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Eurasia
September 1, 2017 www.intellinews.com I Page 20
“The bank is part of global efforts to create an assured supply of nuclear fuel to countries in case of disruptions on the open market or of other existing supply arrangements for LEU,” the IAEA said in June 2015.
The bank will be governed under Kazakhstan’s legal and regulatory standards but will be fully managed and operated by the IAEA. The LEU bank will be "the first of its kind not to be under the control of any individual country," NTI noted. While Russia has operated an analogous bank since 2010, the Kazakhstan’s LEU bank will be the first one to be fully owned and operated by IAEA, though Kazakhstan will be responsible for the bank’s security.
The bank is exclusively funded by voluntary contri- butions – donors have provided $150mn to estab- lish and operate the bank for at least 10 years.
The US, United Arab Emirates, European Union countries, Kuwait and Kazakhstan have contrib- uted $100mn to the project, while US investor Warren Buffett provided $50mn. It is expected to become fully operational in September 2017, after IAEA approval.
The bank is being established after four years of heavy lobbying from Kazakhstan. In terms of its political significance, the bank project is being used by the Kazakh authorities to strengthen the country’s image in the international arena by positioning the Central Asian country as a key element in ensuring the global security of the nuclear fuel cycle.
Hosting the bank is also aimed at gaining ad- ditional security guarantees for the country squeezed between two nuclear powers – Russia and China.