April 14, 2010—The day after 47 heads of state committed to steps securing nuclear materials, NEI hosted a companion meeting with global leaders from the nuclear industry to take the first steps in an action plan that industry will develop with government.

Two hundred executives, Energy Secretary Steven Chu and other government leaders in energy, and nongovernmental organizations from 29 countries attended NEI’s Nuclear Security Conference. Industry executives briefed Chu and Vice President Joe Biden on the industry summit during an April 14 meeting.

“Industry lies at the intersection of two most important challenges—energy supply and the need to secure nuclear materials,” Chu told industry executives at the NEI summit. “Our challenge is to help nuclear power reach its full potential while securing nuclear materials around the world. Even a failed detonation of a nuclear device [by terrorists] would have a devastating impact on public trust in nuclear energy.”

“Nuclear energy plays a vital role in electricity supply, clean air goals and energy security of our nations. Together, our industry has demonstrated a strong commitment to safety and security, including a strong nonproliferation regime. These commitments are the foundation of our business,” NEI President and CEO Marvin Fertel said at the industry meeting in Washington, D.C.

Fertel emphasized that the industry is eager to work with world leaders to secure highly enriched uranium, plutonium and other nuclear materials worldwide.

“As developed and developing nations alike expand nuclear energy production, we must be diligent in strengthening our global commitment to safety, security and nonproliferation. To be successful in this endeavor, cooperative engagement among government leaders and industry is essential,” he said.

Fertel said developed nations “have an obligation to both become more efficient in our energy technology and accelerate the development of low-carbon technologies, including nuclear energy and renewable sources, on a global scale. Some of the companies represented here today also are meeting the growing need to produce isotopes desperately needed for medical diagnoses and treatment … or are researching the next breakthroughs in nuclear technology.”

Fertel emphasized that the industry would work with governments to ensure security of nuclear materials.

“This meeting is part of an ongoing engagement by U.S. industry—with our colleagues from around the world—to provide input to government policy, share lessons learned in this area, and ensure that we continue to operate our commercial facilities in a manner that prioritizes nuclear safety and security above all other matters,” he said.

Industry leaders throughout the NEI summit acknowledged the current framework of security for nuclear materials and pledged to accelerate programs to share best practices and lessons learned across industry and government. USEC Chief Executive Officer John Welch said “those of us in the industry are living those principles in the communiqué every day” and should provide best practices to our governments. Said GE Hitachi’s Jack Fuller: “A requirement of being in this business is keeping technology and materials safe and secure.”

An important element of enhancing security for highly enriched uranium (HEU) is the transition to low-enriched uranium (LEU) in the production of medical isotopes used in diagnosis and treatments. Half of these isotopes are used in the United States and some have half lives as short at three days. South Africa’s Rob Adams said that such a transition “is not a showstopper,” but Argentina’s Hector Otheguy said that the industry must maintain a reliable supply of LEU while reducing the use of HEU in medical isotope production and converting current HEU stocks to lower enrichment. 

OBAMA SUMMIT CALLS FOR GOVERNMENT, INDUSTRY COOPERATION

Government leaders from around the world agreed to “join President Obama’s call to secure all vulnerable nuclear material in four years.” Representatives from 47 countries issued a communiqué at the end of the summit detailing their plan to reach this ambitious goal.

“We have seized this opportunity,” President Obama said, “and because of steps we've taken, the American people will be safer, and the world will be more secure.”

No binding commitments were agreed to, but the summit is considered the first step toward more robust global cooperation on the issue. The communiqué said plutonium and highly enriched uranium are two materials of particular importance in nonproliferation efforts. Commercial nuclear reactors use low-enriched uranium as fuel.

The summit also reaffirmed the administration’s commitment to the peaceful use of nuclear energy.

“In addition to our shared goals of nuclear disarmament, nuclear nonproliferation and peaceful uses of nuclear energy, we also all share the objective of nuclear security,” the communiqué read.

While industry control of nuclear materials was not the main focus of Obama’s nuclear security summit, its role was considered. Some of the key provisions relating to the commercial nuclear industry in the communiqué include:

• recognizing the role of the nuclear industry in nuclear security and the need to work with industry to ensure “the necessary priority of physical protection, material accountancy, and security culture”

• encouraging the conversion of [research] reactors from HEU to LEU and minimizing the use of HEU where possible and economically feasible

• emphasizing the importance of robust national regulatory frameworks for nuclear security.

A second nuclear security summit is scheduled for South Korea in 2012 to measure progress towards the goals of the communiqué.

—Nuclear Energy Overview