The Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Dr. Hans Blix, addressing, on June 24, the Special Session of the UN General Assembly in New York to review developments since the 1992 Rio Conference on Environment and Development, said nuclear fission offered ways of generating vast amounts of electricity and heat without causing acid rain or contributing to global warming, and without risk that the fuel would run out. Wastes from energy generation from fossil fuels, meanwhile, were being released into the atmosphere or deposited on the Earth's surface, whilst the emissions of carbon dioxide linked to the burning of all hydrocarbons raised the risk of global warming.
The Director General noted that the stark reality since Rio was that global carbon dioxide emissions were going up, not down. In contrast, as reported by the International Energy Agency of the OECD, nuclear power had accounted for the greater part of the lowering of the carbon intensity of energy economies of the OECD countries over the last 25 years. He reminded delegates in this context that, whereas a 1000 Megawatt nuclear power plant discharged about 35 tonnes of spent fuel per year, a coal-fired plant of similar capacity annually emits some 6.5 million tonnes of carbon dioxide alone.
Turning more specifically to the question of nuclear waste, on which the IAEA had been made task manager at the Rio Summit, Dr. Blix reported that internationally agreed safety standards on waste disposal had been adopted by the IAEA, and that a binding Convention - as called for by the Commission on Sustainable Development - was expected to be concluded later this year. The Convention, covering spent fuel and radioactive waste management, contained basic rules that were universally supported. It opened the way for registration of sites with the IAEA and peer review of disposal practices among the Parties. It also made reference to the IAEA's existing Code of Practice for Transboundary Movements of Radioactive Waste.
The Director General noted that, contrary to popular belief, there was remarkable agreement among nuclear scientists and engineers worldwide about the techniques and methods of disposing of all nuclear wastes, protecting present and future generations. For instance, high level wastes could be encapsulated and embedded in the crust of the Earth from which the uranium had originally come.