8 Apr (NucNet): Kazakhstan’s president Nursultan Nazarbayev has offered to build a nuclear fuel bank that would hold a reserve of low-enriched uranium (LEU) for nuclear fuel.
The Nuclear Society of Kazakhstan told NucNet he made the announcement in a joint press conference on 7 April 2009 with Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who has been visiting Kazakhstan.
“Regarding the creation of a nuclear fuel bank for nuclear energy, Kazakhstan could consider the possibility of hosting it on its territory, as a country which signed the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty and voluntarily refused to have nuclear weapons,” Mr Nazarbayev said.
Mr Ahmadinejad said after the press conference that he supported Kazakhstan’s proposal, but did not say whether Iran would use such a fuel bank.
Kazakhstan’s fuel bank could be based on a Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI) plan that is being supported by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
The NTI fuel bank initiative is one among several multilateral approaches under consideration, including one by the Russian Federation to set up an LEU reserve under IAEA auspices in Russia.
The plan is to establish a reserve of LEU for use as fuel in nuclear power reactors to generate electricity. 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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