1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:20,000 Uranium and plutonium are the main fissile materials used as fuel in nuclear reactors. 2 00:00:20,000 --> 00:00:23,120 Their capacity to produce electricity is impressive. 3 00:00:23,120 --> 00:00:29,580 Just a few grams provide the energy yield equivalent to no less than a ton of coal. 4 00:00:29,580 --> 00:00:33,960 But if they were to fall into the hands of terrorists, these materials could have a devastating 5 00:00:33,960 --> 00:00:35,340 effect. 6 00:00:35,340 --> 00:00:38,340 They could be used to build a nuclear weapon. 7 00:00:38,340 --> 00:00:43,580 In Europe, the risk of nuclear materials being diverted from their intended peaceful purposes 8 00:00:43,580 --> 00:00:47,140 is extremely low compared to other regions of the world. 9 00:00:47,140 --> 00:00:50,180 But the danger still remains. 10 00:00:50,180 --> 00:00:53,180 These men are not the usual European officials. 11 00:00:53,180 --> 00:00:56,780 They're going to a nuclear power plant to check that the nuclear fuel declared by the 12 00:00:56,780 --> 00:01:02,020 operator is indeed there and kept under maximum surveillance. 13 00:01:02,020 --> 00:01:06,340 They're part of a core of around 200 European inspectors. 14 00:01:06,340 --> 00:01:11,620 Highly qualified, equipped with dosimeters and specialist measuring apparatus, they regularly 15 00:01:11,620 --> 00:01:15,660 visit all the nuclear installations in the EU. 16 00:01:15,660 --> 00:01:20,500 Their job is to ensure that civilian nuclear material is not stolen and sold illegally 17 00:01:20,500 --> 00:01:25,780 or used for military purposes. 18 00:01:25,780 --> 00:01:31,900 The Euratom Treaty, one of the founding documents of the European Union, signed in 1957, established 19 00:01:31,900 --> 00:01:34,900 European nuclear safeguards. 20 00:01:34,900 --> 00:01:39,580 It charged the European Commission with the responsibility of monitoring all nuclear materials 21 00:01:39,580 --> 00:01:43,780 for civilian use on European Union territory. 22 00:01:44,780 --> 00:01:56,780 The Commission is in charge of keeping a very precise account of the fissile materials 23 00:01:56,780 --> 00:01:59,780 in all the facilities. 24 00:01:59,780 --> 00:02:06,780 And by on-site checks, extremely in-depth checks, it must verify that these materials 25 00:02:06,780 --> 00:02:15,780 are used in accordance with the declarations of the nuclear installation managers. 26 00:02:15,780 --> 00:02:22,780 The Euratom Treaty also imposes a whole raft of obligations on operators of nuclear facilities. 27 00:02:22,780 --> 00:02:32,780 The nuclear operators have to declare a set of accountancy and technical data to our services 28 00:02:32,780 --> 00:02:34,780 in the Commission. 29 00:02:34,780 --> 00:02:42,780 And they also have to allow and to provide access to our inspectors. 30 00:02:42,780 --> 00:02:49,780 At any time, any place, the Commission considers proper to perform its verifications. 31 00:02:49,780 --> 00:02:54,780 One of the places monitored by inspectors is the storage pond. 32 00:02:54,780 --> 00:02:59,780 Assemblies of spent nuclear fuel removed from the reactors continue to emit strong radiation 33 00:02:59,780 --> 00:03:01,780 and heat. 34 00:03:01,780 --> 00:03:04,780 That's why it's stored underwater. 35 00:03:04,780 --> 00:03:07,780 Inspectors check that no fuel rods are missing. 36 00:03:07,780 --> 00:03:11,780 These ponds, like other strategic places in the power plant, are monitored permanently 37 00:03:11,780 --> 00:03:17,780 by cameras installed by the European Commission. 38 00:03:17,780 --> 00:03:22,780 Another control tool are the seals, changed regularly by the inspectors themselves when 39 00:03:22,780 --> 00:03:24,780 they visit the installation. 40 00:03:24,780 --> 00:03:29,780 They protect areas and containers with sensitive contents and help to detect any unauthorized 41 00:03:30,780 --> 00:03:32,780 access or handling. 42 00:03:32,780 --> 00:03:36,780 In addition to the physical controls, a major part of the inspectors' work is to verify 43 00:03:36,780 --> 00:03:39,780 the accounts of the nuclear material. 