Law Faculty. Universitas Airlangga. Ny Mey

Transcription

1 Development of Nuclear Energy in Cambodia Law Faculty Universitas Airlangga Ny Mey

2 Contents I. Generally introduction of Nuclear Energy... 2 II. History of Nuclear Energy Legal issue Nuclear Energy in Cambodia Obstacle to create research institute Challenges of Nuclear Energy in Cambodia... 6 Conclusion... 8 Referent... 9 Page 1

3 Nuclear Energy I. Generally introduction of Nuclear Energy Nuclear energy is energy in the nucleus (core) of an atom. Atoms are tiny particles that make up every object in the universe. There is enormous energy in the bonds that hold atoms together. Nuclear energy can be used to make electricity. But first the energy must be released. It can be released from atoms in two ways: nuclear fusion and nuclear fission. In nuclear fusion, energy is released when atoms are combined or fused together to form a larger atom. This is how the sun produces energy. In nuclear fission, atoms are split apart to form smaller atoms, releasing energy. Nuclear power plants use nuclear fission to produce electricity 1. II. History of Nuclear Energy The history of nuclear energy started in Germany, in 1895, where a fellow named Roentgen was experimenting with cathode rays in a glass tube that he had sucked the air out of. At one point, he had the device covered but noticed that the photographic plates off to the side were lighting up when the device was energized. He realized that he was looking at a new kind of ray, and called it what any reasonable physicist would call an unknown: the X-ray. He systematically studied these rays and took the first x-ray photo of his wife s hand two weeks later, thereby becoming the father of modern medical diagnostics. Soon after in France, in 1896, a guy named Becquerel noticed that if he left uranium salts sitting on photographic plates, they would expose even though no cathode ray tube was energized. The energy must have been coming from inside the salts themselves. Marie Curie and her husband Pierre studied the phenomenon and isolated two new elements that exhibited this spontaneous energy production: Polonium and Radium. They named the phenomenon "radioactivity". In England, Ernest Rutherford starts studying radioactivity and discovers that there are two types of rays that come out that are different from x-rays. He calls them alpha- and beta- radiation. He later discovers the shocking fact that the vast majority of the mass of atoms is concentrated in their centers, and thus discovers the atomic nucleus. He is widely regarded today as the father of nuclear physics. He later discovers gamma radiation. In 1920, he theorizes the existence of a neutral particle in the nucleus called a neutron, though there is no evidence that neutrons exist yet. In 1932, Chadwick reads some published results from the Curie s kid, Irene Joliot-Curie that says gamma radiation was found to knock protons out of wax. Disbelieving, he suspects they are seeing Rutherford s neutrons and does experiments to prove this, thus discovering the neutron Page 2

4 III. Nuclear Energy in Cambodia 1. Legal issue If Nuclear energy has many advantages, why Cambodia does not create the institution while Cambodia already became as IAEA`s member state and also ratify many conventions? 2. Nuclear Energy in Cambodia Cambodia became a member state of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on 6 February 1958, then withdrew its membership on 26 March 2003 and later rejoined on 23 November Even though the use of nuclear energy for peace has been increasing around the world, Cambodia has not yet been a country with nuclear facilities. It does not have nuclear power reactors, research institute for nuclear reactors, and nuclear fuel cycle facilities yet. The radioactive sources are being used for medical (oncology), industrial (gauges) and agricultural purposes only. But this does not mean that the country will not have nuclear power forever. Nuclear energy development is considered a distant and very longterm option. All the current sources of electricity production in Cambodia come from hydropower, fossil fuel, biomass (minor), solar energy (minor) and import from neighboring countries such as Vietnam, Laos and Thailand. Cambodia has not yet established a regulatory body for the law on nuclear (safety, security and safeguards), but has established Atomic Energy Technology Office in 2005, under the Department of Energy Development, General of Energy, the Ministry of Mines and Energy (MoME), with the responsibilities of promoting radiation/nuclear safety, security and safeguards of radioactive sources 4. Besides this, currently there are other two main institutions with relevant mandates for the nuclear security: the National Authority for the Prohibition of Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Weapons, and the National Counterterrorism Committee. The risk that nuclear or other radioactive materials could be used in criminal or intentional unauthorized acts remains a national concern and, continues to be regarded as a threat and risk to international security 5. It is well recognized that the responsibility for nuclear security rests entirely with an individual state. The appropriate and effective national systems for nuclear security are vital in facilitating the peaceful use of nuclear energy and in enhancing global efforts to combat nuclear terrorism 6. The significant growth in the use of nuclear applications in general and nuclear power programs is anticipated over the coming years, in particular by several countries like Thailand and Vietnam. These will require a sustained focus on nuclear security infrastructure to enable the continued secure use of the peaceful applications of nuclear energy. Nuclear security is recognized as the prevention and detection of, and response to unauthorized removal, sabotage, unauthorized access, illegal transfer or other malicious acts involving nuclear material, other radioactive 3 INPRO DIALOQUE FORUM, Mr. Soeung Vandoeun, Atomic Energy Technology Office of Department of Technique Energy and Atomic Energy Affair, Integrated Nuclear Security Support Plan of Cambodia, Revision: 3 ( January 2015) 5 Ibid. 6 Ibid Page 3

