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HOW do you manage a global boom in nuclear power while discouraging weapons proliferation? Uranium and plutonium are most likely to find their way into weapons via the enrichment and reprocessing of fuel for nuclear power plants. If all of the countries now planning to go nuclear also handle their own fuel cycles, the proliferation risk could skyrocket. The answer may be to put the fuel cycle entirely under international control. Many governments, international agencies and arms control experts are calling for the establishment of international fuel banks, and eventually fuel production plants, that would pledge to supply nuclear materials to any country so long as it meets non-proliferation rules. The US already supports the idea, at least for new nuclear powers, and last month the European Union (EU) pledged €25 million towards the first fuel bank. Yet this means countries with new nuclear programmes would have to place control of their fuel supply at least partly in foreign hands. Could it actually work?

"Vienna - The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and Russia set up the world's first nuclear fuel reserve Monday to ensure uninterrupted supplies for the world's power reactors. The idea for a fuel bank was initiated by the IAEA in order to give countries an alternative to developing their own uranium enrichment technology, like Iran has done. "With our effort, we made the world a little better," said Sergei Kirienko, the head of Russia's nuclear corporation ROSATOM in Vienna, after signing the agreement with IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano. The reserve is intended as an insurance mechanism for countries whose foreign supply of nuclear fuel is interrupted. In such a case, the IAEA would provide the nuclear material, which is to be made and stored at Angarsk in Siberia. The recipient country would pay current market prices for the low-enriched uranium. Russia would have 30 per cent of the target of one reactor load ready by the end of the year, Kirienko said. Developing countries have expressed scepticism about the fuel bank, as they fear that such mechanisms might indirectly prevent them from acquiring peaceful nuclear technology."

Efforts by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to keep countries from acquiring nuclear technology by offering them alternatives got a boost this week as three plans for nuclear fuel banks and multinational fuel factories were tabled. The latest proposal was put forward by Germany on Friday. The text foresees the creation of an internationally-governed nuclear fuel production plant. Two additional, complementary, proposals for Russian and IAEA fuel banks to provide supply of last resort are also to be considered by the 35 countries on the IAEA's governing board in June. The ideas were proposed by IAEA chief Mohamed ElBaradei in 2003 to keep countries such as Iran from acquiring uranium enrichment and reprocessing technologies, which can be used not only for energy purposes, but also for making nuclear bomb material. But diplomats say the Vienna-based nuclear agency is split on the issue between those countries that already hold the technology, and sceptical countries such as Egypt, Argentina and Brazil, many of them developing economies.

"The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and Russia signed off Monday to set up the world's first nuclear fuel reserve in Siberia Monday to ensure uninterrupted supplies to the world's nuclear power reactors. The deal guarantees stock of 120 metric tons of low-enriched uranium in Angarsk, near Irkutsk in Siberia, said Sergey Kiriyenko, head of Russia's state nuclear corporation Rosatom, who added that other countries were displaying interest in the pool of low-enriched uranium.The IAEA said the value of the uranium was about $250 million. The move to create the bank on the site of the Angarsk Electrolysis and Chemical Combine mollifies many defence industry experts who are afraid de-centralised caches of nuclear fuel could be used for terrorism. But Monday's announcement also perturbs many Russian and international environmentalists who say the Siberian fuel bank at Angarsk will become a sink hole of radioactive contamination. Once operational, the fuel reserve is meant to encourage countries looking to develop peaceful nuclear programmes to depend on outside sources - in this case the Angarsk instead of developing uranium enrichment programmes of their own."

A dozen activists who planned to protest the Kazakh president's proposal to host an international nuclear fuel bank were detained hours before the demonstration was to start on Tuesday, a spokesman for one of their organizations said. Supporters of an international nuclear repository, including the United States, say it would boost global security by dissuading countries from developing their own fuel-production facilities. Iran's development of uranium-enrichment facilities is seen by critics as a precursor to developing nuclear weapons. President Nursultan Nazarbayev this month offered Kazakhstan as the location for the fuel bank. Under the proposal, Kazakhstan would store and supply nuclear fuel to interested countries under the supervision of the United Nation's International Atomic Energy Agency.

