IAEA approves international nuclear fuel reserve

Nov 27, 2009, 13:28 GMT

Vienna - International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) member states on Friday approved the creation of an international reserve stock of nuclear fuel aimed at preventing the spread of technology that could be used to make nuclear weapons.

The IAEA's governing board authorized the fuel bank to be set up in Russia, but several key countries that could profit from this mechanism to assure the supply of nuclear material voted against it.

The proposal, which was first put forward by outgoing IAEA Director General Mohamed ElBaradei in 2003, had long been blocked by developing countries who feared it was an attempt to thwart their access to peaceful nuclear technology.

The fuel bank is essentially an insurance mechanism: If a supplier country stops shipments for political reasons, the recipient country has the right to ask for nuclear fuel from the bank.

The decision to draw from the bank would be taken by the IAEA's director general, rather than by its board, which is a political body.

According to IAEA officials, Iran's effort to build an uranium enrichment programme was the starting point for ElBaradei's initiative.

While Tehran argues it needs this technology to fuel power reactors, Western countries fear that the know-how could also be used to make nuclear weapons.

The countries that objected to the fuel bank include three that are seriously considering starting nuclear power programmes - Egypt, Malaysia and Venezuela.

South Africa and Pakistan also voted against the fuel bank. Nationals in these countries and in Malaysia have smuggled nuclear enrichment technology to Iran, as well as to Libya, which was planning to build a now-defunct nuclear weapons programme.