27 Aug (NucNet): The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and Kazakhstan signed an agreement today for the establishment of a Low Enriched Uranium (LEU) bank to be located at the Ulba Metallurgical Plant in Oskemen, northeast Kazakhstan, the IAEA said in a statement.
IAEA director-general Yukiya Amano wrote in The Astana Times newspaper that the bank’s establishment is a “significant milestone” in nuclear cooperation.
“I am confident that the IAEA LEU Bank will operate safely and securely, in line with the applicable IAEA nuclear safety standards and nuclear security guidance,” Mr Amano said in an IAEA statement.
The agreements signed today complete the legal framework and will launch full-scale implementation of the project, Mr Amano said.
The bank will be governed by Kazakhstan’s legal and regulatory requirements but will be fully managed and operated by the IAEA. The LEU will also be subject to IAEA safeguards.
Mr Amano explained how the LEU bank will work: “if an IAEA Member State is unable to obtain low enriched uranium, it can ask the IAEA for a supply as a last resort.”
Such a request would have to meet certain criteria, such as a disruption of LEU supply to a nuclear power plant, or an inability to secure LEU on the commercial market or through state-to-state arrangements. The country would also need to have a comprehensive safeguards agreement with the IAEA in force and no issues related to safeguards implementation.
The country making the request would then have to pay the cost to restock the LEU Bank and could use the LEU only for the peaceful purpose of having reactor fuel made. Further enrichment, reprocessing or retransfer would not be allowed without the prior agreement of the IAEA, Mr Amano said.
The LEU bank was developed to assure countries with peaceful nuclear energy programmes accessibility to a supply of LEU if it is unavailable on the commercial market.
“One guiding principle of the IAEA LEU Bank is that it must not distort the commercial market. Nor does it affect the right of an eligible recipient country to develop its own nuclear fuel cycle facilities,” Mr Amano said.
The bank is intended to provide IAEA member states with confidence in a stable and predictable supply of fuel even if other supply mechanisms are disrupted. It is an important step in supporting nuclear non-proliferation, according to the IAEA.
The bank will be a physical reserve of up to 90 tonnes of LEU, sufficient to run a 1,000-megawatt light-water reactor for three years.
According to the IAEA, the bank is fully funded by voluntary contributions, and has no impact on the IAEA’s regular budget or other activities. Donors have provided approximately $150 million to establish and operate the bank for at least 10 years.
The IAEA board of governors authorised the establishment and operation of the bank in December 2010. In July 2011, Kazakhstan offered to host the bank. Since 2011, Kazakhstan and the IAEA have been working on the technical details for the establishment of the bank.
In June 2015, the IAEA board of governors gave its approval for the host agreement with Kazakhstan to be signed. The bank is expected to become operational in 2017.
The bank is part of global efforts to create an assured supply of nuclear fuel to countries in case of disruptions of the open market or of other existing supply arrangements for LEU, the IAEA said. Other assurance of supply mechanisms established with IAEA approval include a guaranteed physical reserve of LEU maintained by Russia at the International Uranium Enrichment Centre in Angarsk, and a UK assurance of supply guaranty for supplies of LEU enrichment services. The US operates its own LEU reserve.
