TNAG-1658-FCO40-2306-Daya-Bay-nuclear-power-station-project-safety-concerns-in-Ho-1987 — Page 234

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We must also consider the waste issue. Public concern in this area

is in sharp contrast with the views of the experts, who are confident

apout the technical solutions. The small volume of the waste from

nuclear power plants is a very positive feature which facilitates the

management, isolation and disposal of the waste in stable geological

formations. Most people do not realize that the quantity of spent fuel

arising in a nuclear power plant when it produces a given amount of

electricity, is smaller than the quantity of arsenic, vanadium, lead,

cadmium and other poisonous heavy metals which a coal-fired plant sets

free when producing the same amount of electricity. The difference is

that the spent fuel is completely taken care of while the heavy metals

remain in the biosphere.

The final issue which is of concern to governments and the public

in connection with nuclear power development is the maintenance of the

non-proliferation régime, with the IAEA's safeguards as its on-site

verification instrument. The Tlatelolco and Non-Proliferation Treaties,

under which States have bound themselves politically and legally not to

acquire nuclear weapons, have been considerably strengthened by the

on-site inspection of peaceful nuclear power programmes througn

full-scope safeguards. Safeguards are also a precondition for nuclear

trade. A supplier wants to be confident througn verification that fuel

or hardware is not used for military purposes, and buyers are often

anxious to demonstrate to their neighbours and to the world that such use

actually is indeed for peaceful purposes. It can confidently be said.

that without the non-proliferation régime the present international trade

and technology transfer in nuclear power would not exist.

Continued