Good Morning Ladies and Gentlemen,
It is my pleasure to welcome you on behalf of the International Atomic Energy Agency to the thirteenth International Topical Meeting on Research Reactor Fuel Management (RRFM), organized by the European Nuclear Society in cooperation with the IAEA and the Atominstitut of the Technical University of Vienna. We look forward to the next three days of presentations, discussions, side meetings, and social events.
RRFM is an important forum for information and knowledge sharing on national and international developments in the research reactor field and related nuclear energy and non-proliferation issues. It is an excellent opportunity to promote and increase cooperation among different RR centres, particularly in various regions of the world, and encourage and facilitate regional and international collaborative programmes in the construction, operation and utilization of research reactors.
For almost 60 years, RRs have been centres of birth for many nuclear technologies, centres of R& D in nuclear science, centres of training, productivity for medical and industrial uses and so on. Some 700 RRs have been built and about 242 reactors in 54 countries continue to operate. Changes in the global nuclear landscape lead to new challenges and problems facing the RR community.
Let me start with one positive trend. An increasing number of IAEA Member States view nuclear energy as a viable option to satisfy their national energy demand. RRs may play an important role for building the required nuclear competence and providing support in establishment of a national nuclear power programme. The IAEA has received many requests for assistance to either build their first RR or to utilize RRs operating in neighbouring countries, by means of networking and cooperation arrangements, as a first step to develop national capability.
On the other side the RR community now faces a number of critical issues ranging from the aging of facilities and personnel, to changes (reductions) in governmental support. The market approach requires to cover operational costs by revenues, and leads from one side to minimization of capacity margins, and from the other side to the lack of resources and under-utilisation causing problems in areas of modernization, safety and physical protection.
Some of the challenges have been particularly evident in the last year. The unscheduled and extended shutdowns of the RRs NRU (Canada) and HFR Petten (Netherlands) have visibly demonstrated the difficulty of maintaining and operating aging reactors. It has also demonstrated the over-reliance on a handful of RRs that produce the radioisotope Mo-99. However, this case can also open an opportunity that may convince some governments of the need to initiate local Mo-99 production in order to become less dependent on the unstable international supply situation, even if the cost is higher for locally produced isotopes.
A recent meeting held by OECD/NEA in Paris in cooperation with the IAEA highlighted both the near-term and longer-term issues to be addressed in ensuring sufficient and reliable supplies of Mo-99 for the European, North American, and international markets. A key problem in this regard is the lack of sufficient, reliable and redundant irradiation capacity within the existing network of research reactors that irradiate targets for Mo-99 production. At the Paris meeting, the IAEA highlighted that there are existing technically capable and underutilized research reactors in both Europe and other parts of the world that could become part of an expanded Mo-99 irradiation and supply chain. We are working with the Mo-99 industry, and research reactor groups, including research reactor coalitions, to investigate possible new arrangements and capacity for producing Mo-99.
I would urge that one objective of this meeting is to move forward in general understanding of global trends affecting research reactors that can provide good advice both for IAEA RR activities and for strengthening of international and regional cooperation among your facilities. In this context I would now like to share with you some ideas the IAEA has relating to this matter.
First is effective utilization of RRs in a more economically competitive, reliability- and sustainability-conscious world. The IAEA is helping countries pursue utilization strategies on national and regional bases through so called coalitions. These regional arrangements envision joint activities in the areas of nuclear education and training, isotope production and industrial applications, material and fuel science and testing, and in sharing of best practices, etc. It is also envisioned that these arrangements will make available the use of RR facilities and irradiation services to scientists and users from Member States that do not have RRs but which need to use them.
There are three papers from the IAEA being presented at this meeting which discuss the significant progress that has made in forming such coalitions, in particular in Eastern Europe, Latin American, and Central Asia, with efforts underway in other regions as well. While the full potential of such arrangements have yet to be realized, we are hopeful that work will continue to progress in this regard, and that such arrangements will lay the foundation for improved utilization of existing facilities as well as the development of future stat-of-the art regional research reactor centres. We hope that this meeting will provide further support to the coalitions that have begun to develop and also provide incentive for others to develop.
Such research reactor coalitions are a natural outgrowth and extension of IAEA and international efforts to minimize and eventually eliminate the use of HEU in civil nuclear applications. Almost all the institutions involved in the emerging coalitions have already converted their fuel to LEU or are in the process of doing so. Enhanced utilization of research reactors, which can securely plan on future LEU fuel supply, is a benefit of conversion efforts.
For many years the IAEA has close cooperation with the Global Threat Reduction Initiative (GTRI) and the Reduced Enrichment for Research and Test Reactors (RERTR) programme to support conversion of RRs to and medical isotope production from LEU. IAEA is working closely with the international effort that is developing, testing, and preparing for commercial production of high density LEU fuels for high flux RRs. This meeting, as have recent RRFM meetings, will hear news of further progress toward this goal.
The end-point of the RR fuel cycle is when the spent fuel is either: a) returned to the country of origin; b) reprocessed and the high-level wastes (HLW) disposed or c) disposed in a geological repository. As the U.S. and Russian research reactor fuel take-back programmes which the IAEA also helps to advance will ultimately cease, every country will face the necessity of developing a national management strategy. The expensive construction of geological repositories for the relatively small amounts of spent fuel or HLW from reprocessing is not practicable. A multinational repository is, however, still a distant dream. Substantial efforts need to be made to develop options for the not so distant future when RR spent fuel management will become a pressing issue.
Finally, a word on RR operational performance and reliability. Some of the most high profile RR goods and services are produced almost entirely by some of the oldest operating facilities. Effective and proactive operation and maintenance management is a prerequisite to the long-term success. In 2008 the IAEA published a collection of recommended RR management practices gathered from some of the world´s most heavily utilized facilities and initiated a large effort on RR ageing management. This work is being combined with ongoing activities involving RR modernisation and refurbishment.
In conclusion, let me welcome you, the participants of RRFM 2009, to both the IAEA and Vienna, and wish you the best in your deliberations. You represent a global network of excellence and expertise in the area of RRs and I am confident that the next three days will prove to be a valuable experience for all of us.
Thank you for your attention and I look forward to the successful outcome of your discussions.