Multi-lateralization of the nuclear fuel cycle: Creation of an International Nuclear Fuel Bank

Multi-lateralization of the nuclear fuel cycle: Creation of an International Nuclear Fuel BankOVERVIEW:

The multi- or internationalization of the nuclear fuel cycle was heavily discussed in the late 1970s and early 1980s, especially with regard to the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons. It was identified that given the appropriate administrative authority, both multi-nationalization and internationalization have a potential to significantly increase the proliferation resistance of the nuclear fuel cycle. However, implementing such models also would have disadvantages, especially in the areas of political independence, transfer of technologies, and planning security of national nuclear programs.

Enriched uranium provides the fuel for many of the world’s nuclear power reactors, and the enrichment process is a vital process in a multi-step nuclear fuel cycle. The enrichment of uranium, while a necessary step in the creation of the fuel that power many of the world's civilian nuclear reactors, can also be employed for use in nuclear weapons. By providing a secure and reliable supply of the fuel needed for nuclear power generation, a nuclear fuel bank would limit the dissemination of enrichment technologies.


IN September 2006, the Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI) pledged $50 million to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to help create a low-enriched uranium stockpile to support nations that make the sovereign choice not to build indigenous nuclear fuel cycle capabilities.
NTI´s contribution was contingent on two conditions:
1) That the IAEA takes the necessary actions to approve establishment of this reserve; and
2) That one or more member states contribute an additional $100 million in funding or an equivalent value of low enriched uranium to jump-start the reserve.
Every other element of the arrangement - its structure, its location, the conditions for access - would be up to the IAEA and its member states to decide. Warren Buffett, one of NTI´s key advisors, is financially backing and enabling this NTI commitment.

"This pledge is an investment in a safer world," Buffett said. "The concept of a backup fuel reserve has been discussed for many years. Its creation is inherently a governmental responsibility, but I hope that this pledge of funds will support governments in taking action to get this concept off the ground."

"I have long been advocating the establishment of assurance of supply mechanisms in view of increasing demand for nuclear power and to strengthen non-proliferation," said IAEA Director General Dr. Mohamed ElBaradei. "At the core of such mechanisms will be a fuel bank of last resort, under IAEA auspices. Such a bank would operate on the basis of apolitical and non-discriminatory non-proliferation criteria, and I welcome the recent action by the US Congress as a positive step in this regard. In addition to the $50 million already pledged by the Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI), it brings such a fuel bank closer to realization. I also have welcomed the Russian proposal for a fuel bank under IAEA control and a German initiative calling for the creation of an international enrichment centre, open to participation by all interested States."


Nunn, Co-Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Nuclear Threat Initiative, said, "We envision that this stockpile will be available as a last-resort fuel reserve for nations that have made the sovereign choice to develop their nuclear energy based on foreign sources of fuel supply services—and therefore have no indigenous enrichment facilities. The goal of this proposed initiative is to help make fuel supplies from the international market more secure by offering customer states, that are in full compliance with their non-proliferation obligations, reliable access to a nuclear fuel reserve under impartial IAEA control should their supply arrangements be disrupted. In so doing, we hope to make a state’s voluntary choice to rely on this market more secure."

Nunn expressed concern that "cooperation in nuclear security is being sorely tested today by mounting tensions over the three areas of consensus and commitment that created the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and have held it together for nearly 40 years." Those three areas are:

The commitment of nuclear weapons states to make progress toward nuclear disarmament.
The commitment of non-nuclear weapons states to forego nuclear weapons.
The commitment of all nations to ensure NPT compliant member states access to nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.

In addition to the NTI plan, several other proposals for the creation of a reliable fuel supply have been submitted to the IAEA and are currently under consideration.

A German plan calls for multilateral uranium enrichment under the auspices of the IAEA and calls for a third-party State to provide an extraterritorial area for a uranium enrichment plant. The plant would be financed by countries who would act as buyers of the plant’s nuclear fuel.

