IAEA Signs Agreement With Kazakhstan to Set up Uranium Fuel Bank

World Nuclear News reported that the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and Kazakhstan have signed an agreement to set up a low-enriched uranium fuel ‘bank’ in Oskemen, Kazakhstan.
As quoted in the market news:

The IAEA LEU Bank, operated by Kazakhstan, will be a physical reserve of LEU available for eligible IAEA Member States. Expected to start operations in 2017, it will host a reserve of LEU – the basic ingredient of nuclear fuel – and act as a supplier of last resort for the Vienna-based agency’s Member States in case they cannot obtain LEU on the global commercial market or otherwise.
The facility is also seen as an important part of international efforts to prevent nuclear non-proliferation – as a way to dissuade countries from building enrichment facilities that might be misused to purify uranium to weapons-grade levels.
The agreement was signed in Astana by IAEA director general Yukiya Amano and Kazakhstan’s foreign minister Erlan Idrissov. The Kazakh government said today that the signing ceremony was attended by representatives of UN Security Council members, including China, France, Russia, the UK and the USA, as well as representatives of donor countries for the project – the European Union (EU), Kuwait, Norway and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

Click here to read the full World Nuclear News report.