"Russia will provide by the end of 2010 the first batch of low-enriched uranium for an international nuclear fuel reserve bank under control of the UN nuclear watchdog, the head of Russia's state-run nuclear power corporation Rosatom said. Russia has earlier proposed to establish international reserves of low-enriched uranium (LEU) to ensure stable fuel supplies to IAEA member countries in case of emergency, including "insurmountable political difficulties." "I believe that the first part of these reserves could be formed by the end of this year," Sergei Kiriyenko said at an international conference on nuclear energy in Paris on Monday. "We want to initially build LEU reserves that would ensure the operation of at least one 1,000 MW reactor," he said. Russia proposed in 2007 the creation of a nuclear center with LEU reserves in Angarsk, 5,100 km (3,170 miles) east of Moscow, to enable countries including Iran to develop civilian nuclear power without having to enrich their own uranium."

The Vermont Public Service Board should not have given the OK for the storage of spent nuclear fuel produced by Vermont Yankee on the banks of the Connecticut River, according to a report that was discussed Monday in the Statehouse in Montpelier. Testimony that was given during hearings conducted by the PSB were "affected by insufficient data to have reached a conclusion of acceptability of the site and granting of a permit," stated William Steinhurst, who holds a Ph.D. in geology. Steinhurst presented the report on behalf of Synapse Energy Economics, which hired Prof. Michael Wilson of SUNY-Fredonia to evaluate the geological characteristics of the plant's spent fuel storage site. The Public Service Board issued a certificate of public good in 2006 allowing Entergy, which owns and operates Yankee, to store nuclear waste in dry casks on a concrete pad just to the north of the plant's reactor building.

The Vermont Public Service Board should not have given the OK for the storage of spent nuclear fuel produced by Vermont Yankee on the banks of the Connecticut River, according to a report that was discussed Monday in the Statehouse in Montpelier. Testimony that was given during hearings conducted by the PSB were "affected by insufficient data to have reached a conclusion of acceptability of the site and granting of a permit," stated William Steinhurst, who holds a Ph.D. in geology. Steinhurst presented the report on behalf of Synapse Energy Economics, which hired Prof. Michael Wilson of SUNY-Fredonia to evaluate the geological characteristics of the plant's spent fuel storage site. The Public Service Board issued a certificate of public good in 2006 allowing Entergy, which owns and operates Yankee, to store nuclear waste in dry casks on a concrete pad just to the north of the plant's reactor building.

In a speech on 5 April 2009 in Prague, Czech Republic, US President Barack Obama said that his Administration will: negotiate a new strategic arms reduction treaty with Russia this year; immediately and aggressively pursue U.S. ratification of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty; seek a new treaty that verifiably ends the production of fissile materials intended for use in nuclear weapons; and seek to build "a new framework for civil nuclear cooperation, including an international fuel bank, so that countries can access peaceful power without increasing the risks of proliferation" (1).

Buffett's bankroll, Obama's clout and the partnership of a savvy ex-Soviet strongman may turn the steppes of central Asia into a nuclear mecca, a go-to place for "safe" uranium fuel in an increasingly nervous atomic age. The $150 million idea, with seed money from U.S. billionaire Warren Buffett, must still navigate the tricky maze of global nuclear politics, along with a parallel Russian plan. But the notion of such fuel banks is moving higher on the world's agenda as a way to keep ultimate weapons out of many more hands. Decisions may come as early as next month here in Vienna.

