Kazakhstan’s nuclear fuel bank or nuclear graveyard?

Nuclear fuel bank or nuclear graveyard? Asia Times, 5 Sept 12, By Zhulduz Baizakova Kazakhstan plans to build an international nuclear fuel bank in Ust-Kamenogorsk (Oskemen), in the country’s east, at the site of Ulba Metallurgic Plant, part of the giant national company Kazatomprom, which produces fuel tablets for nuclear power plants.

While the authorities are keen on the plan, some citizens are seriously questioning it – questions that are likely to remain largely unanswered.

The nuclear fuel bank will store low-enriched uranium for the fuel assemblies of nuclear power plants under the auspices of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). LEU is a special fissionable material containing a concentration of uranium-235 of less than 20%.

In March 2010, Russia introduced the first LEU reserve (to store 120 tonnes) for the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) at the International Uranium Enrichment Center in Angarsk, southeastern Siberia. The terms and conditions were the same as being currently negotiated with Kazakhstan: The host country provides the storage facility and funds the maintenance, physical security and safeguards.

Kazakhstan offered to store LEU in 2009-2010 and met the three main criteria: The country is politically neutral; it abides by the nuclear non-proliferation regime; and it is able to supply LEU to any country that meets the non-proliferation requirements. The LEU would remain legally under the control of the IAEA and be supplied at free-market prices. ……

this was a political project for Kazakhstan aimed at strengthening the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons and that the fuel would be officially kept under IAEA control. ….

…..

the general population remains confused as to what purpose the fuel bank might serve in Kazakhstan, as many understand that there is little if any economic benefit to be gained.
Some locals demand that before making the crucial decision on physically building the facilities for the bank, the population should be consulted and everything explained. Some are worried that there is very little economic benefit to be realized from hosting the bank. Others cannot help suspecting that under the guise of low-enriched uranium, the plant will host real nuclear waste and damage the fragile environment of East Kazakhstan province even further. …
Mielz Eleusizov, leader of the Tabigat Ecological Union, suspects that it will turn out to be a disguised storage facility for spent nuclear fuel. ….

the major obstacle is constant reference to the tragic past of the former Soviet republic being used as a nuclear test site and the environmental and health implications that entailed….. http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Central_Asia/NI07Ag01.html

September 6, 2012 - Posted by Christina Macpherson | Kazakhstan, Uranium, wastes

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