Uranium & Fuel

IAEA Governors Asked To Approve Kazakhstan LEU Bank Agreement

By David Dalton
8 June 2015

IAEA Governors Asked To Approve Kazakhstan LEU Bank Agreement
IAEA director-general Yukiya Amano

8 Jun (NucNet): The International Atomic Energy Agency’s board of governors is being asked to approve a draft agreement that could see Kazakhstan host a multinational low-enriched uranium fuel bank that would help to assure a supply of LEU for nuclear power generation, the agency said today.

IAEA director-general Yukiya Amano said the board of governors, which is meeting this week in Vienna, would also be asked to approve a draft transit agreement between the IAEA and Russia that will allow the IAEA to transport LEU through Russia to and from the planned LEU bank.

Mr Amano said the conclusion of the two agreements represents “a significant milestone” for the LEU bank project, enabling the IAEA to proceed to full-scale implementation.

A statement said the bank will provide fuel for member states in case they cannot obtain LEU for nuclear power generation on the global commercial market.

According to the IAEA, Kazakhstan is the only member state to have formally expressed an interest in hosting the LEU bank.

The bank would benefit from a pledge of $50 million (€44 million) from the Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI) with financial backing from Warren Buffet.

The NTI, a Washington-based non-profit organisation, said that when the fuel bank is set up, countries interested in peaceful nuclear energy will have “more assurances and more options” for their energy programmes.

The IAEA said donors have pledged or paid about $125 million and €25 million in total to cover the initial estimated operational expenses and the purchase and delivery of LEU.

Other pledges and payments have come from the European Union (€20 million paid out of €25 million pledged; Kuwait: $10 million paid in full; Norway: $5 million paid in full; United Arab Emirates: $10 million pledged; United States: $49 million paid in full.

The IAEA said that with these financial resources the LEU bank aims to have enough LEU to meet the fuel fabrication needs for two to three reloads of fuel for a 1,000-megawatt light water reactor.

The LEU will be made available to an eligible IAEA member state at the market prices prevailing at the time of supply. The proceeds will then be used to replenish the stock of LEU in the bank.

Countries wanting to buy from the reserve would have to meet IAEA safeguards and refrain from operating uranium enrichment or spent-fuel reprocessing facilities.

Kazakhstan media has reported that Kazakhstan plans to start receiving nuclear material to be kept in the bank in two years.

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