44 00:03:39,780 --> 00:03:44,780 Back in Luxembourg at the European Commission inspectors' HQ, every inspection mission 45 00:03:44,780 --> 00:03:46,780 begins and ends here. 46 00:03:46,780 --> 00:03:51,780 Here, in the laboratories, the control equipment is prepared, information from the units is 47 00:03:51,780 --> 00:03:55,780 gathered, all the video recordings from the surveillance cameras are monitored, and the 48 00:03:56,780 --> 00:03:59,780 seals are checked. 49 00:03:59,780 --> 00:04:04,780 Before being put into position, the two parts of the metallic seals are marked on the inside 50 00:04:04,780 --> 00:04:07,780 with a unique indelible image. 51 00:04:07,780 --> 00:04:12,780 By comparing this image when the seal is opened, inspectors can tell whether or not it's been 52 00:04:12,780 --> 00:04:14,780 tampered with. 53 00:04:26,780 --> 00:04:32,780 Seals are put into place, but this time it's by inspectors from the International Atomic 54 00:04:32,780 --> 00:04:34,780 Energy Agency. 55 00:04:34,780 --> 00:04:40,780 This Vienna-based United Nations organization monitors all nuclear materials around the world. 56 00:04:40,780 --> 00:04:45,780 But the European Commission and the Vienna Agency work together on inspections in the 57 00:04:45,780 --> 00:04:47,780 European Union. 58 00:04:48,780 --> 00:04:55,780 European Commission nuclear controls cover all stages related to the electric power production. 59 00:04:55,780 --> 00:05:00,780 The cycle begins with the mining of uranium ores and finishes with the disposal of nuclear 60 00:05:00,780 --> 00:05:01,780 waste. 61 00:05:01,780 --> 00:05:06,780 But the same vigilance is necessary in other areas, for example, research reactors or the 62 00:05:06,780 --> 00:05:09,780 transport of nuclear materials. 63 00:05:09,780 --> 00:05:14,780 The size and level of each inspection varies according to the type of nuclear installation. 64 00:05:15,780 --> 00:05:20,780 There are two specific types of installation on European Union territory, four enrichment 65 00:05:20,780 --> 00:05:24,780 plants and two reprocessing plants, which house the largest quantities of uranium and 66 00:05:24,780 --> 00:05:26,780 plutonium. 67 00:05:26,780 --> 00:05:30,780 These sites are subjected to particularly rigorous inspection. 68 00:05:32,780 --> 00:05:34,780 La Hague in northwest France. 69 00:05:34,780 --> 00:05:38,780 This windy part of the Normandy coast is home to one of the strategic sites submitted to 70 00:05:38,780 --> 00:05:41,780 intense surveillance, a reprocessing plant. 71 00:05:42,780 --> 00:05:46,780 Spent fuel is brought here for the purpose of separating out the uranium and plutonium 72 00:05:46,780 --> 00:05:48,780 for recycling. 73 00:05:48,780 --> 00:05:53,780 With its capacity of 1,700 tons a year, the plant is able to reprocess the waste fuel 74 00:05:53,780 --> 00:05:59,780 from a hundred or so reactors and to recycle several hundred kilos of nuclear materials. 75 00:05:59,780 --> 00:06:02,780 Here again the job begins in the pond. 76 00:06:02,780 --> 00:06:07,780 This is considerably larger because it accommodates several hundred assemblies of spent fuel from 77 00:06:07,780 --> 00:06:09,780 reactors in Europe and Asia. 78 00:06:09,780 --> 00:06:14,780 The fuel rods are held in special baskets, 10 meters below the surface of the water, 79 00:06:14,780 --> 00:06:16,780 before being treated. 80 00:06:16,780 --> 00:06:21,780 To check them, the inspector has a special viewing device which allows him to see the 81 00:06:21,780 --> 00:06:25,780 electromagnetic rays emitted by spent fuel assemblies. 82 00:06:26,780 --> 00:06:32,780 The operator gives us a list with all the elements he has in the pool and we have to 83 00:06:32,780 --> 00:06:35,780 check that all these elements are there. 84 00:06:35,780 --> 00:06:39,780 The verifications are also carried out in other strategic places in the plant. 85 00:06:39,780 --> 00:06:45,780 One of the main places is the storage of plutonium. 86 00:06:45,780 --> 00:06:53,780 We check all the main tanks of trans-nitrile uranium. 87 00:06:54,780 --> 00:06:58,780 We check the entrance and exit of the plant. 88 00:06:59,780 --> 00:07:05,780 The taking of samples of uranium and plutonium constitutes another major part of the inspection. 89 00:07:05,780 --> 00:07:10,780 Here again, inspectors must be certain that the material present on site corresponds to 90 00:07:10,780 --> 00:07:13,780 the declarations made by the operator. 91 00:07:13,780 --> 00:07:17,780 The Commission has its own laboratory in Karlsruhe, Germany. 