Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Technical Note
.
:
(cont.)
how quickly a country can
from an international
agreement and develop weapons if the material is available.
Here the thinking is about a limited number of international
reprocessing facilities that would do the needed work for
all comers. The consequences of denial of services to a
subscribing country are insigni
“
break out
”
cant. All that is required
for continued operation is to refuel a reactor with fresh
enriched fuel rather than with the output of a reprocessing
facility.
Island accident the US program has been in a systematic
decline. It is no longer the leader in matters of policy
because it has not been able to agree on one. It is no
longer the leader in technology because bit by bit its
R&D facilities in its national laboratories have been
allowed to decay. It is no longer the leader in
manufacturing because it is down to only one US-owned
reactor builder, General Electric, and even that one works
in partnership with the Japanese company Hitachi. It is
the best in the world at operating reactors, having
improved their up-time from
% in the
s to more
than
%to
nuclear-electricity generation without building any new
plants. The rest of the world does still have things to
learn from the United States, but the United States
has a lot to learn from them as well. The Bush adminis-
tration made a start on a long-range nuclear plan, but it
was un
% today, a remarkable feat that adds
nished, and the Obama administration has not
finished it.
