Guaranteed reserve of LEU inaugurated at the IUEC

December 17, the first comprehensive inspection by the IAEA finished in the storage facility of the IUEC. The IAEA inspection was tied up to completion of building up a guaranteed reserve of low enriched uranium as announced on November 29, 2010.

During the inspection, the Agency’s officers independently verified nuclear materials in the IUEC storage facility. The inspection included weighing of nuclear material, gamma-spectroscopy measurements of enrichment, application of seals on nuclear material containers, check on video surveillance system performance, sampling of nuclear material for non-destructive assay. The IAEA inspectors noted a high level of organizational and technical preparations for the inspection arranged for by the Russian party. Thus, the Agency obtained confirmation that the guaranteed reserve had been built up in full.

After the inspection, an inauguration ceremony of the guaranteed reserve was held. It was attended by management of JSC IUEC, JSC AECC, representatives of ROSATOM, MFA of Russia and the IAEA.

During the ceremony, Alan McDonald, Head of the Coordination Group, Department of Nuclear Energy of the IAEA, delivered a welcoming address on behalf of Yukiya Amano, IAEA Director General:

“I welcome the inauguration of the guaranteed Reserve of low enriched uranium (LEU) established by the Government of the Russian Federation at the International Uranium Enrichment Centre (IUEC) at Angarsk, for the use of IAEA Member States. It is a notable achievement that the LEU Reserve has been established by early December 2010, as it was only one year ago that the IAEA Board of Governors approved the proposal of the Russian Federation for its creation.
This LEU Reserve will be made available for back-up supply to any eligible IAEA Member State that might face a non-commercial disruption of supply of LEU to be used in nuclear fuel for power reactors thereby facilitating the development of nuclear energy for peaceful purposes.
I am pleased that, with 120 tonnes of LEU in the Reserve, whose costs are funded by the Russian Federation, it is now fully stocked at the IUEC under IAEA safeguards. This week, IAEA inspectors completed their first inspection of the LEU Reserve, which constitutes now a part of the existing mechanisms of assurances of supply of LEU for nuclear power generation.
Let me express my thanks to the Government of the Russian Federation for its initiative and the timely establishment of the LEU Reserve designed to enhance States’ confidence that they will be able to obtain the LEU required for the operation of their nuclear power plants."