Russia forms world’s first nuclear fuel bank

Thursday, December 02, 2010

MOSCOW: Russia announced on Wednesday that it had created the world’s first international atomic fuel bank as part of a global effort to curb the spread of nuclear arms. The Rosatom state atomic energy corporation said the Siberian fuel reserve — which will operate under the auspices of the United Nations’ International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) nuclear watchdog — will have enough material to refuel two civilian nuclear power plants. The Angarsk facility now stores 120 tonnes of low-enriched uranium (LEU) that has been enriched to between two and 4.95 per cent. Rosatom said one-third of the fuel was processed to the higher level. The fuel is considered safe because the weapons-grade uranium desired by nations seeking to build nuclear weapons must be enriched to at least 90 per cent. The IAEA approved the Russian reserve’s creation at a historic two-day meeting in November. It is meant to ensure stable fuel supplies to partner nations in case of disruptions of the international uranium enrichment services market. The type of fuel stored in Angarsk is used by most of today’s civilian nuclear power plants. The bank’s creation was first proposed in September 2007 by Russia amid Moscow fears that nuclear fuel supply cut-offs could used by developed nations for political purposes.