Watchdog to Debate Fuel Bank for Nuclear Energy

Published December 24, 2015

For nations pursuing nuclear power, getting a uranium fix might soon be as easy as taking a trip to the bank -- so to speak.

Under a plan that the U.N. International Atomic Energy Agency is expected to begin debating next week, countries looking for nuclear fuel would be able to purchase it from an international low-enriched uranium stockpile, or "fuel bank," that would be administered by the IAEA.

The idea could be gaining steam, as President Obama promotes it and nations pledge millions of dollars to the creation of such a reserve.

The purpose of the plan, though, is not to open a Pandora's box of nuclear technology but rather to prevent the spread and pursuit of nuclear weapons.

The goal of the fuel bank would be to provide a last-resort source of fuel, for peaceful purposes, to countries that don't have the facilities to enrich uranium -- so that those countries would no longer have any need to build their own facilities, which could potentially be used for non-peaceful purposes.

Obama touted the idea in his April speech in Prague on nuclear non-proliferation. He said the global community should develop an "international fuel bank so that countries can access peaceful power without increasing the risks of proliferation."

The fuel bank could also be used to challenge the rogue Iranian regime on its claims that it is only interested in nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.

"If you have a fast and relatively cheap source for nuclear fuel that is guaranteed, so to speak, why pursue the other option?" said Daryl Kimball, executive director of the Arms Control Association, a Washington think tank. He said the fuel bank could be employed as a "rhetorical tool" with Iran -- in other words, if Iran refused to participate, that could be interpreted as a sign that it wants to develop a nuclear weapon.

The fuel bank idea, which has been around for years, is expected to be taken up at the IAEA Board of Governors meeting next week in Vienna. Interest builds as countries, along with the Washington-based Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI), have put up $150 million in pledges to jump-start the stockpile.

NTI adviser Warren Buffett initially pledged $50 million, and several governments pledged more than $100 million in matching contributions -- the United States put in $50 million. (The NTI-backed plan is just one of several being floated.)

A source with the NTI said the IAEA could reach a decision on a fuel bank program as early as September.

The fuel would be sold at market prices, but Kimball said it could not put a wholesale end to the kind of nuclear technology development the Obama administration is concerned about. He said some states that already have fuel-making facilities will want to continue it for commercial purposes. Others would want to keep nuclear weapon development options open.

"This has its benefits but it also has its limitations," Kimball said. "It's only going to make a difference on the margins."

Obama has long supported the idea of a global fuel bank. He introduced a bill in the Senate in late 2007, before his presidential campaign kicked into high gear, that called for the creation of such a reserve. The reserve, the bill said, would "help guarantee the availability of fuel for commercial nuclear reactors and dissuade countries from building their own uranium enrichment capability."

In an interview last year with Arms Control Today, a publication put out by the Arms Control Association, Obama said an international fuel bank would help "meet growing demands for nuclear power without contributing to the proliferation of nuclear materials and fuel-production facilities."

He said that providing "reasonably priced fuel will encourage developing countries that they do not need sensitive nuclear fuel-cycle facilities to grow their economies, while ratcheting up pressure on any states seeking to disguise their nuclear weapons ambitions."

FOXNews.com's Judson Berger contributed to this report.

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