The International Atomic Energy Agency, the U.N. global nuclear watchdog, opened a uranium bank in Kazakhstan on Tuesday, a $150-million facility designed to discourage new nations from enriching the nuclear fuel.
The Low Enriched Uranium (LEU) Bank in the city of Oskemen, in eastern Kazakhstan, will store up to 90 tonnes of the fuel, enough to power a large city for three years, and sell it to IAEA members if they are unable to procure it elsewhere.
“The LEU Bank will serve as a last-resort mechanism to provide confidence to countries that they will be able to obtain LEU for the manufacture of fuel for nuclear power plants in the event of an unforeseen, non-commercial disruption to their supplies,” IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano said in a statement on Monday.
Countries such as Iran have said they need enrichment facilities to ensure a steady supply of fuel for nuclear power plants, and the idea behind the bank is to make such supply available without domestic enrichment.
Russia has operated a similar bank since 2010 but the one in Kazakhstan will be the first one fully owned and operated by the global nuclear watchdog.
“By hosting the IAEA LEU bank, Kazakhstan has made another contribution to strengthening the global non-proliferation regime,” Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev said as he handed Amano a symbolical key to the facility at a ceremony in the Kazakh capital, Astana.
“I am confident that the IAEA LEU Bank will make a valuable contribution to international efforts to ensure the availability of fuel for nuclear power plants,” Amano said.
The IAEA said in a statement it would begin buying uranium soon, with the aim to ship it to the bank next year. The project was funded by donors, including the United States, the European Union, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Norway and the Nuclear Threat Initiative.
The International Atomic Energy Agency's (IAEA) uranium bank, which was opened earlier on Tuesday in eastern Kazakhstan, may start receiving low-enriched uranium from other countries in early 2018, Kazakh Energy Minister Kanat Bozumbayev said.
"The first deliveries should take place in early 2018," Bozumbayev told reporters.
Earlier in the day, IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano said that the first tenders to choose a supplier of low-enriched uranium for the bank would be held in 2017.
In August 2016, Kazakstan and the IAEA signed an agreement on setting up the bank to host reserves of low-enriched uranium, the main component for nuclear fuel. The IAEA members will be able to use the bank as their last resort if uranium cannot be obtained elsewhere.
In June 2015, Russia and the IAEA signed an agreement on the transportation of the low-enriched uranium to the bank via Russian territory.
Earlier on Tuesday, Amano said that all countries, including Russia, would be able to participate in these tenders.
Several countries and the Nuclear Threat Initiative nonprofit organization allocated $150 million to build a bank that can store up to 90 metric tons of the radioactive substances at the Ulba Metallurgical Plant in the Kazakh city of Ust-Kamenogorsk.
Even the most advanced digital economy needs energy, President Nursultan Nazarbayev said at the IAEA Low Enriched Uranium Bank opening ceremony, Kazinform correspondent reports.
"The global economic life is dramatically changing, but even the most advanced digital economy needs energy, much energy. In this respect, it is time to remember that the energy concentration of uranium is millions of times higher than all conventional carriers. Thus, the nuclear power is both alternative and more effective than others," Nursultan Nazarbayev said.
The Head of State noted that construction of over 50 nuclear power plants throughout the world is underway now, and it is planned to build about 500 plants by 2030.
"In the future, the nuclear energy modernization is expected to be huge. Therefore, choosing Kazakhstan to place the low enriched uranium bank is a fact of the quality of our nuclear industry. Let me remind you that Kazakhstan has up to 30 percent of the world uranium reserves according to various estimates. For today, we are the largest producer of uranium and ready to play an essential role in the global energy sector. In addition, Kazakhstan is keeping with the global green trend, that is why the EXPO 2017 international exhibition dedicated to the future energy is held in Astana," Nursultan Nazarbayev added.
Reported by Reuters, Sputniknews, Kazinform.
