4 Jun (NucNet): The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has held a number of meetings with Kazakhstan to negotiate a host state agreement and supporting technical agreements for a multinational low-enriched uranium (LEU) bank project, the agency’s director-general Yukiya Amano has said.
Mr Amano said in a statement to the IAEA’s board of governors yesterday that there have been 12 technical missions to Kazakhstan. A number of technical matters, including the seismic assessment of a possible site, are being addressed.
Last week, the agency held a briefing to update member states on its work on establishing the LEU bank, Mr Amano said.
Owned and managed by the IAEA, the LEU bank would help to assure a supply of LEU for nuclear power generation, the IAEA said.
According to the IAEA, Kazakhstan is the only member state to have formally expressed an interest in hosting the LEU bank.
The proposed bank would benefit from a pledge of 50 million US dollars (38 million euros) from the Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI) with financial backing from Warren Buffet.
The NTI, a Washington-based non-profit organisation, says 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 US dollars (USD) and 25 million euros (EUR) 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 (EUR 20 million paid out of EUR 25 million pledged; Kuwait: USD 10 million paid in full; Norway: USD 5 million paid in full; United Arab Emirates: USD 10 million pledged; United States: USD 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.
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