A Russian proposal seeks the establishment of a joint enrichment facility at the country's pre-existing Angarsk Electrolysis Chemical Complex, which is already a manufacturer of LEU. An IAEA controlled LEU reserve would be located at Angarsk.

Both Russia and the US have announced their willingness to make nuclear material available for a fuel bank in the past. An IAEA-administered fuel bank was a key proposal made by an IAEA Expert Group in 2005, tasked with finding options both to improve controls over fuel enrichment and reprocessing, while ensuring access to nuclear fuel for electricity generation.

WHY ACTION IS NEEDED NOW:

Civilian nuclear power is expanding to meet growing demand for electricity as existing supplies of electric power are threatened by soaring prices for natural gas and oil, concerns about air pollution, and the challenge of lowering greenhouse gas emissions. Nearly 30 countries around the world utilize nuclear power; while some 10 countries have mastered the technical challenge of enriching uranium for nuclear fuel. Three additional countries have recently announced plans to consider uranium enrichment in the future. There are 27 new nuclear plants under construction, most in the Far East (principally in China and India). Moreover, many operating power plants are getting old.

In countries like Great Britain and France some older nuclear plants are due to be replaced, and France, where over 70 percent of the power is nuclear, is ready to build new plants. Worldwide, nuclear provides about 16 percent of electric power. Much of that technology is "dual use:" centrifuges used to enrich power reactor fuel can also be spun longer to make weapon-grade nuclear material (high-enriched uranium).

Despite the many layers of complexity, "this is an either/or situation," Tariq Rauf of IAEA, scientific secretary for the special event, said. "If we don’t make it work, then we must prepare to live in a world where dozens of countries have the capability and key ingredients to make nuclear weapons."

As an increasing number of nations plan for the development of civilian nuclear energy, concern has grown over the potential for diversion of nuclear material and technology from peaceful to military use.
The establishment of a nuclear fuel supply system has been considered as a means of not only minimizing this risk, but also in assisting nations in their peaceful development of nuclear power. Providing a reliable fuel supply to nations with a burgeoning nuclear power programme eases the economic cost and nuclear weapons-related risks intrinsic with building enrichment capabilities.

ABOUT THE NTI

Composition
NTI is a charitable organization dedicated to reducing the threats from nuclear, biological and chemical weapons. The Initiative is governed by an international board of directors with members from China, France, India, Japan, Jordan, Pakistan, Russia, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the United States. It is a place where leaders with different perspectives and experience come together to find common ground and act on a common vision of global security.

Goal
NTI´s goal is to reduce toward zero the chance that any nuclear, biological, or chemical weapon will ever be used anywhere, either by intent or accident.

Work
NTI has been a strong supporter of the work and mission of the IAEA. In September 2001, NTI made an initial contribution to help launch the Agency’s Nuclear Security Fund. Since that time, NTI has worked with the IAEA to support several other critical projects in assisting member states secure nuclear materials and in building the Agency’s institutional capacity to continue and accelerate this work into the future.

Reactions to the nuclear fuel bank proposed by the NTI:

USA
The IAEA has recognized a recent $50 million funding allocation by the US Congress for purposes of a nuclear fuel reserve under the auspices of the Agency. US President George Bush signed the funding allocation into law on 26 December 2007.
Iran
In early 2008 Iranian presidential advisor Mojtaba Samareh Hashemi said Iran could join a proposed international bank for enriched uranium that would provide countries with safe fuel for nuclear power stations - but only as a supplier.
"Having this nuclear fuel cycle is part of our right, there is no reason -- when we can produce something -- to go get it from other people," he said.

Norway
The Government of Norway has pledged financial and political support for an IAEA-administered international uranium fuel bank initiative. The $5 million Norwegian donation is in support of an initial $50 million contribution made by NTI advisor Warren Buffet and a US funding allocation of $50 million to establish an IAEA reserve of low-enriched uranium for use as fuel in power reactors to generate electricity.

