All news

Yet-to-be created low-enriched uranium bank in Kazakhstan to be IAEA-managed

The bank’s operation will be liable to the legal and regulatory requirements of the host country, but all management functions will be performed by the International Atomic Energy Agency

ASTANA, August 27. /TASS/. The yet-to-be created low-enriched uranium bank in Kazakhstan will be fully managed by the IAEA, Kazakhstan’s Foreign Ministry said in a news release.

"Kazakhstan has to its credit more than 60 years of confirmed experience of handling nuclear materials for civilian purposes and of their supplies. The bank’s operation will be liable to the legal and regulatory requirements of the host country, but all management functions will be performed by the International Atomic Energy Agency," the statement runs.

"The LEU Bank project was launched for letting countries using nuclear power for civilian purposes access low-enriched uranium reserves in situations where there is no opportunity of acquiring them on the commercial market. It was conceived for providing guarantees to the IAEA member-states they will have a reliable and predictable source of fuel supplies even if other supply mechanisms fail. The bank’s creation is an important step to support nuclear non-proliferation," Kazakhstan’s Foreign Ministry said.

Kazakhstan’s foreign minister told a news conference after the signing of the documents that the "LEU bank in Kazakhstan is one of the potential sites for transporting low-enriched uranium from Iran to our territories."