251 



this legislation to Congress, the Joint Committee on Atomic Energy 

 underscored the need to assure Europe of an adequate fuel supply for 

 its nuclear power plants. According to the Joint Committee, a survey 

 of uranium-235 needs for the Community had indicated that the 

 earlier ceiling would be insufficient to meet the long-term fuel 

 requirements for nuclear power plants which were expected to be 

 in operation or under construction in the near future. Additional ura- 

 nium-235 would be necessary to fuel an installed nuclear power plant 

 capacity of 13,000 electrical megawatts (Mwe) that Euratom ex- 

 pected to have in operation or under construction by 1972. The Joint 

 Committee observed that this increase represented a logical continua- 

 tion of the U.S Government's previous uranium supply policies. 

 Assuming that all of the additional uranium-235 was supplied to 

 Euratom through U.S uranium enrichment services, the revenues to 

 the United States would be about $500 million. There could also be 

 additional revenue to the domestic nuclear industry through sale of 

 uranium concentrates, conversion services, and reactor equipment. 287 



TOLL ENRICHMENT 



Beginning January 1, 1969, the industrial role of the AEC changed 

 when the United States began to offer "toll enrichment" to European 

 users of nuclear power. 288 The AJEC processes customer-supplied 

 uranium in its diffusion plants to increase the U-235 content and 

 returns to the consumer the desired enriched fuel, plus the residual 

 uranium that has been depleted of its normal U-235 content. For this 

 enriching service, the AEC charges a toll based on the amount of 

 separative work needed to produce the desired enrichment. 



To provide toll enriching service to Euratom, the Atomic Energy 

 Commission needed special legislative authorization. This was pro- 

 vided in 1967 through Public L&w 90-190 (81 Stat. 575). 



Through November 1970, the AEC had signed 31 contracts with 

 foreign customers to supply enrichment services worth $688 million, 

 based on a charge of $26 per separate work unit. In comparison, at that 

 time AEC's enrichment commitments to the domestic nuclear industry 

 totaled $1.6 billion. Of the foreign commitments, those with Euratom 

 totaled $124 million. Table V gives the details of the United States 

 foreign commitments. 



In estimating enrichment requirements, each nuclear power plant of 

 1,000 Mwe generating capacity represents a demand of over a 30- 

 year working life of about $110 million, based on AEC prices in effect 

 in November 1970. OECD estimates that the nuclear power market of 

 the non-Communist world may reach 610,000 installed megawatts by 

 1985. If so, the market for toll enrichment could approach §2.5 billion 

 annually. 289 



*" U.S. Congress, Joint Committee on Atomic Energy, Atomic Energy Acta — Amend- 

 ments, 90th Cong., 1st Sess., 1967. Sen. Kept. No. 743. . 



888 With toll enrichment, the customer furnishes his own natural uranium and thus can 

 sav» the initial dollar cost of this material. 



288 Robert L. Loftness. "Nuclear Power Abroad : A Time of Change," Combustion, vol. 113 

 (August 1971), p. 13. 



