Ensuring reliable nuclear fuel supplies

ALMOST five years of hard work and planning came to fruition last week when the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and Kazakhstan signed an agreement to locate the world's first bank of low-enriched uranium (LEU) in the Central Asian republic to ensure fuel supplies for power stations and prevent nuclear proliferation.

The storage facility is scheduled to become fully operational in 2017, and is meant to provide IAEA member states with confidence in a steady and predictable supply of fuel even if other routes are disrupted.

"In many ways, it is fitting that the IAEA LEU Bank should find its home here. Kazakhstan has an exemplary record of contribution to non-proliferation," said IAEA director-general Yukiya Amano.