Last week House Energy and Commerce members approved by 51-6 an amendment to the Waxman-Markey bill offered by Rep. John Dingell (D-MI) to create a clean energy bank . As Greenwire explained, the amendment would "create an autonomous Clean Energy Deployment Administration (CEDA) within the Energy Department" that would "provide a suite of financing options, including direct loans, letters of credit, loan guarantees, insurance products and others" for "energy production, transmission, storage and other areas that could reduce greenhouse gases, diversify energy supplies and save energy." CEDA must adopt a "portfolio investment approach" and "ensure no particular technology receives more than 30 percent of the total funding available." John Podesta and Karen Kornbluh explain why we need a clean energy bank in a post first published here. The picture is of a worker makes adjustings before a section of a wind turbine is put into place at Energy Northwest's Nine Canyon Wind Project near Finley, WA, the kind of clean energy project the bank could help accelerate. The United States is falling behind in the space race of our generation-building long-term economic prosperity powered by low-carbon energy. China's stimulus package invests $12.6 million every hour in greening its economy, for a total of $220 billion, twice as much as similar U.S. investments. Meanwhile, during the most recent economic expansion the average American family paid more than $1,100 a year in rising energy bills for U.S. policies that favor fossil fuels.

"The issue of energy subsidies is heating up. The cards are out, positions are being redefined and bargaining is in process. A concerted effort is on to get this anomaly to the maximum possible and the issue was mentioned at the just-concluded G20 summit in Toronto too. The final communiqué at the end of the G20 summit here in Toronto not only noted with appreciation the report on energy subsidies from the International Energy Agency, OPEC, OECD and the World Bank combined, but also welcomed the work of the finance and energy ministers "in delivering implementation strategies and timeframes, based on national circumstances, for the rationalization and phase out - over the medium term - of inefficient fossil fuel subsidies that encourages wasteful consumption, taking into account vulnerable groups and their development needs." The IEA, OPEC and the World Bank report on fossil fuel subsidies was prepared at the request of the previous G20 summit in Pittsburgh."

"The Global Nuclear Energy Partnership Steering Group met in Accra, Ghana on June 16-17, 2010 and approved unanimously several transformative changes to reflect global developments that have occurred since the Partnership was established in 2007. The transformation includes a new name - the International Framework for Nuclear Energy Cooperation -- and the establishment of a new Statement of Mission. Participants in this new International Framework agreed that this transformation was necessary to provide a broader scope with wider international participation to more effectively explore the most important issues underlying the use and expansion of nuclear energy worldwide. The Steering Group addressed follow-up actions to the International Framework's Executive Committee Meeting that occurred in Beijing on October 23, 2009, including ways to further enhance its activities, such as exchanges of views on approaches to assurances of fuel supply and cradle-to-grave nuclear fuel management. Jordan formally announced that it will host the next meeting of the International Framework's Executive Committee in the fall of 2010."

The US is prepared to help other countries develop nuclear energy, including by "assisting with the necessary financing," President Bush told the International Atomic Energy Agency's General Conference in Vienna Monday. Bush's message was delivered as part of more extensive remarks by US Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman, who also said, "We must make the development of a global commercial nuclear infrastructure a priority." Bodman also called on other IAEA member states to establish an international fuel bank that would begin operations by the end of the year. The fuel bank's goal would be to provide an incentive to countries with new nuclear power programs to refrain from pursuing indigenous uranium enrichment programs.

Perhaps the most distinctive building near N Reactor, the "golf ball," should be rubble by the end of today. The building, which looks like a large, white golf ball half buried in the sand, was used as a waste treatment facility for the piping system at N Reactor. It stands about 20 feet high and has a diameter of 35 feet. Washington Closure Hanford also is making progress at the cooling water building on the banks of the Columbia River. It filtered water from N Reactor's fuel storage basins, which stored highly radioactive fuel rods. Two sand filter tanks, each weighing about 60,000 pounds, have been removed from the building.

Kazakhstan's President Nursultan Nazarbayev has offered to build a nuclear fuel bank on its territory. He made the announcement in a joint press conference with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who is visiting Kazakhstan. The idea was first proposed by the International Atomic Energy Agency in 2005, and is supported by both the United States and Russia. The US allocated $50m (£33.5m) to the project in 2007.

"Nuclear energy firm USEC Inc. said Friday it secured a new line of credit that will provide it $225 million upon closing with the option to secure as much as $350 million. The company said the new line of credit replaces an existing line set to mature in August. The new credit deal is supported by JPMorgan Chase Bank, Wells Fargo & Company and UBS. The new credit facility will mature May 31, 2012. USEC is a leading supplier of enriched uranium fuel for commercial nuclear power plants. The company's stock fell 7 cents, or nearly 2 percent, to close at $4.36."

