Energy Dept. Optimistic About Resurgence of Nuclear Power.

• Author: Tiron, Roxana
• Position: Brief Article

The Department of Energy's International Nuclear Safety Program has focused during the past seven years on trying to improve the safety of 67 Soviet-designed nuclear power reactors in Central and Eastern Europe. DOE views this program as an important step in restoring confidence in the viability of nuclear power as an energy source, both in the United States and abroad.

Public acceptance of nuclear plants was shattered after the 1986 disaster in Chernobyl, Ukraine. But according to INSP officials, there are reasons to believe that nuclear safety has improved and that their program has helped diminish the likelihood of another Chernobyl. The INSP generally has been supported by the U.S. Congress, but, nevertheless, funding for the program has declined over time.

Gary Petersen, information manager for INSP, said that it makes sense for the United States to invest in safety programs to prevent another accident. In 2001, DOE contributed $19.4 million to INSP The program's budget of $61.6 million also includes funds from the Agency for International Development and the European Bank of Reconstruction and development.

For 2002, the budget was cut to $56.4 million. DOE slashed its proposed funds by $6.5 million. At press time, Congress was still working on the appropriations bills for 2002. INSP is not expected to run beyond 2006, said Petersen. "Congress does not like to see programs run forever," he added. Some members of Congress have criticized the program as a form of foreign aid.

Reduced U.S. funding and the poor economic conditions in the former Soviet countries are slowing some of the nuclear plant safety improvements, INSP officials said.

U.S. support for nuclear plant safety began in 1990, when DOE initiated a program to improve the operational safety at the Novovoronezh plant in Russia. Another effort began in 1991 at Bulgaria's Kozloduy plant. In 1992, a G-7 nations summit in Munich endorsed an initiative to enhance the safety of Soviet-designed reactors, modify unsafe designs and give more authority to regulatory organizations.

INSP, managed by DOE's National Nuclear Security Administration with support from the Pacific Northwest Laboratory, started in 1994. The program focuses on performing safety work at 23 nuclear power plants with 67 reactors in Armenia, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Kazakhstan, Lithuania, Russia, Slovakia and Ukraine.

"These countries are relying quite a bit on nuclear power," said Petersen. Seventy-seven percent...