Essay by Kjersti Album
The Halden reactor project
1. Introduction
In this essay I will look upon whether Norway, with the Halden reactor project contributes to safety improvements in nuclear reactors or to the maintenance of nuclear power.
1.1 Sustainable development and nuclear power
To get one thing straight from the start: there is no such thing as a safe and environmentally friendly nuclear power. The Chernobyl disaster showed to the world some of the threats from nuclear power. Some reactors are safer than others are, and much can be done to reduce the threat to the environment. Still there will always be an element of risk involved, the possibility of an accident will always be there. We cannot tolerate that because the consequences of an accident would be very high.
Neither have we found a solution to the waste problem. The atomic waste must be separated from humans and nature for more than 500.000 years. A lot of tests and discussion is going on, but so far no country has definitely decided how to store the waste.
The waste problem and also the risk of transportation of nuclear materials tell us that we must not forget that reactor breakdown is not the only threat from nuclear power. This means we must be able to keep two things in mind at the same time. There is a risk that focus on safety could create the illusion that nuclear power could be nice and sustainable, if only we can upgrade all reactors to western standard. The efforts on safety improvements must not come in the way for unwinding of all nuclear reactors.
With the huge problems connected to nuclear power in mind, it should be clear that nuclear power couldn¡Št be the power suppliant for the future. Nuclear power can therefore not be a solution to the problem with global warming. Nuclear power is not sustainable. The nuclear reactors still running should be closed down before they create even more waste and more threat to nature and humans.
1.2 Atomic energy in the region
Several countries in the Baltic Sea region have nuclear power as part of their energy supply. Sweden and Germany have decided to close down their nuclear power stations, but this will take some time. Russia has several nuclear power plants and Lithuania has one. After closing down the Chernobyl power plant Ukraine has four nuclear power plants. Finland has two and is discussing whether to build even more nuclear reactors. The electricity market in Europe is getting more common, and in practice most of the countries in the region are using electricity from nuclear power.
As we can see, atomic energy plays an important part in the electricity and heating production in the Baltic Sea region. In some countries the use is declining, but it seems that for a very long time we would have nuclear power in our surroundings. This leads us to concentrate on safety matters. However it should also lead us to focus on other and more sustainable electricity sources. Some of the reactors are quite old and unsafe, and it is especially important that these are closed down.
The Baltic Sea is polluted with radioactivity, particularly Cecium-137. This is mainly radioactive fall-out from the Chernobyl disaster, which stroke the Baltic Sea relatively hard. Another disaster like the Chernobyl could be a crisis for the area that still struggles to recover from the radioactive downfall in 1986.
The problems with atomic power plants and waste management don¡Št stop at the boarders. That is why it is important to co-operate in wider areas, such as the Baltic Sea region or Europe.
1.4 Norway's contribution
Norway doesn¡Št have nuclear power in its electricity production and has signed an agreement to phase out nuclear power in general in the long term. The parliament and the government of Norway have several times stated that Norway will not have nuclear power or contribute to such in other countries.
The official Norwegian policy is that the country helps Russia and other East-European countries with nuclear safety trough funding and technology. If you ask the government more specifically you would probably get to hear about the Halden Project.
The Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs used to give money to so-called safety improvements at the Kola nuclear power plant in Polyarni Zori. No the minister has decided to decrease the economical support to nuclear power and instead support renewable electricity sources.
As mentioned earlier Norway doesn¡Št have nuclear power. However, a small reactor in Halden in Eastern Norway is the basis for an OECD project for commercial nuclear power plants. It is said that the OECD Halden reactor project contributes to nuclear safety in Central and Eastern Europe.
2. Historical background
In the 1950s and 60s Norway built four research nuclear reactors. The future looked bright for the IFA, the Norwegian Institute for Atomic energy. As early as in 1951 the famous Norwegian Gunnar Randers and the institute succeeded to start the first reactor, JEEP I. This made Norway almost the first non-superpower to have a running nuclear reactor. Only the USA, UK, France, Canada and Soviet had nuclear reactors running at that time.
The Norwegian reactor programme was started to develop civilian nuclear power, and a Norwegian atomic industry could also export nuclear reactors. There were also plans to make the Norwegian trade fleet an atomic fleet. It has been speculations about Norway wanted to make an atomic bomb as well, but this has not been confirmed.
However it turned out to be difficult to build commercial nuclear reactors in Norway. In the 1970s local environmental groups stopped the preparations and investigations for reactor sites.The subject was hot in the early 70s and the question was postponed when the Parliament discussed it in 1975. The accident in Three Mile Island in 1979 made all resolutions in favour of nuclear power look even worse than before, so the Parliament let the matter rest.
In 1959 another Norwegian research reactor was finished: the HBWR Halden Boiling Water Reactor. In 1962 it was put into regular operation. The reactor is a special heavy water reactor. The Halden reactor is still running as a tool for an international OECD research programme where 20 states take part. The Halden Reactor Project is the first and longest lasting international project under the auspices of the OECD/Nuclear Energy Agency. The organisation Nuclear Energy Agency is an organisation under the OECD.
