Energy and Security in Northeast Asia: Proposals for Nuclear Cooperation

Gaining access to energy resources has long been a source of contention among established and rising powers. IGCC Policy Papers 35-37, Energy and Security in Northeast Asia, examine the significance of Northeast Asia's rising energy demands on regional and global energy and security politics. Policy Paper 37 introduces prominent proposals for multilateral Northeast Asian nuclear energy cooperation advanced by Kaneko Kumao, Suzuki Atsuyuki and Jor- Shan Choi (an analysis by Suzuki Tatsujiro about lessons from the European experience (EURATOM) appeared in IGCC Policy Paper 24, Energy and Security in Northeast Asia). Cooperation on nuclear energy would have a direct impact on political and security relations among Northeast Asian states. Nuclear power is an attractive alternative for all the Northeast Asian states, especially Japan and South Korea, which have no energy resources of their own and have to import all their fuels. Nuclear energy is much cleaner than that extracted from fossil fuels, and it is a symbol of technological modernity.