92 00:07:17,780 --> 00:07:22,780 But in order to limit the transport of radioactive samples, a special laboratory has been established 93 00:07:22,780 --> 00:07:25,780 on the site of the plant at La Hague. 94 00:07:25,780 --> 00:07:30,780 Here, for example, samples from solutions of spent fuel are being analysed. 95 00:07:53,780 --> 00:07:56,780 The checks and analyses sometimes reveal discrepancies. 96 00:07:56,780 --> 00:08:01,780 In most cases, these are minor accounting errors which can be corrected on the spot. 97 00:08:03,780 --> 00:08:12,780 If then there are really infractions, serious irregularities that are not solved in spite of our remarks, 98 00:08:12,780 --> 00:08:20,780 then the Commission can use the Euratom Treaty and impose sanctions either to the member state 99 00:08:20,780 --> 00:08:22,780 or to the operator. 100 00:08:22,780 --> 00:08:33,780 The sanctions can range from a simple warning up to taking away the nuclear materials from the operator. 101 00:08:34,780 --> 00:08:38,780 This is the Sellafield reprocessing plant in Britain. 102 00:08:38,780 --> 00:08:44,780 This strategic site has given rise to one of the most serious disputes in the history of nuclear safeguards. 103 00:08:44,780 --> 00:08:47,780 Since the first Euratom inspection in 1986, 104 00:08:47,780 --> 00:08:51,780 the Commission inspectors have not been able to perform adequate verification activities 105 00:08:51,780 --> 00:08:56,780 in one of the storage ponds because of poor visibility and high radiation. 106 00:08:56,780 --> 00:09:00,780 Judging the action plan presented by the British government to be insufficient, 107 00:09:00,780 --> 00:09:05,780 the Commission has started proceedings against the United Kingdom at the European Court of Justice. 108 00:09:05,780 --> 00:09:10,780 It must be said that there was a complexity in this case 109 00:09:10,780 --> 00:09:17,780 related to the use of a part of the fuel. 110 00:09:17,780 --> 00:09:19,780 But the essence is there. 111 00:09:19,780 --> 00:09:26,780 When the reports of our inspectors became really alarming, we acted. 112 00:09:28,780 --> 00:09:31,780 With the accession of the 10 new Central European countries, 113 00:09:31,780 --> 00:09:34,780 the inspectors' area of operations has widened. 114 00:09:34,780 --> 00:09:38,780 Between them, these new member states have 19 nuclear reactors, 115 00:09:38,780 --> 00:09:44,780 which were built according to the norms of the ex-Soviet Union. 116 00:09:44,780 --> 00:09:51,780 Obviously, post enlargement, all these installations have been subjected to European Commission inspection. 117 00:09:51,780 --> 00:09:54,780 But as they had been inspected for years previously 118 00:09:54,780 --> 00:09:58,780 by the International Atomic Energy Agency based in Vienna, 119 00:09:58,780 --> 00:10:04,780 it's not surprising that so far the European inspectors have discovered nothing wrong. 120 00:10:06,780 --> 00:10:12,780 In the Union of 25, the nuclear safeguards continue to be important. 121 00:10:12,780 --> 00:10:15,780 As a result, the Commission has adopted a new approach, 122 00:10:15,780 --> 00:10:19,780 which puts the accent on quality, not quantity. 123 00:10:19,780 --> 00:10:24,780 It's asked the operators and national authorities to develop their own controls from now on, 124 00:10:24,780 --> 00:10:27,780 so that not everything depends on European inspections. 125 00:10:54,780 --> 00:11:00,780 We are moving towards a system where we control national inspectors. 126 00:11:00,780 --> 00:11:08,780 If it turned out that in an installation X there was a real problem, a real danger, 127 00:11:08,780 --> 00:11:12,780 we would resume systematic inspections. 128 00:11:12,780 --> 00:11:18,780 This rationalization will allow the Commission to focus more on other risks linked to the nuclear industry, 129 00:11:18,780 --> 00:11:23,780 such as the health of workers and the people who live near nuclear installations. 130 00:11:23,780 --> 00:11:28,780 And also with the implementation of a common legislative framework on nuclear safety, 131 00:11:28,780 --> 00:11:34,780 aimed at, amongst other things, protecting nuclear installations against attack or accident. 132 00:11:53,780 --> 00:11:58,780 For more UN videos 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