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Big names and bucks back nuclear ‘bank’

Big names and bucks back nuclear ‘bank’ Mother Nature Network 19 May 09 Russia and the U.S. come together to support an international stockpile of enriched uranium for energy purposes. By Charles J. Hanley, Associated Press  May 19 2009 

Buffett’s bankroll, Obama’s clout and the partnership of a savvy ex-Soviet strongman may turn the steppes of central Asia into a nuclear mecca, a go-to place for “safe” uranium fuel in an increasingly nervous atomic age.

 

The $150 million idea, with seed money from U.S. billionaire Warren Buffett, must still navigate the tricky maze of global nuclear politics, along with a parallel Russian plan………………………………….That’s the fear: The centrifuges that enrich uranium with its fissionable isotope U-235, to produce power-plant fuel, can be left spinning to enrich it much more, producing fissile, highly enriched uranium for nuclear bombs…………………………………….”The real risk is that highly enriched uranium could be acquired by, say, terrorist groups,” Russian government adviser Alexander Konovalov told a conference in Rome on nuclear dangers. “All they need is 50 kilograms (110 pounds) of enriched uranium. All the rest (to make a bomb) can be found on the Internet.”………………………….”If a nuclear fuel bank for nuclear energy was created, then Kazakhstan would consider hosting it,” Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev announced to reporters……………………..Most intriguing, perhaps, was the fact that Nazarbayev’s announcement came with Iran’s visiting president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, standing at his side. The Iranian called the fuel bank “a very good proposal.” In fact, Tehran has suggested that an international consortium might also enrich uranium on Iranian soil.

Big names and bucks back nuclear ‘bank’ | MNN – Mother Nature Network

May 22, 2009 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | Uncategorized