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On August 29th, an historic agreement was signed in Kazakhstan that promises to assist efforts to control the spread of nuclear weapons, one of the world’s most critical challenges. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and Kazakhstan will create the first international depository of low enriched uranium (LEU) fuel to power nuclear energy plants. The LEU Fuel Bank will be hosted in Kazakhstan, but will be administered and overseen by the IAEA, a respected agency of the United Nations.
A low enriched uranium fuel bank under international control has been an aspiration for those concerned by the spread of nuclear weapons for a half century. It was once a goal of President Eisenhower, who hoped that the United Nations, through the newly established IAEA, a neutral party, could provide confidence that countries seeking nuclear energy could do so without resorting to their own uranium enrichment programs.
The international community recognized then, as it does now, that uranium enrichment is the key problem for efforts to contain weapons. Once this technology is created, the process of producing weapons-grade uranium is at hand for most countries. Although there are two routes to the bomb, the process of creating a nuclear weapon with highly-enriched uranium is more likely to be within the capability of most nation-states and possibly non-state actors.
The new IAEA LEU Fuel Bank provides new assurance that countries will be able to protect their investments in nuclear energy in the event that their access to the global LEU market is interrupted for any reason, including political reasons. The IAEA is now in a position to be the supplier of last resort, on normal commercial terms, for any country in good standing with the IAEA without regard to global politics. Its creation will make it more difficult for countries to argue for domestic enrichment as necessary for a peaceful nuclear program. Indeed, the political costs for doing so will increase significantly.
However, it’s important to note that the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT) recognizes the right of each country to develop nuclear energy, including the right to enrich uranium. Inhibiting the spread of enrichment technology with the LEU Fuel Bank will rely on persuasion and confidence-building, not a mandate by the international community.
The LEU Fuel Bank in Kazakhstan offers a model for future cooperation. Initiated with a contribution by American investor Warren Buffett, the LEU bank received contributions from an unlikely coalition of countries, including Norway, The United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, the European Union and the United States, highlighting its universal importance. It is also why Kazakhstan and President Nazarbayev hosted the initial rounds of the P5+1 negotiation in Astana that resulted in an agreement with Iran.
For Kazakhstan, hosting the LEU Fuel Bank has particular significance. It is part of our 25-year struggle to contain nuclear threats. Few remember that opposition to nuclear testing grew in Kazakhstan even before independence. While still part of the Soviet Union, President Nazarbayev challenged the Soviet military by informing them that the Kazakhstani people would not accept more nuclear testing.
When we achieved independence in 1991, we confronted what to do with the world’s fourth largest arsenal of nuclear weapons. While some suggested retaining weapons to ensure our security, President Nazarbayev set a course where our security was found through engagement, not the possession of weapons of mass destruction. Today, Central Asia is a nuclear free zone and, through our ATOM campaign, we are assisting thousands of global citizens in expressing their opposition to nuclear testing to their own leaders.
Looking to the future, hundreds of new nuclear power plants must not result in an uncontrolled expansion in uranium enrichment facilities. Kazakhstan will continue to work with the international community to expand controls over nuclear materials in concert with greater reliance on nuclear power.
Thus, exploring new means of international control over nuclear material will be a key subject in the Nuclear Security Summit in Washington, D.C. next spring. Attended by heads of state, Kazakhstan, through President Nazarbayev, will pledge the full efforts of our country to support these goals.
The LEU Bank is an important step in nuclear security. But it is only a beginning. More must be done.
The author is Kazakhstan’s Ambassador to the United States.
The views presented in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent the views of any other organization.
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A New Partnership for Nuclear Security
August 31, 2015
On August 29th, an historic agreement was signed in Kazakhstan that promises to assist efforts to control the spread of nuclear weapons, one of the world’s most critical challenges. The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and Kazakhstan will create the first international depository of low enriched uranium (LEU) fuel to power nuclear energy plants. The LEU Fuel Bank will be hosted in Kazakhstan, but will be administered and overseen by the IAEA, a respected agency of the United Nations.
A low enriched uranium fuel bank under international control has been an aspiration for those concerned by the spread of nuclear weapons for a half century. It was once a goal of President Eisenhower, who hoped that the United Nations, through the newly established IAEA, a neutral party, could provide confidence that countries seeking nuclear energy could do so without resorting to their own uranium enrichment programs.
The international community recognized then, as it does now, that uranium enrichment is the key problem for efforts to contain weapons. Once this technology is created, the process of producing weapons-grade uranium is at hand for most countries. Although there are two routes to the bomb, the process of creating a nuclear weapon with highly-enriched uranium is more likely to be within the capability of most nation-states and possibly non-state actors.
The new IAEA LEU Fuel Bank provides new assurance that countries will be able to protect their investments in nuclear energy in the event that their access to the global LEU market is interrupted for any reason, including political reasons. The IAEA is now in a position to be the supplier of last resort, on normal commercial terms, for any country in good standing with the IAEA without regard to global politics. Its creation will make it more difficult for countries to argue for domestic enrichment as necessary for a peaceful nuclear program. Indeed, the political costs for doing so will increase significantly.
However, it’s important to note that the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT) recognizes the right of each country to develop nuclear energy, including the right to enrich uranium. Inhibiting the spread of enrichment technology with the LEU Fuel Bank will rely on persuasion and confidence-building, not a mandate by the international community.
The LEU Fuel Bank in Kazakhstan offers a model for future cooperation. Initiated with a contribution by American investor Warren Buffett, the LEU bank received contributions from an unlikely coalition of countries, including Norway, The United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, the European Union and the United States, highlighting its universal importance. It is also why Kazakhstan and President Nazarbayev hosted the initial rounds of the P5+1 negotiation in Astana that resulted in an agreement with Iran.
For Kazakhstan, hosting the LEU Fuel Bank has particular significance. It is part of our 25-year struggle to contain nuclear threats. Few remember that opposition to nuclear testing grew in Kazakhstan even before independence. While still part of the Soviet Union, President Nazarbayev challenged the Soviet military by informing them that the Kazakhstani people would not accept more nuclear testing.
When we achieved independence in 1991, we confronted what to do with the world’s fourth largest arsenal of nuclear weapons. While some suggested retaining weapons to ensure our security, President Nazarbayev set a course where our security was found through engagement, not the possession of weapons of mass destruction. Today, Central Asia is a nuclear free zone and, through our ATOM campaign, we are assisting thousands of global citizens in expressing their opposition to nuclear testing to their own leaders.
Looking to the future, hundreds of new nuclear power plants must not result in an uncontrolled expansion in uranium enrichment facilities. Kazakhstan will continue to work with the international community to expand controls over nuclear materials in concert with greater reliance on nuclear power.
Thus, exploring new means of international control over nuclear material will be a key subject in the Nuclear Security Summit in Washington, D.C. next spring. Attended by heads of state, Kazakhstan, through President Nazarbayev, will pledge the full efforts of our country to support these goals.
The LEU Bank is an important step in nuclear security. But it is only a beginning. More must be done.
The author is Kazakhstan’s Ambassador to the United States.
The views presented in this article are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent the views of any other organization.
