Russia to neutralize energy conflicts by uranium

The stock of uranium worth $300 million will be set up for money of Russia and kept in the International Center for Uranium Enrichment in Angarsk. By decision of IAEA, the enriched uranium will be provided to the states, to which the fuel has been denied by suppliers. In response to initiative of IAEA Director General Mohamed ElBaradei, Kirienko said, Russia is ready to host an International Bank of Nuclear Material and do it for its own account. The bank of fuel will store low-enriched uranium that will suffice to make fuel rod arrays for two loadings of a nuclear plant’s reactor.

Today’s cost of loading is roughly $150 million. The reserved uranium that hasn’t been transformed into the fuel rod arrays would cost roughly $300 million to Russia. “We proceed from the fact that nuclear material from the guaranteed stock will be provided by decision of IAEA when both enricher and market have rejected to supply uranium for political reasons to a state that develops civil atomic power engineering and meets nonproliferation commitments,” Kirienko explained.

Russia’s bank will be an affiliate of the IAEA bank of nuclear fuel and enable to master in practice “new procedures of the guaranteed supplies concept. It will be the first step en route to creating global infrastructure of atomic power engineering of the future,” Kirienko concluded. (kommersant.com)