IAEA grapples with nuclear fuel supply assurances : International

Vienna, Sep 19 (DPA) A special event on the sidelines of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) conference beginning in the Austrian capital Vienna Tuesday will attempt to resolve international differences on how to give countries assurances of nuclear fuel supply. Experts from 140 IAEA member states will attempt to agree on a roadmap towards multilateral approaches to nuclear fuel supply. With nuclear energy currently undergoing a renaissance, fears are growing that the demand for sensitive nuclear technologies may spread. Uranium enrichment, one of the key technologies for producing reactor fuel, can also be employed to produce material for nuclear weapons. Similar concerns exist over plutonium reprocessing, another fuel-related technology. Because of these realities, a new framework for the nuclear fuel cycle needs to be developed, IAEA Director General Mohamed ElBaradei said in his opening statement to the conference Monday. The 'establishment of a framework that is equitable and accessible to all users of nuclear energy acting in accordance with agreed nuclear non-proliferation norms' is a complex endeavour, best addressed in several phases, ElBaradei told the conference. As a possible first step, ElBaradei has been putting forward the idea of an IAEA-administered 'fuel bank,' as one of the several proposals under consideration. All proposals are intended as measures of last resort, in case a state is denied nuclear fuel on the international market for reasons other than proliferation concerns.