The founders of the programme were Sweden, Denmark, United Kingdom, Switzerland, Austria, Norway and the EURATOM group. Later on Euratom withdrew as a group and Germany became a part of the programme. Finland and the USA also joined in 1959. Austria withdrew in 1984 after having decided in a referendum not to use nuclear power. Now the participating countries have increased to 20 also including Argentina, Belgium, Brazil, The Czech republic, France, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Korea, Russia, The Slovak Republic and Spain.
In addition to this joint programme IFE/Halden has bilateral agreements with organisations and enterprises to do specific research for their benefit.
3. An introduction to the Halden reactor project
3.1 The OECD Halden Reactor Project
The Norwegian IFE, the Institute for Energy Technology (the former Institute for Atomic Energy) runs the Halden Reactor. IFE has other projects as well, for instance the running of another reactor for cancer research and treatment, and technical research on windmills and gas power plants. These research facilities are situated at Kjeller outside Oslo.
IFE/ Halden is testing fuel and materials in the reactor, and is also doing man-machine system research in HAMMLAB, with virtual control rooms and virtual reality. For the man-machine system the reactor is not essential, as powerful simulators have been installed. HAMMLAB is consequently neither technically nor professionally dependent on the reactor. In this essay I will not discuss HAMMLAB but focus on the projects connected to the Halden reactor.
3.2 Activity in the Halden Reactor Project
The newest Halden Reactor Programme for the period 2000 to the end of 2002 concentrates on the following main topics:
- Fuel high burn-up capabilities under normal operating conditions
- Fuel response to transients
- Fuel reliability issues
- Studies related to lifetime management of nuclear power plants
The Halden Reactor Project has developed an expertise for performing reactor test irradiations on nuclear fuel rods and cladding. The special contribution of Halden has been the development and application of instruments for such experiments. This instrumentation has provided better understanding of fuel and materials performance during the in-reactor testing phase.
A consequence of the great interest in the Halden Reactor Project was the development of specific bilateral test programmes within which individual organisations and companies could contract directly with IFE/Halden for experimental work. To an increasing extent, development and optimisation (new technologies) are addressed mainly in the bilateral programmes.
3.3 Finance
The project gets economical support from the Norwegian State over the budget of The Ministry of Trade and Industry. The joint programme costs are shared among the participating countries with Norway, as a host country, covering around 30 % of the budget. In all other OECD-sponsored projects the host country provides a fraction of the budget ranging from 50 % to 70%.
The bilateral contract work in IFE/Halden came to 133 MNOK in 1999, and the joint programme was 102 MNOK. The largest activity area was the fuel and materials testing earning 70 % of the total income (235 MNOK). Income from abroad accounted for more than 70 % of the total.
The activity of IFE/Halden has increased considerably during the last years, especially the volume of fuel and materials work through bilateral contracts. The income from bilateral work has more than tripled over a ten-year period.
4. Contributing to safety or maintenance?
4.1 Material testing
According to the research council of Norway, IFE/Halden is one of the leading research facilities in the world for the study of reactor fuels and materials behaviour. They also state that the pressure on the atomic industry to extend the lifetime of old reactors is an important reason to do fuel and material research. ¡§The deregulation of the electricity marked puts pressure on operating costs. It is therefore becoming increasingly important to extend component and plant life and increase fuel cycles and burn-up without sacrificing safety. (¡K) These challenges increase the need for international collaboration¡š. This means that the Halden Reactor project contributes to lengthening of the older reactors¡Š life.
After several western countries have decided to unroll their nuclear power it has become important for the atomic industry to run the existing reactors more efficiently. In a recent evaluation of IFE/Halden reactor project it is said, ¡§Pressure to reduce the cost of nuclear generation and to increase operational flexibility will continue to drive the need for innovative fuel designs and materials¡š.
By sending electromagnetic waves through the reactor it is possible to measure how different materials reacts under different circumstances. This knowledge is useful in order to calculate the conditions of the reactor¡Šs core. This could lead to more safety or just as well longer running of reactors threatened by closing. The material testing could for instance be used to tell that the reactor could last longer than estimated. The material testing has however no relevance as a direct improvement of the safety and cannot better the safety in nuclear plants that are constructed without secondary reactor confinement.
4.2 The SCORPIO system
One of the systems developed in The Halden project is the SCORPIO system, which has been delivered directly to the Check power plant Dukovany. Dukovany is a Soviet construction of the same kind as Kola nuclear power plant, with VVER-1000 reactors. This means that it is not possible to upgrade the reactors to western security standard. The official Norwegian policy towards this kind of power plants is that they should be closed down as soon as possible. The research in the Halden reactor contributes to the opposite.