5 substances or their associated facilities. Actually, the factors causing high risks of nuclear security in the different part of the developing world are varied. With the international legal frameworks, implementation of nuclear security is complicated in line with culture, economic, education related to the context in each country, such as science and technology, natural resource, stability and instability of states. The national nuclear security infrastructure is a part of the global framework and is underpinned by key international legal instruments related to nuclear security, and the appropriate training and education at all levels and in all relevant organizations and facilities can play a major role in this process. Cambodia strongly needs human resource development programs in nuclear security. This need has been emphasized by the competent authorities. Therefore, there is a need to conduct a feasibility study to pave the way for the Cambodian government to establish a sustainable national nuclear security infrastructure as soon as possible to prevent such acts and to protect society from nuclear terrorism 7. The Kingdom of Cambodia has a range of capabilities for preventing and combating Chemical, Biological, and Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN) risks. Notably, several national authorities have pertinent expertise and resources, and a range of relevant national legislation has been enacted. But gaps in the nuclear security law remain challenging tasks and need to be strengthened. Significantly, the Kingdom of Cambodia seeks a greater emphasis on prevention and awareness-raising in its riskmitigation approach. Cambodia also needs a more effective response/recovery capacity to deal with nuclear security situations should they occur. This section highlights national capacities that are already in place as well as the main significant risk of theft, sabotage, unauthorized access, illegal transfer or other malicious acts involving nuclear material, other radioactive substances, improper disposal or inadvertent public exposure to radiological waste material which may arise from the identified vulnerabilities coupling with insufficient legislation on the management of hazardous waste with the absence of a repository for disused radioactive sources despite the limited number of sources present in the country 8. In addition, responsibilities for handling and managing radioactive substances during their lifecycle are not always clearly allocated. These might cause further vulnerability leading to the same type of risk for radiological materials in active usage. The MoME and the MoH of Cambodia are separately responsible for licensing radioactive sources according to intended use. No clear overarching authority exists yet, but it will be established by the national nuclear law which is in the process of being finalized. A joint action between the MoME and the MoH is expected to establish a regulatory body following the promulgation of the new law 9. In addition, the MoME will soon draft a Nuclear Safety regulation following the templates/guidelines of the IAEA nuclear security series and will organize a safeguards team. The government has previously 7 International Atomic Energy Agency, Categorization of Radioactive Sources, IAEA Safety Standards Series No. RS-G-1.9, IAEA, Vienna (2005) 8 International Atomic Energy Agency, Categorization of Radioactive Sources, IAEA Safety Standards Series No. RS-G-1.9, IAEA, Vienna (2004) 9 International Atomic Energy Agency, Draft Nuclear Security Series Glossary Version 1.1 (May 2014) Page 4

6 obtained the assistance of the IAEA in drafting the national nuclear law. This nuclear law will address safety, security and safeguards, waste management, transport, import and export and eventual plans for the nuclear power and a research reactor. The country has a number of radioactive sources present on its territory. The sources are used in industrial, medical and agricultural applications. A registry of radioactive sources was established in 2008, but the process of registering sources and updating information as well as categorizing sources according to safety and security criteria has not yet completed and is still ongoing. To support this process, a Technical Working Group (created in 2009) and a committee for national cooperation on the regulatory framework was established. Safety and security measures are in place for all operational sources at the hospitals and additional measures have been planned in cooperation with the IAEA for the new large sources which will be in operation in the next years. Furthermore, physical protection upgrades have been put in place for disused sources found on the premises. In particular, there may be relevant quantities of radioactive wastes emanating from mining activities. In general, the disposal of radioactive waste is a key challenge, but Cambodia is working on developing adequate institutional responses to these issues including changes to legislation and regulations. At the moment there is no storage facility for disused sources in the Kingdom of Cambodia and this should be addressed in order to strengthen capabilities and mitigate the risk 10. In 2009, Cambodia restarted its cooperation with the IAEA, which led to the approval of the country s Integrated Nuclear Security Support Plan (INSSP) in June Cambodia is also engaged in cooperation with other international entities, including the U.S. Department of State (upgrade to Cambodian control lists for radioactive material), the U.S. Department of Energy (national response plan and training on safeguards), and the European Commission Joint Research Centre (feasibility study on radioactive and nuclear response plan). The government has developed Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) for the detection of radioactive materials at borders that guide the operations of customs officials, law enforcement and transport operators. A workshop targeting the dissemination of the SOPs is periodically run by the Secretariat of National Counter Terrorism Committee (NCTC). The government is also involved in other awareness raising initiatives with regard to illicit trafficking of CBRN materials with the support from the United States. The NCTC Secretariat is very active in assembling the skills and resources to improve detection capabilities in the country. Cambodia also plans to install further equipment at several land checkpoints to improve detection of illicit radioactive and nuclear materials 11. The country recognizes the importance of developing an integrated and comprehensive approach to mitigate CBRN risks and has been working with international partners to coordinate efforts to reduce such dangers concerning terrorist attack/threat by using nuclear or radioactive materials. As a result, the present National CBRN Action Plan (NAP) sets out national priorities for enhancing CBRN risk mitigation within Cambodia, while furthering the objectives of international initiatives such as United Nations Security Council Resolution (UNSCR) 1540 and UNSCR Developed in accordance with a 10 International Atomic Energy Agency, Code of Conduct on the Safety and Security of Radioactive Sources, IAEA/CODEOC/2004, IAEA, Vienna (2004). 11 Ibid. Page 5

