Kazakhstan, IAEA sign fuel bank deal

    The government of Kazakhstan and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) have signed today an agreement to set up a Low-Enriched Uranium (LEU) Bank deal.
    Director General of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Yukiya Amano is now in Astana.
    The deal was signed Thursday morning by Foreign Minister Yerlan Idrissov and IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano in Astana.
    According to the agreement, the bank will host a reserve of LEU to ensure the supply of low-enriched uranium for IAEA member states if they cannot obtain LEU on the global commercial market, through state-to-state arrangements, or through any other means.
    The IAEA Board of Governors authorized the establishment and operation of the IAEA LEU Bank on December 3, 2010.
    On 29 July 2011, Kazakhstan offered to host the IAEA LEU Bank in response to the agency’s request for Expressions of Interest.
    Since 2011, Kazakhstan and the IAEA have been working on the technical details for the establishment of the IAEA LEU Bank and have negotiated the Host State Agreement governing the establishment and hosting of the Bank.
    The IAEA LEU Bank will be owned and controlled by the IAEA but operated by Kazakhstan. Safety and security of the IAEA LEU Bank will be governed by Kazakhstan’s legal and regulatory requirements, and will meet the applicable provisions of the IAEA’s safety standards and security guidance documents. The LEU will also be subject to IAEA safeguards.
    The IAEA LEU Bank will be a physical reserve of up to 90 metric tons of LEU, sufficient to run a 1,000 MWe light-water reactor. Such a reactor can power a large city for three years.
    The IAEA LEU Bank will be located at the Ulba Metallurgical Plant in Ust-Kamenogorsk in northeastern Kazakhstan.
    The Ulba plant has been handling and storing nuclear material, including LEU, safely and securely for more than 60 years.
    The IAEA LEU Bank is fully funded by voluntary contributions, and has no impact on the IAEA’s Regular Budget or other activities. Donors have provided approximately US$150 million to establish and operate the IAEA LEU Bank for at least 10 years, according to Akipress.