The U.N. nuclear watchdog has floated a plan for an international uranium fuel supply bank to stem the spread of nuclear weapons know-how, but the idea faces resistance among developing nations, according to Reuters. The International Atomic Energy Agency and industrialised nations see multilateral uranium-enrichment centres as the key to slaking rising demand for nuclear energy without developing nations building proliferation-prone plants on their own soil. An IAEA-supervised fuel repository would provide enriched uranium from industrialised nations' stocks if recipients meet qualifications like an impeccable non-proliferation record. U.S. President Barack Obama gave the concept a key lift in an April speech on his vision of nuclear disarmament when he said a fuel bank would give any country the benefits of peaceful nuclear power if they renounced nuclear weapons. But emerging nations such as South Africa and Egypt fear "multinationalising" control over the nuclear fuel cycle would curb their right to home-grown atomic energy for electricity and cast a cloud on any country that opts to go it alone. A proposal sent by IAEA Director-General Mohamed ElBaradei on Wednesday to its 35-nation governing board for consideration in June would set up a stockpile of low-enriched uranium in an IAEA-run supply centre in a country to be determined. Kazakhstan told the IAEA on Monday it would be willing to host a global uranium fuel repository. The draft plan, obtained by Reuters, said $150 million in donations pledged for the initiative could buy 60-80 tonnes of low-enriched uranium that would be offered to member states at market prices, with proceeds used to replenish the stock. Recipients would pledge to use the low-enriched uranium, or LEU only for civilian energy purposes, refrain from refining it further or re-exporting it without IAEA consent. Uranium enriched to high levels forms the fissile core of atom bombs. The IAEA proposal and a Russian offer to host an 120-tonne LEU reserve to supply the U.N. watchdog were at "an advanced stage of development", ElBaradei said.
