Nuclear mattersRussia to build IAEA-supervised nuclear fuel bank
The nuclear fueled bank would allow countries, including Iran, to develop civilian nuclear power without having to enrich their own uranium, thus allaying fears over nuclear weapons proliferation
The head of the Russian state nuclear corporation Rosatom backed on Monday the International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA) initiative to set up a nuclear fuel bank under the UN nuclear watchdog’s supervision. “We are ready to produce at our expense enough low-enriched uranium to fill two 1,000 MW reactors and pass it to the international uranium enrichment center under International Atomic Energy Agency guarantees. We are ready to start implementing this proposal this year,” Sergei Kiriyenko said. He said Russia expected an international uranium enrichment facility in East Siberia would receive before the end of the year all the necessary licenses to go into operation.
GlobalSecurity reports that plans for a nuclear center in Angarsk, 5,100 km (3,170 miles) from Moscow, were proposed by Russia in early 2007 as a means of allowing countries, including Iran, to develop civilian nuclear power without having to enrich their own uranium, to allay fears over nuclear weapons proliferation. The planned netwrok of uranium enrichment centers, which would also be responsible for the disposal of nuclear waste, is to work under the supervision of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
Russia has almost finished building a nuclear power plant at Bushehr in Iran, which is accused by Western powers of developing nuclear weapons technology under the guise of a civilian program. Tehran, which denies the allegations, has so far shown little interest in Angarsk. The country is under three rounds of UN sanctions for its refusal to halt uranium enrichment activities.
A fuel reserve would provide a backup supply for nuclear power plants throughout the world on a non-discriminatory, non-political basis, reducing the need for countries to develop their own uranium enrichment technologies at a time when concerns about nuclear proliferation are growing. Most government and industry experts agree that the commercial fuel market functions well in meeting current demand. Since this would be a backup or reserve mechanism, it would be designed inherently in a way not to disrupt the existing commercial market in nuclear fuels.