UAE
The United Arab Emirates has pledged $10 million towards a fuel bank proposal originally launched by the Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI) in 2006. The UAE commitment was presented to IAEA Director General Mohamed ElBaradei on 1 August by Mr. Hamad Al Kaabi, UAE Special Representative for International Nuclear Cooperation. "The Government of the United Arab Emirates would like to express its political and financial support for the proposed IAEA-administered international low-enriched uranium fuel bank as proposed by the Nuclear Threat Initiative," wrote UAE Foreign Minister Abdullah Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, in a letter addressed to Dr. ElBaradei.

India
India has proved willing to provide a site for the proposed nuclear fuel bank.

EU
The European Union backs plans to create a nuclear fuel bank before 2010 which would ensure supplies and cut the need for nations to enrich uranium."We want the bank to be established very soon. In any case before the next NPT (Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty) review conference in spring 2010," said Javier Solana, EU foreign policy chief. IAEA head Mohamed ElBaradei welcomed the EU's offer. "The EU pledge, along with those by Norway, the UAE and the USA shows growing momentum for a new more equitable framework for nuclear energy,” he said.

RECAP

The concept of a multilateral LEU supply bank is not a new one, and has in fact been discussed in past decades. Assurances of supply of nuclear fuel, including nuclear fuel reserves (or banks), could provide States confidence in obtaining nuclear fuel for electricity generation and protect against disruption of supply for political reasons. The risk of such disruptions could possibly dissuade countries from initiating or expanding nuclear power programs or create vulnerabilities in the security of fuel supply that might in turn drive States to invest in national uranium enrichment capabilities with possible additional proliferation risks. Thus, multilateral approaches to the nuclear fuel cycle, in general, have the potential to facilitate peaceful use of nuclear energy while providing the international community with additional assurance that the sensitive parts of the nuclear fuel cycle are less vulnerable to misuse for non-peaceful purposes.

QUESTIONS TO CONSIDER:

The support for the multi lateralization of the nuclear fuel cycle has grown steadily over the years. As the delegates of the IAEA, it is your role to assess the benefits and shortcomings of such a change, keeping in mind the immediate and long term objectives of your country's energy policy.

Delegates, you may take into account the following while doing your research.

• Does your country use nuclear energy for civilian purposes?
• Does your country possess the capability to produce Low Enriched Uranium for civilian reactors?
• Would multi lateralization of the nuclear fuel cycle benefit your economy and help meet the energy requirements of your nation?
• Has your country, in the past been party to multilateral agreements involving nuclear fuel or technology?
• Would multi lateralization of the nuclear fuel cycle diminish the dependence on fossil fuels and other alternative sources of energy and would such a shift be desirable?
• What security concerns might arise as the result of the establishment of an international nuclear facility?
• Does your country have proposals that would ensure that the LEU produced or generated at an international nuclear facility would be disbursed fairly and without any bias?
• Would multi lateralization of the nuclear fuel cycle promote the principles enshrined in the NPT?
• How likely are any of the fuel assurances programs through the International Nuclear Fuel Bank to have the desired effect, and what must be done to make them both feasible and effective?
• Will the multi lateralization of the nuclear fuel cycle actually result in the supplier countries having undue influence over the generation of nuclear power?

SOURCES:

IAEA homepage:
www.iaea.org

In focus: revisiting the nuclear fuel cycle:
http://www.iaea.org/NewsCenter/Focus/FuelCycle/index.shtml

The Nuclear Threat Initiative:
http://www.nti.org/index.php

The Nuclear fuel cycle:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/spl/hi/sci_nat/05/nuclear_fuel/html/enrichment.stm

IAEA, developments in 2008:
http://www.iaea.org/NewsCenter/News/2008/year_in_review.html

Russian Proposal for an international Uranium Enrichment centre:
http://www.iaea.org/Publications/Documents/Infcircs/2007/infcirc708.pdf

Germany's proposed multilateral enrichment sanctuary project:
http://www.iaea.org/Publications/Documents/Infcircs/2007/infcirc704.pdf

Multi lateralization of the nuclear fuel cycle:
http://www.armscontrol.org/act/2008_09/Simpson

Text of the NPT:
http://www.un.org/events/npt2005/npttreaty.html