukushima may increase opposition to new nuclear projects.
Topic:
Energy Policy, Natural Disasters, and Nuclear Power
Political Geography:
United States and Japan

194. US missile defence and China's nuclear posture: Changing dynamics of an offence-defence arms race

Author:
Baohui Zhang
Publication Date:
05-2011
Content Type:
Journal Article
Institution:
Chatham House
Abstract:
This article examines the rising prominence of strategic nuclear deterrence in Sino-US relations. China is the only major nuclear power that has been actively expanding its offensive capabilities. Its nuclear modernization has inevitably caused concerns in the United States. The article suggests that China's nuclear programme is driven significantly by US missile defence, which has fundamentally altered the incentive structures for Chinese nuclear deterrence. The article also assesses the latest Chinese perception of US strategic adjustment under the Obama administration and its potential impact on arms control. It reveals that recent measures by the United States to restrain its missile defense could be conducive for achieving a strategic nuclear understanding between the two countries. The article then suggests a number of concrete actions for China and the United States to realize such an understanding.
Topic:
Nuclear Power
Political Geography:
United States and China

195. Research, Development, and Demonstration for the Future of Nuclear Energy

Author:
Valentina Bosetti, Matthew Bunn, Michela Catenacci, Audrey Lee, and Laura Diaz Anadon
Publication Date:
06-2011
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard University
Abstract:
Dramatic growth in nuclear energy would be required for nuclear power to provide a significant part of the carbon-free energy the world is likely to need in the 21st century or a major part in meeting other energy challenges. This would require increased support from governments, utilities, and publics around the world. Achieving that support is likely to require improved economics and major progress toward resolving issues of nuclear safety, proliferation-resistance, and nuclear waste management. This is likely to require both research, development, and demonstration (RD) of improved technologies and new policy approaches.
Topic:
Climate Change, Economics, Energy Policy, and Nuclear Power

196. Recommendations for Limiting Transfers of Enrichment and Reprocessing Technologies

Author:
Fred McGoldrick
Publication Date:
06-2011
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Harvard University
Abstract:
This policy brief is based on Limiting Transfers of Enrichment and Reprocessing Technology: Issues, Constraints, Options , a report of the Project on Managing the Atom.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, Energy Policy, Science and Technology, Foreign Aid, Nuclear Power, and Developing World

197. Israel and Iran's Nuclear Weapon Programme: Roll Back or Containment?

Author:
Massimiliano Fiore
Publication Date:
07-2011
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Istituto Affari Internazionali
Abstract:
The latest IAEA Report suggests that Iran is seeking a nuclear weapon capability. Preventing the Islamic Republic from becoming nuclear is the most important issue on Israel's agenda, and Jerusalem will do everything it can to prevent Tehran from acquiring a nuclear capability. Considering the limited impact of international sanctions and covert operations, it is therefore possible that at some point in the next 12-15 months Israel's policy-makers and military officials will decide whether or not to act militarily to destroy Iran's nuclear facilities. Though the probability of successfully destroying all of Iran's nuclear targets is not very high, Israeli policy-makers and military officials would nevertheless still be extremely satisfied with delaying Iran's nuclear programme. But would it be worth all the trouble it would inevitably unleash? While Israeli fears are understandable, given the heavy costs and poor chances for success of the military option, containment still represents the most sensible policy for Israel.
Topic:
Foreign Policy, Defense Policy, Arms Control and Proliferation, Weapons of Mass Destruction, Sanctions, and Nuclear Power
Political Geography:
Iran, Middle East, and Israel

198. Why We Still Need Nuclear Power

Author:
Ernest Moniz
Publication Date:
11-2011
Content Type:
Journal Article
Journal:
Foreign Affairs
Institution:
Council on Foreign Relations
Abstract:
In the years following the major accidents at Three Mile Island in 1979 and Chernobyl in 1986, nuclear power fell out of favor, and some countries applied the brakes to their nuclear programs. In the last decade, however, it began experiencing something of a renaissance. Concerns about climate change and air pollution, as well as growing demand for electricity, led many governments to reconsider their aversion to nuclear power, which emits little carbon dioxide and had built up an impressive safety and reliability record. Some countries reversed their phaseouts of nuclear power, some extended the lifetimes of existing reactors, and many developed plans for new ones. Today, roughly 60 nuclear plants are under construction worldwide, which will add about 60,000 megawatts of generating capacity -- equivalent to a sixth of the world's current nuclear power capacity. But the movement lost momentum in March, when a 9.0-magnitude earthquake and the massive tsunami it triggered devastated Japan's Fukushima nuclear power plant. Three reactors were severely damaged, suffering at least partial fuel meltdowns and releasing radiation at a level only a few times less than Chernobyl. The event caused widespread public doubts about the safety of nuclear power to resurface. Germany announced an accelerated shutdown of its nuclear reactors, with broad public support, and Japan made a similar declaration, perhaps with less conviction. Their decisions were made easier thanks to the fact that electricity demand has flagged during the worldwide economic slowdown and the fact that global regulation to limit climate change seems less imminent now than it did a decade ago. In the United States, an already slow approach to new nuclear plants slowed even further in the face of an unanticipated abundance of natural gas.
Topic:
Government and Nuclear Power
Political Geography:
United States, Japan, and Germany

199. Coordinations Under Large Uncertainty: An Analysis of the Fukushima Catastrophe

Author:
Masahiko Aoki and Geoffrey Rothwell
Publication Date:
10-2011
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Walter H. Shorenstein Asia-Pacific Research Center
Abstract:
This paper analyzes the impacts of the March 11, 2011, Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami on the Fukushima nuclear power plant in Japan. These impacts were amplified by a failure of horizontal coordination across plant, corporate, regulatory, and governmental levels, resulting in a nuclear catastrophe, comparable in cost to Chernobyl. Lessons learned include identifying two shortcomings of the typical Japanese horizontal coordination mechanism: instability under a large shock and the lack of defense in depth. The suggested policy response is to harness the power of “open-interface, rule-based modularity” by introducing an independent nuclear safety commission in Japan and an independent system operator to coordinate sellers and buyers on publicly-owned transmission grids.
Topic:
Humanitarian Aid, Natural Disasters, and Nuclear Power
Political Geography:
Japan and Israel

200. Standards Regulations for the Geologic Disposal of Spent Nuclear Fuel and High-Level Waste

Author:
Rodney C. Ewing
Publication Date:
03-2011
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Center for International Security and Cooperation
Abstract:
This paper draws on my experience as a reviewer of the scientific programs and performance assessments of the geological repository for transuranic waste at the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant in New Mexico and the proposed repository for spent nuclear fuel and high-level waste at Yucca Mountain in Nevada. In addition, I have served on numerous committees of the National Research Council that have addressed many aspects of nuclear waste management. These comments and recommendations focus on standards and regulations for licensing a geological repository for SNF and HLW; however, I have added a brief annex on the classification of nuclear wastes. The initial classification of the waste determines the disposal strategy: deep geological disposal vs. near surface disposal.
Topic:
Climate Change, Environment, Science and Technology, and Nuclear Power
Political Geography:
Mexico