7 prevention, detection, preparedness and response framework, this NAP covers a wide range of CBRN activities and is tailored to addressing the CBRN hazards whether natural, accidental or criminal in origin of greatest relevance to the country 12. Consequently, the NAP is fully in line with such initiatives as the INSSP of the IAEA, the activities of the committee established in pursuant to UNSCR 1540, the World Health Organization Protocol for Assessing National Surveillance and Response Capacities for the International Health Regulations, as well as work by INTERPOL and the World Customs Organization, among others. 3. Obstacle to create research institute As the nuclear energy has many advantages for every country, but it is still has some reason that most of the country such as Cambodia is not easily to create the research institute. The first reason is Cambodia not yet has the human resources on the nuclear skill, which take risk for Cambodia to create this institution, because in the past some countries ever met the bad situation when they failed for this project such as Ukrain in 1986 and many people in Japan was died in the past. For another reason is country has to spent a lot for the plan as the expense in this institute, because they need many officers to work serious in this place as it will be harm to human being because of its power and they have to keep it in secret place with the strong security Challenges of Nuclear Energy in Cambodia Meeting with the Mr. MORGULOV IGOR, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affair of the Russian Federation in the evening of March 30, 2017, Mr. Ouch Borith Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International cooperation has asked Russia to help train students on the nuclear energy experts during Cambodia students has not yet knowledge about this part. Mr. Ouch Borith clarified that Cambodia and Russia signed nuclear energy cooperation for the peaceful already, so training on human resources about nuclear energy is the most important one. According to Ouch Borith, this training proposal was already approved by Russia. In the meeting Mr. Ouch Borith asked Russia to help establish a center to provide information on nuclear energy as well. For this proposal Mr. MORGULOV IGOR has not yet respond. However, the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs of Cambodia Ouch Borith expects that Russia will help achieve this objective, since the nuclear energy is very important for developing countries, particularly to generate electricity. On May 17, 2016 ROSATOM and National Council for Sustainable Development of the Kingdom of Cambodia signed two documents: Memorandum on Nuclear Energy Information Center in Cambodia and Memorandum on a Cambodia-Russia joint working group on the peaceful uses of atomic energy 14. Both documents were signed by Mr. Sergey Kirienko, the Chief Executive Officer of ROSATOM, from the Russian side, and Mr. Sai Samal, the Chairman of the National Council for Sustainable Development, from the side of the Kingdom of Cambodia. The Memoranda were signed with witness of 12. International Atomic Energy Agency, Security of Radioactive Source, IAEA Nuclear Security No. 11, IAEA, Vienna (2009) Page 6

8 Mr. Dmitry Medvedev, Prime Minister of the Russian Federation, and Mr. Hun Sen, Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Cambodia who had arrived in Russia for a working visit. Memorandum on Nuclear Energy Information Center is an important step in strengthening the cooperation between the two countries in the area of public acceptance of the atomic energy in the Kingdom of Cambodia. The Information Center is planned to become a platform for joint cultural and educational events for various population groups, first of all, for children, pupils and students. The Center s activities will not be commercial but focused on the promotion of all the aspects of the peaceful uses of atomic energy. This Center will let the population of Cambodia get better understanding of the nuclear energy principles, the perspectives of the national nuclear energy and industry development, and also raise the prestige of the profession among the young people. Memorandum on a Cambodia-Russia joint working group on the peaceful uses of atomic energy will make it possible for the parties to hold regular meetings between experts from the two countries to define and implement joint projects Page 7

9 Conclusion In conclusion, However Cambodia does not has any institutions before, but according to recent news show that this country is willing to woks on Nuclear Energy to be better in order to develop the country and also make their economic grow by supporting themselves as create the electricity, improve medical field and also Industry field as develop the nuclear energy. So in the name of Cambodian citizens we have to try to understand more about advantages of nuclear energy in order to become a human resources in this part when Cambodia already establish the Nuclear office. Page 8

10 REFERENCES 1. Integrated Nuclear Security Support Plan of Cambodia, Revision: 3 ( January 2015) 2. International Atomic Energy Agency, Categorization of Radioactive Sources, IAEA Safety Standards Series No. RS-G-1.9, IAEA, Vienna (2005). 3. International Atomic Energy Agency, Code of Conduct on the Safety and Security of Radioactive Sources, IAEA/CODEOC/2004, IAEA, Vienna (2004). 4. International Atomic Energy Agency, Draft Nuclear Security Series Glossary Version 1.1 (May 2014). 5. International Atomic Energy Agency, Security of Radioactive Source, IAEA Nuclear Security No. 11, IAEA, Vienna (2009) Page 9