The SCORPIO system is a system that makes it possible to run the reactors more effectively and the fuel more economically. It is doubtful that SCORPIO could be called a security system, and for reactors of the size of Dukovany it is certainly not. It is far more likely that it is used to legitimate expanded running of reactors of that kind. With the Halden project Norway helps to extend the life of such reactors.
IFE/Halden wants to deliver a system similar to the SCORPIO system to the Ignalina power plant in Lithuania. This is the same reactor type as Chernobyl. The system is called PLASMA and is an operator support system. The project has been planned and is now awaiting decisions regarding funding.
It sure doesn¡Št better the sustainability in the Baltic Sea region to help the nuclear power plants to be more efficient and more economically competitive compared to other and more sustainable kinds of power plants.
4.3 Testing of MOX
Institute for Energy Technology (earlier Institute for Atomic Energy) has played an important part in the development of mixed oxide fuel (MOX) since 1967. MOX is a special kind of nuclear fuel, which consists of uranium and plutonium. In order to produce such fuel reprocessing of used fuel is necessary. Today there are three commercial reprocessing plants: the British Sellafield, the French La Hague and Majak in Russia. Reprocessing creates radioactive wastes. The waste is diluted and consequently difficult and expensive to store in a safe way. Thus the waste is being released into the sea or the ground.
In addition MOX creates larger problems with storage than ordinary nuclear fuel. MOX needs longer cooling, longer storage is more dangerous to store and thus it gets more expensive.
It is sometimes argued that the use of MOX can make the fuel for the atomic industry last longer because the uranium is getting less concentrated and thus increasingly expensive to mine. However the world¡Šs stock of uranium is larger than earlier expected, and thus MOX is more expensive than ordinary fuel.
MOX fuel can be reprocessed again. In France the used MOX is cooled two and a half-year and then send back for reprocessing. MOX is a product, which makes it politically possible for the atomic industry to continue the reprocessing. Thus the testing of the fuel in Halden helps the atomic industry to continue their pollution.
The use of MOX is disputed, mainly because of the pollution to the seas. Sweden doesn¡Št use MOX in their reactors, and repossessing is prohibited. Germany made a law against reprocessing but it was withdrawn after protests from the French and the British governments.
It is obvious that the MOX testing part of the Halden project hasn¡Št anything to do with safety research. The testing of MOX, which takes place in Halden, is a contradiction to a wish for less radioactive pollution of the seas. It is especially strange that a Norwegian institute is testing MOX, considering that the Norwegian coastal areas are polluted from reprocessing in Sellafield. Norwegian governments have protested against this reprocessing that is so closely connected to the MOX.
4.4 Clearing bill for Russian fuel
Finland is supporting a project run by IFE to do a safety clearance for nuclear fuel produced in Russia. Finland has several Soviet-constructed reactors running and could naturally be more interested in buying Russian fuel instead of for instance British.
However the safety and environmental situation on Russian nuclear sites are not very good. Tests in Halden could create a larger demand for Russian produced fuel. This would not only be the case for Finland, the results from the testing in Halden will be accessible for all participating countries. More Russian produced fuel could certainly mean an economical advantage for Russia, but for the nuclear safety in the region it would be a drawback. With its clearance for Russian nuclear fuel IFE/Halden contributes to this higher risk.
5. Conclusions
IFE/Halden declare that they are doing safety research and thus contributing to a safer atomic industry. The Norwegian government supports this view. However there are significant signs that the project rather than contributing to nuclear safety contributes to the maintenance of nuclear power in the area because the efficiency testing makes nuclear power more competitive compared to other electricity sources.
The consequences of the research done in the Halden reactor are quite different from what IFE/Halden and the Norwegian government pretends. The legitimacy of IFE is closely connected to the presumption that IFE is a scientific organisation doing safety research. But a look at their finance shows that IFE/Halden has commercial interests in the fuel and machine testing and that 70% of their total income derives from this testing.
It is interesting that Norway, without nuclear power in its own electricity supply chooses this kind of role. As we have seen the fuel and material research leads to a longer and more economical use of nuclear fuel. The atomic industry makes use of the information from the Halden project to better the profitability of the nuclear power plants.
Even though all nuclear reactors should be closed down, safety improvements of course are very good and extremely important. If IFE/Halden had contributed to nuclear safety with their research it could perhaps better the environmental situation even if it lengthened the running of the nuclear reactors. However the research done in the Halden reactor is not safety research. And when it in addition to this fact is clear that the results from IFE/Halden contribute to the maintenance of nuclear power and even make the reactors more economically competitive the research programme should be stopped.
As a rich country and a country with lots of energy sources Norway could and should contribute both to nuclear safety and to the replacement of nuclear power in the Baltic Sea region. Some of the country¡Šs projects of today are good, and Norway should not stop all research and co-operation on nuclear safety and energy supply. However the nuclear reactor in Halden should be closed down and thereby also the testing of nuclear efficiency. The closing would also give valuable information about closing and demolition of nuclear reactors.