ASTANA – The Low Enriched Uranium (LEU) Bank of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), located on the territory of the Ulba Metallurgical Plant (UMP), is a physical stock of 90 metric tons of LEU. This reserve is intended for IAEA member states in case of sudden supply disruptions.
IAEA LEU Storage Facility. Photo credit: Kazatomprom
On Dec. 10 in 2019, the LEU Bank officially entered the operational stage. However, according to the UMP, since then no one has requested the guaranteed reserve, reported Kazinform on Aug. 21.
“In 2018, an open tender for the purchase of low-enriched uranium for the LEU Bank in Kazakhstan was completed. Its winners, Kazatomprom national atomic company and France’s Orano, supplied uranium hexafluoride (UHF) there in 2019, ensuring its design filling. Now, the volume of low-enriched uranium in the Bank is 90 tons,” said Yulia Antonova, Head of the UMP Public Relations Department.
UHF is one of the key elements for the creation of nuclear fuel. After enrichment, it is used to produce powders and fuel pellets for nuclear power plants.
The UMP has 60 years of experience working with UHF, the appropriate infrastructure, qualified personnel, and a reliable physical protection system. In addition, the IAEA safeguards regime has been in effect at UMP for more than 20 years.
