Iran’s nuclear material to be stored in Kazakh LEU bank

/By AzerNews/

By Aynur Karimova

The low-enriched uranium bank, which will be established in Kazakhstan, is considered as a potential site for the storage of Iran’s excess nuclear material.

This remark was made by Kazakhstan’s Foreign Minister Erlan Idrisov on August 27.

Earlier Timur Zhantikin, the deputy chairman of the Atomic Control Committee at Kazakhstan’s Energy Ministry said that the LEU bank will be able to accept the nuclear material of Iran in 2017.

Kazakhstan and the International Atomic Energy Agency signed an agreement to establish the LEU bank in the country on August 27.

The LEU bank will be based on Kazakhstan’s Ulba Metallurgical Plant. The UMP is a member of the Kazatomprom National Atomic Company and produces fuel pellets for nuclear power plants.

The bank hopes to store up to 90 metric tons of the low-enriched uranium for the production of gasified fuel elements to be used in nuclear power plants that do not pose any radiation threat. Any country seeking to develop nuclear energy will be able to request nuclear fuel from Kazakhstan.

Some $150 million was allocated by the Nuclear Threat Initiative non-profit organization ($50 million), the Norwegian government ($5 million), the U.S. ($49 million), the UAE ($10 million), the EU (up to 25 million euros), Kuwait ($10 million), as well as Kazakhstan ($400,000) for the establishment and operation of the LEU bank for at least 10 years.

The LEU can be used to make enough nuclear fuel to power a large city for three years. It will also provide Member States with additional confidence in their ability to obtain nuclear fuel in an assured and predictable manner.

The nuclear bank will guarantee countries access to the uranium they need for their civilian nuclear programs without having to develop enrichment processes themselves.

The bank achieves two worthwhile goals at the same time. It will encourage nuclear power, which will help drive the switch to low-carbon economic growth and it will also help prevent the spread of nuclear weapons-capable technologies and the risks that they bring to global security.