2002 Meeting

Date : 8-11 July 2002

Place : Vienna, Austria

Participants : 31 from 15 countries and 3 Int. Organizations.

Country/Organization Participant
BELGIUM Mr. Guy DEMAZZY
Mr. T.E. VAN RENTERGEM
Mr. Hubert BAIRIOT
CANADA Mr. Peter BOCZAR
CHINA Mr. LI Jun Jie
CZECH REPUBLIC Mr. Peter LIETAVA
FRANCE Mr. Pierre KAPLAN
Mr. D. GRENECHE
Mr. M. MARVY
Mr. Frank JOSSO
GERMANY Mr. J. BANCK
Mr. W.D. PERSCHMANN
Mr. Wolf-Jürgen WEBER
Mr. Hans Peter FUCHS
HUNGARY Mr. Gábor BUDAY
INDIA Mr. H.S. KAMATH
JAPAN Mr. Yutaka IKOMA
Mr. Hirota TANI
Mr. Tomio KAWATA
REPUBLIC OF KOREA Mr. Kee-Chan SONG
RUSSIAN FEDERATION Mr. Nikolay RABOTNOV
SWITZERLAND Mr. Herbert BAY
UNITED KINGDOM Mr. Mike DUNN
UKRAINE Mr. Anatoly AFANASYEV
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA Mr. Leroy STEWART
Ms. Madeline Anne FELTUS
Mr. Robert N. WHITESEL
Ms. Suzanne MCGUIRE
EC Mr. Enric PLA
OECD/NEA Mr. Peter WILMER
ISTC Mr. Lev. V. TOCHENY

Agenda of the 1st TWGNFCO Meeting

Monday, 8 July
10:00-10:15 Opening of the Meeting (A. Bonne, DIR-NEFW)
10:15-11:50
  • Chairman’s Remarks (H. Bay, Switzerland)
  • Introduction of Participants
  • Comments and approval of meeting agenda
  • General items (F. Sokolov)
10:50-11:30 TWG-NFCO and its Terms of Reference; former IWG-NFCO and RAG on Spent Fuel Management (K. Fukuda)
11:30-12:30 Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Materials Section activities (K. Fukuda)
12:30-14:00 Lunch
14:00-17:00
  • Presentations by members of specific topic of national fuel cycle programs. Time period allocated for each presentation is 20 minutes, including discussion.
  • Presentations of nuclear fuel cycle programs by International Organizations (OECD/NEA, EC, ISTC).
17:30 Wine and Cheese Party, VIC Restaurant, FOE
Tuesday, 9 July
09:30-12:30 Presentations continued from last afternoon
12:30-14:00 Lunch
14:00-15:00 Presentations continued from morning
15:00-15:20 Coffee break
15:20-18:00

Other IAEA and special activities:

  • Generation IV and Nuclear Power 2010 efforts (M.A. Feltus, USA)
  • TWG-FPT (V. Onoufriev)
  • Waste Management programme including WATAC (M. Bell)
  • IAEA’s Fast Spectrum System Activities related to the Backend of the Fuel Cycle (A. Stanculescu)
  • INPRO (P. Friedmann)
Wednesday, 10 July
09:30-12:30
  • Discussion on Agency’s Fuel Cycle Programs:Follow-up the recommendations made at the last IWG-NFCO (K. Fukuda)
  • Report and discussion on activities of spent fuel management (Subprogramme B.3) (K. Fukuda)
  • Report and discussion on activities of nuclear fuel cycle issues (Subprogramme B.4) (K. Fukuda)
  • Technical discussion on the program plan and next programme cycle (2004-2005) and future (K. Fukuda)
  • Discussion on specific topics for the meeting in 2003
12:30-14:00 Lunch
14:00-17:00 Discussions continued from morning
Thursday, 11 July
09:30-12:00

  • Summary of meeting

  • Review and agreement of drafted Summary and Conclusions
  • Other business: next meeting (H. Bay, Chair and K. Fukuda)
  • Closing remarks (K. Fukuda)

Chairman's Summary of the 1st TWGNFCO Meeting

The first meeting of the TWGNFCO was convened on 2002 July 8-11 and attended by 31 delegates from 15 countries and representatives from ISTC, the OECD/NEA, and the European Commission.

Mr. Fukuda summarized the creation of the TWGNFCO resulting from the merging of the International Working Group on Nuclear Fuel Cycle Options (IWGNFCO) and the Regular Advisory Group on Spent Fuel Management (RAGSFM). The Terms of Reference of the TWGNFCO were reviewed, and it was noted that they have yet to be approved by the Standing Advisory Group on Nuclear Energy (SAGNE). It is noted that “members and alternates will normally serve on the Working Group for a period prescribed by their governments, preferably for a period of at least four years”. Mr. Fukuda reviewed the activities of the Nuclear Fuel Cycle and Materials Section from the previous year.

In the presentations by Member States, the specific topic of “Impact of Extended Burnup of Spent Fuel on Back-End Fuel Cycle Management” was addressed. It was agreed that it was very useful to have a specific topic for each meeting as the focus of the country presentations. In support of higher burnups, some countries expressed interest in pursuing higher enrichments than currently used (>5%). Generally, an increase in burnup from current levels was of interest to several countries, and the effects of higher burnup on the backend of the cycle is being given consideration. In several countries, advanced power systems are being pursued which also entail advanced fuel cycle development.

Of particular interest to the group were the change in the US approach on the back-end of the fuel cycle (which is now considering advanced reprocessing technologies), and the approval of the Yucca Mountain repository by the US Senate (which took place over the course of the meeting). Also noted was the change in Russian legislation which now allows the import of spent foreign fuel for reprocessing.

The OECD/NEA, ISTC and European Commission also gave presentations on their activities related to the mandate of the TWGNFCO.

As further background to the work of the TWGNFCO, presentations were given on other IAEA and special activities: