Last month, I proposed a key measure to strengthen non-proliferation to the IAEA’s board of governors — establishing an IAEA bank of low-enriched uranium (LEU) to guarantee supplies to countries that need nuclear fuel for their power reactors. LEU cannot be used to make weapons. Some such mechanism will be essential in the coming decades as more and more countries introduce nuclear energy.
My proposal is to create a physical stockpile of LEU at the disposal of the IAEA as a last-resort reserve for countries with nuclear power programs that face a supply disruption for non-commercial reasons. This would give countries confidence that they can count on reliable supplies of fuel to run their nuclear power plants, and therefore do not need to develop their own uranium-enrichment or plutonium-reprocessing capability.
This could help to avoid a repeat of Iran’s experiences after its 1979 revolution, when contracts for fuel and technology for its planned nuclear power program were not honored. Thirty years later, some of the consequences are still being felt.
The LEU would be available to countries in need on the basis of non-political and non-discriminatory criteria. It would be accessible at market prices to all states in compliance with their nuclear safeguards obligations. No state would be required to give up the right to develop its own fuel cycle.
The money needed to launch an LEU bank is in place, thanks primarily to a non-governmental organization — the Nuclear Threat Initiative — and initial funding from Warren Buffett. But this can only be a first step. It should be followed by an agreement that all new enrichment and reprocessing activities will be placed exclusively under multinational control, and that all existing such facilities will be converted from national to multinational control.
This is a bold idea, but bold ideas are needed now more than ever. The opportunity to put the nuclear fuel cycle under multinational control was missed 60 years ago because of the Cold War. The spread of nuclear technology and the growing risk of nuclear terrorism make it imperative that we get it right this time.
Mohamed ElBaradei is director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency.
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