Nuclear Waste Disposal: An International Legal Perspective

Northwestern Journal of International Law & Business, Dec 1979

As the world contends with an energy shortage, the development of alternative sources of energy has become a critical problem. Nuclear power is both an obvious and controversial alternative to traditional fossil fuels. Associated with the use of nuclear power is the important question of nuclear waste disposal. In this article, Messrs. Shields and Spector discuss the nuclear fuel cycle, bring together a survey of how countries around the world are dealing with the question of nuclear waste disposal both domestically and on an international level, and make suggestions for a more aggressive international regulation of nuclear waste disposal.

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Nuclear Waste Disposal: An International Legal Perspective

Nuclear Waste Disposal Nuclear Waste Disposal: An International Legal Perspective Leonard S. Spector 0 1 2 Geof rey B. Shields 0 1 2 0 Thi s Article is brought to you for free and open access by Northwestern University School of Law Scholarly Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Northwestern Journal of International Law & Business by an authorized administrator of Northwestern University School of Law Scholarly Commons 1 Leonard S. Spector, Geoffrey B. Shields, Nuclear Waste Disposal: An International Legal Perspective , 1 Nw. J. Int'l L. & Bus. 569, 1979 2 Part of the Energy Law Commons, Environmental Law Commons, and the International Law Follow this and additional works at: http://scholarlycommons.law.northwestern.edu/njilb Recommended Citation - Commons Nuclear Waste Disposal: An International Legal Perspective LeonardS. Spector* Geoffrey B. Shields** As the world contends with an energy shortage,the development ofal ternativesources ofenergy hasbecome a criticalproblem.Nuclearpoweris both an obvious and controversialalternativeto traditionalfossilfuels.' As* Presently serving as Chief Counsel to the Subcomm. on Energy, Nuclear Proliferation, and Federal Services of the Senate Governmental Affairs Comm.; previously served as Special Counsel to Commissioner Victor Gilinsky of the Nuclear Regulatory Commission; member, District of Columbia Bar; A.B., Williams College; J.D., Yale University. ** Partner, Gardner, Carton & Douglas, Chicago; previously served on the staff of the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Comm., Subcomm. on Multinational Corporations; member, Illinois Bar, B.A., Harvard University; J.D., Yale University. The authors were assisted in their research by Timothy R. Conway, a law student at Northwestern University, and James Goldberg, a law student at the University of Chicago. The views of the authors are their own and should not be attributed to any institution, publication or other individual. I For an overview of the technical and institutional challenges to safe nuclear waste disposal, see generally D. DEESE, NUCLEAR POWER AND RADIOACTIVE WASTE (1978); K. HARMON, INTERNATIONAL SOURCE BOOK: A COMPENDIUM OF WORLDWIDE PROGRAMS IN NUCLER ENERGY SUPPLY AND RADIOACTIVE WASTE MANAGEMENT RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT (1978); INTERsociatedwith the use ofnuclearpoweris the importantquestion of nuclear waste disposal. In this article,Messrs. Shields andSpector discuss the nuclearfuel cycle, bringtogether a survey ofhow countriesaroundthe world aredealing with the question ofnuclear waste disposalboth domestically and on an internationallevel, andmake suggestionsfora more aggressiveinternationalregulation ofnuclear waste disposal. The common threat posed to the economies of the United States, Western Europe, and Japan by the monopoly power of the oil exporting nations is one of the most deeply etched realities of the Seventies. During 1978, imported oil accounted for 50.1% of energy consumption in Western Europe, 72.0% in Japan, and 20.5% in the United States.2 The bulk of this oil comes from the Middle East where the OPEC oil embargo of 1973 and the Iranian revolution of 1979 clearly demonstrated the instability of oil supplies. Added to the political turmoil of the Middle East is the vulnerability of its oil to interception on the sea lanes along which oil tankers travel to the West. The strategic folly of dependence on Middle East oil is accompanied by the detrimental impact of such dependence on our economy and those of our chief trading partners. Indeed, rapidly escalating oil prices, which between January 1970 and July 1979 jumped over tenfold from $1.80 to $20.00 per barrel,3 are credited as being largely responsible for the long term decline in the rate of growth of most of the world's economies.4 Nuclear energy can substitute for foreign oil in the production of electricity; and, in nations lacking untapped coal or hydroelectric resources such as Japan and those in Western Europe, it is often the only attractive alternative to oil. At the current price of oil, it is less expensive to produce electricity by nuclear means than by oil fueled power plants; and in some settings nuclear generating costs are less than the costs of coal plants.5 The Department of Energy projects that this disparity will continue to grow.6 For these reasons, the industrialized countries of the West have turned their hopes increasingly to the use of nuclear energy for electric power generation.7 Until the recent slowdown in nuclear power development, it had been widely estimated that by the mid-eighties nuclear power would provide 20% of all electricity in the United States, Great Britain, and Japan; 30% of the electricity in Sweden and Switzerland; and 50% of the electricity in France and West Germany' with additional major growth in nuclear power use projected through the end of the century. Finland, Spain, Belgium, Italy, Brazil, India and Canada are also launched on major nuclear power programs (...truncated)


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Leonard S. Spector, Geoffrey B. Shields. Nuclear Waste Disposal: An International Legal Perspective, Northwestern Journal of International Law & Business, 1979, Volume 1, Issue 2,