Uranium will rise above $50 a pound in coming weeks because of reduced production at BHP Billiton Ltd.'s Olympic Dam mine in Australia, Macquarie Bank Ltd. said. Prices have added 9.8 percent over the past two weeks on concern about reduced supply following an accident at Olympic Dam, the world's fourth-largest producing uranium mine. Uranium oxide concentrate for immediate delivery traded at $47.75 a pound on Oct. 19, Roswell, Georgia-based UxC said in a weekly report. "Uranium will go up into the low $50s over the next month," Max Layton, an analyst at Macquarie in London, said by phone today.

Uranium will rise above $50 a pound in coming weeks because of reduced production at BHP Billiton Ltd.'s Olympic Dam mine in Australia, Macquarie Bank Ltd. said. Prices have added 9.8 percent over the past two weeks on concern about reduced supply following an accident at Olympic Dam, the world's fourth-largest producing uranium mine. Uranium oxide concentrate for immediate delivery traded at $47.75 a pound on Oct. 19, Roswell, Georgia-based UxC said in a weekly report. "Uranium will go up into the low $50s over the next month," Max Layton, an analyst at Macquarie in London, said by phone today.

In a statement June 12, Kazatomprom sought to reassure worried foreign investors that no existing agreements with foreign shareholders would be changed, despite turnover at the company and the reported arrest of its former president, Moukhtar Dzhakishev, last month. Kazatomprom, or KAP, is the world's third-largest uranium producer. In the statement, KAP's new president, Vladimir Shkolnik, said the company "understands its responsibility for resources provision of the world nuclear power industry." Shkolnik said KAP would continue the same pace of development "in order to cover the growing demand [for] our products." KAP said that its top management had met with foreign partners over the past two weeks to discuss implementation of plans ranging from uranium mining to new joint ventures. In particular, it said, negotiations were held with the representatives of Marubeni, Sumitomo, Nuclear Fuel Industries, and Japanese financial and credit and insurance companies and banks, including NEXI, JBIC, ERM, and ING. KAP said management had also met with Atomredmetzoloto, China Guangdong Nuclear Power Holding Co. Ltd., Areva, Uranium One, Nuclear Power Corp. of India Ltd., and others which it did not name. The statement said KAP management would meet soon with Cameco, Toshiba and Westinghouse Electric on further development of cooperation.

"The autobiography of a former director of British Nuclear Fuels (BNFL) is likely to reignite fears about the safety of nuclear power, as Britain prepares for a new generation of reactors, by exposing the panic that rocked the industry two decades ago when a link was suggested between radiation and childhood leukaemia. At its height, workers at Sellafield were advised not to have children, while bosses at the Cumbrian nuclear complex even proposed establishing a sperm bank or calling for "radiation volunteers" from among older workers in order to reduce levels of exposure for workers of child-bearing age."

"The Nuclear Review, Issue# 7 : Nuclear Constructions, Waste Management, More, March 29, 2010, by Arn Specter, Phila. 1.Managers Warned Against Bungling Los Alamos Lab Construction project 2.Costs Climb for Los Alamos Research Site 3.Project Estimates Go Up and Up, 4.Secretary Chu, NNSA Administrator and the Tennessee Congressional Delegation Join Local Officials in Dedicating Highly Enriched Uranium Materials Facility at Y-12 5.A recent uranium mining ruling could lead to NM nuke renaissance 6.Need for an Information Repository in the Española Valley as part of NMED Hazardous Waste Permit for LANL 7.Under the Nuclear Shadow 8.Los Alamos scientists write in Physics Today about enabling largest superfund cleanup to date, 9. Australian Prime Minister's Russia Meltdown, 10. IAEA Could Acquire Russian Uranium for Fuel Bank, 11. House Members Criticize Proposal to Halt work on Yucca Mountain"