Russia, UN nuclear agency sign deal on world’s 1st nuclear fuel reserve

Russia, UN nuclear agency sign fuel bank deal

VIENNA — Russia and the International Atomic Energy Agency set up the world’s first nuclear fuel bank on Monday, in a plan meant to bridge shortages caused by snags in deliveries of low enriched uranium to power reactors.

Once operational, the fuel reserve is meant to encourage countries looking to develop peaceful nuclear programs to depend on outside sources instead of developing uranium enrichment programs. At the same time, it is envisioned only as a stopgap measure in case deliveries that have been contracted for a withheld or delayed, primarily because of political disputes.

Enrichment can produce both fuel and fissile nuclear warhead material. Fears that Iran might be using its enrichment program as a cover to build weapons gave impetus to the idea, signed into life by Russian atomic chief Sergey Kirienko and IAEA head Yukiya Amano.

“The supply from the international uranium enrichment center should be assured, guaranteed and should have no political limitations,” Kirienko told reporters after the signing.

He said 30 percent of the envisioned stockpile of 120 tons of low-enriched uranium — equivalent to the load of a 1,000-megawatt reactor — should be ready by year’s end at the site in Siberia.