The goal of an international nuclear fuel bank to ensure a supply of uranium fuel to developing countries met an important financial benchmark to move the program forward. 

The fuel bank proposal will go to the Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) for final approval.

The low-enriched uranium fuel stockpile will be overseen by the IAEA.  Its goal would be to provide a reliable source of enriched uranium to countries that pursue domestic nuclear programs and purchase enriched uranium from other states.

The program aims to ensure the flow of enriched uranium under IAEA auspices in the event of disruptions from other suppliers, making the international uranium marketplace more appealing than domestic enrichment and thus acting as a bar to proliferation opportunities.

Funding was originally orchestrated by the Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI), a charitable organization working to reduce threats from weapons of mass destruction.  The initial $50 million pledge from NTI advisor Warren Buffett to the fuel bank in 2006 was contingent on the international community pledging an additional aggregated amount of $100 million. 

Kuwait recently joined the United States, the European Union, the United Arab Emirates and Norway to bring the total to approximately $157 million.  In all, 31 nations support the fuel bank.

NTI co-chair and former U.S. Senator Sam Nunn praised IAEA director-general Mohamed ElBaradei for his leadership on the effort, and welcomed his determination to work with IAEA member states to define the details of the fuel bank’s operation.

During his visit in April to the Czech Republic, President Barack Obama expressed support for the fuel bank initiative.

The NTI fuel bank initiative is one among several multilateral approaches under consideration, including one by the Russian Federation to set up a reserve under IAEA auspices in Russia.

The proposals range from providing backup assurances of fuel supply to setting up new international uranium enrichment centers or converting existing enrichment facilities from national to multinational operations.

Based on these various approaches, the IAEA is to present its proposed framework for a fuel reserve to the Board of Governors for review and approval by September.

The IAEA has the legal authority to provide fuel cycle-related services to its member nations and has been assisting them for many years.

For more on nuclear nonproliferation see NEI's fact sheet.

Join the conversation at NEI’s blog: http://neinuclearnotes.blogspot.com/.

—Nuclear Energy Insight, May 2009