East Asia Science and Security Cooperative Network Report, Aug. 16, 2006

Recommended Citation

"East Asia Science and Security Cooperative Network Report, Aug. 16, 2006", EASSNet, August 16, 2006, https://nautilus.org/eassnet/east-asia-science-and-security-cooperative-network-report-aug-16-2006/

East Asia Science and Security Cooperative Network Report, Aug. 16, 2006

With this issue, the Asian Energy Security Network (AESNet) becomes the East Asia Science and Security Collaborative Network (EASSCNet). While continuing to provide timely news and innovative research on issues of energy security, the new service will expand to include other issues relating to science and security, including bio-security, nano-technology, nuclear fuel cycle, missile technology, and information technology. This new service will allow science and security researchers to keep abreast of developments outside their own disciplinary community that may have important implications for their own research. The list serve will be hosted on the new Global Collaborative website being launched by Nautilus and its partners. We welcome your comments and suggestions as we expand and refine this new service over the coming months.

1. Nuclear Fuel Cycle

Writing in Japan Focus, Michael Casey notes that Asian countries are increasingly looking to nuclear power to meet their burgeoning energy needs, while at the same time cutting carbon emissions, However, the question of what to do with the spent fuel remains unsolved.

Asia Embraces Nuclear Power: At What Cost?

Testifying to the Subcommittee on Strategic Forces of the Armed Forces Committee of the US House of Representatives on July 26, Matthew Bunn, Director of the Managing the Atom Project at Harvard University, discussed the problem of disposition of excess nuclear fuel. Bunn argued that converting excess US and Russian plutonium into Mixed Oxide Fuel will only be worth the cost if the proper conditions are first created.

Disposition of Excess Plutonium: Rethinking Security Objectives and Technological Approaches

Tadahiro Katsuta and Tatsujiro Suzuki of Tokyo University have three new studies on the problem of the nuclear fuel cycle in Japan and East Asia. The first study analyzes past proposals and possible new approaches for dealing with the problem of spent fuel in the region. The second discusses the history and current status of Japan’s nuclear fuel cycle and waste management problem. The third analyzes how the operation of the proposed Rokkasho nuclear plant will affect Japan’s waste management.

A Multilateral Nuclear Fuel Cycle Approach in East Asia

Japan’s Civilian Nuclear Cycle and Spent Fuel Issue

Plutonium and Spent Fuel Management Option in Japan: Implication of Rokkasho Operation

2. East Asian Energy Cooperation Scenarios

Dr. Ken Koyama, Director of the Strategy and Research Unit of the Institute of Energy Economics, Japan, presents different scenarios for promoting energy coexistence among consuming countries in Asia. The scenarios were developed by a working group of Chinese, Japanese, and South Korean experts.

Co-Existence Scenarios of Northeast Asian Energy Consuming Countries

3. Japanese Energy Security

Dr. Tsutomu Toichi, Senior Managing Director & COO of the Institute of Energy Economics, Japan gave a speech at the 11th Annual Asia Oil & Gas Conference held in Kuala Lumpur on June 11-13, 2006 on Japan’s viewpoint on future oil markets. He laid out a number of measures that Japan must take to preserve energy security in the future, including increasing efficiency, developing alternative fuels, and promoting greater oil exploration.

Oil Market of Today and Tomorrow

4. PRC Energy Demand and Supply

According to the APEC Energy Supply and Demand Outlook 2006, rapid growth in China’s economy will lead to an almost three-fold increase in energy demand through 2030. China wil laccount for 42 percent of APEC’s energy demand growth over that period, and its oil import dependency will rise from 22 percent in 2002 to 70 percent in 2030.

APEC Energy Demand and Supply Outlook 2006: China

5. Japan-Russia Energy Cooperation

ERINA held a Japan-Russia Energy Forum in Niigata. Noting that Japan has an energy self-sufficiency of only 4%, while Russia’s is 160%, the potential for energy trading between the two countries is high.

ERINA Report Vol. 70 July 2006 (in English and Japanese)

Testifying before the US Senate Committe on Energy and Resources on July 18, David G. Victor, Director of the Program on Energy and Sustainable Development at Stanford University, argued that the debate over the US-India nuclear deal has focused too heavily on issues of nonproliferation, while ignoring the considerable benefits that the deal can bring in reducing carbon emissions and thus slowing global warming.

The India Nuclear Deal: Implications for Global Climate Change

6. Clean Development Mechanism

In a new working paper Michael Wara, a research fellow at the Program on Energy and Sustainable Development at Stanford University, attempts to measure the potential for the Clean Development Mechanism under the Kyoto Protocol to reduce global CO2 emissions.

Measuring the Clean Development Mechanism’s Performance and Potential

Hisane Masaki, writing in OhmyNews International, notes that due to the high cost of emission reductions in Japan, the country is hoping to make heavy use of the CDM to meet its targets under Kyoto. Many Japanese companies see a lucrative market potential if emissions credits become a tradable commodity.

Japan Feel the Heat Over Kyoto

7. Climate Change Mitigation Strategies

Japan For Sustainability reports on some of the ways in which Japan is attempting to mitigate global warming. The Development Bank of Japan is providing loans to the company Nissan Express to establish a low CO2 distribution system. Meanwhile, the city government of Tokyo is subsidizing projects to cover rooftops with greenery or high-reflective paint to reduce the urban heat island problem.

Development Bank of Japan Grants Loan for CO2 Reduction
Tokyo Government Announces Cool Roofs Project

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