IAEA board agrees to set up nuclear fuel bank

WASHINGTON - Aiming to curb proliferation of nuclear material, the UN nuclear energy watchdog has decided to set up a $150-million uranium bank which would guarantee unrestricted supply of the fuel to be used for peaceful purposes.

Nations on the Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) voted 28-0 to approve the bank, with six abstentions and one country absent, the Washington Post reported.

The fuel bank will ensure uranium supply for power plants to countries that are in good standing with the IAEA. The new institution is meant to be a backup in case countries face a cutoff from commercial suppliers.

It will guarantee the sale of fuel for countries’ nuclear power plants, theoretically eliminating their need to develop it themselves. The same centrifuges used to prepare uranium for power plants can also be used to enrich it to higher, weapons-grade levels.

US President Barack Obama has touted the fuel bank, which will get $50 million from the US government.

“This is a breakthrough in global cooperation to enable peaceful uses of nuclear energy while reducing the risks of proliferation and catastrophic terrorism,” said former US senator Sam Nunn, co-chairman of the Nuclear Threat Initiative, a group that campaigned for the fuel bank.

A senior US official said the bank was not likely to prompt Iran to alter its nuclear programme, which is widely suspected of being aimed at developing weapons, a charge Tehran denies.

“But it does undercut their argument that they need to have an indigenous (uranium) enrichment programme because they can’t be confident they can rely on” outside suppliers of fuel, the official was quoted as saying.

The fuel bank project got going in 2006 after Nunn approached investor Warren Buffett with the idea. Buffett pledged $50 million, on the condition that governments kick in $100 million. That total was reached last year, with donations from the US, the European Union, Kuwait, Norway and the United Arab Emirates.

Under the 187-nation Non-Proliferation Treaty, countries are guaranteed the right to nuclear energy as long as they abstain from building atomic bombs. The five original nuclear-armed powers are supposed to gradually give up their nuclear weapons.

Many countries have been wary about giving up any rights to nuclear energy, including the ability to make their own fuel. They were assured the bank doesn’t force them to do so.

“Essentially what we’re saying to the world is, if you want to be in the peaceful use of nuclear power, you don’t have to have those enrichment facilities,” Buffett said.

Kazakhstan has offered to host the new bank, although no decision has been made.

Russia has recently set up a similar bank, which provides uranium to countries approved by the IAEA.