Safety, Safety, and More Safety

When thinking about nuclear power, safe isn’t normally the first word that comes into mind, but the delegations within the Special Political and Decolonization Committee are determined to make nuclear energy as secure and safe as possible. To ensure the events of the Fukushima Nuclear Accident in 2011, which endangered hundreds of thousands of lives, never repeats, the SPECPOL delegations have suggested five plans.

The first was the Safety Emergency planning Assistance plan (SEA), which includes the delegations of China, Venezuela, and Czech Republic. This plan will implement safety regulations along with providing assistance, on both “a worldwide and Japanese level”.

The second plan, the Bigger Nations, Equality to choose, Safety, and Tomorrow (BEST) plan consists of the degations of Cuba, Lithuania, Mexico, Nigeria, and Portugal was similar to the first and discusses giving aid to victims of Fukushima and “making sure this [Fukushima] never happens again”.

The Safety Through Advancements and Resolution (STAR) plan, includes the delegations of Chile, Kazakhstan, Switzerland, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia and Spain. The plan covers safety, security, and protocols, along with the creation of a summit that would annually meet in Reykjavik, Iceland, “discussing funding, allocation resources and emergency response teams”.

Belgium, Argentina, the United Kingdom, Norway, Austria and Australia made up the Collective Alternative Means Preparation Social (CAMPS) plan, which focuses on finding alternatives to nuclear energy, such as molybdenum, and making nuclear plants less dangerous and more productive. The delegation of Belgium explains, “For certain countries, it’s too hard to switch over from nuclear energy, and it’s not economically feasible so we’re looking at alternatives certain countries can rely”.

The Site characteristics, Adequate preparation planning, For seeing potential risks, Evacuation preparation plan (SAFE) plan, including delegations such as Egypt, Ethiopia, Malaysia, North Korea, and Ukraine, has the goal to create a long and short term plan to address all potential risks, using “safety regulations not restrictions”.

Ultimately, the delegations of SPECPOL have decided to focus mainly on safety, as Switzerland explains, “safety is something all delegations should address”. Debate has transitioned from being for or against nuclear energy to how it can be safer. Even delegations who were completely against nuclear energy in the beginning, such as Germany, have admitted that getting rid of it isn’t a feasible task.

The delegation of Chile even says, “It started as whether we were going to keep it [nuclear]. Now we’re trying to decide how to make it safe”.