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
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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)