IAEA on Low Enriched Uranium Bank creation in Kazakhstan
“Construction of the LEU Storage Facility is proceeding on schedule and Kazakhstan expects to have the facility built, and ready to receive LEU, by September this year,” he said.
He noted that there is increasing interest in the peaceful uses of nuclear technology and the need for Agency nuclear verification activities is growing steadily.
The IAEA LEU Bank will be a physical reserve of up to 90 tons of LEU, sufficient to run a 1,000 MWe light-water reactor. Such a reactor can power a large city for three years. The IAEA LEU Bank will be located at the Ulba Metallurgical Plant in Oskemen in north-eastern Kazakhstan. It will act as a supplier of LEU for the IAEA Member States in case they cannot obtain it on the global commercial market or otherwise.
