UAE joins global nuclear fuel bank

Donation of $10m paves way for Government to establish domestic programme based on promise not to enrich uranium locally.

The IAEA director general Mohamed ElBaradei welcomed the UAE's donation.

The Government has contributed US$10 million (Dh36.7m) to a global nuclear fuel bank, strengthening the UAE's credentials to become the first Arab nation to exploit atomic power. The donation to the bank, which is essentially a global co-operative for storing and distributing ready-made enriched uranium, prepares the way for the Government to officially embark on a nuclear power programme later this year. To underline its peaceful intentions and ensure broad international support, the UAE has already pledged to forego uranium enrichment, which is needed to make fuel but can also be used to make atomic weapons. "The UAE donation marks another important milestone towards supporting mechanisms for non-discriminatory, non-political assurances of supply of fuel for nuclear power plants," said Mohamed ElBaradei, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), which will own and administer the bank. Iran, by contrast, faces intensifying UN sanctions over its nuclear programme because it includes enrichment that Western powers think is aimed at building a bomb, despite Tehran's denials. The idea for a nuclear fuel bank was first proposed in 2006 as a way of guaranteeing a steady supply of enriched fuel for countries that want nuclear power but do not have the capacity or desire to enrich uranium. The UAE has turned to atomic power to fuel its rapid development while diversifying its energy sources and reducing its growing carbon footprint. The bank was conceived by the Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI), a non-profit group working to stop the spread of nuclear weapons, and has received $50m from the US and $5m from Norway. The NTI, with backing from Warren Buffett, the billionaire American investor, has promised to donate another $50m if IAEA member contributions reach $100m. At the request of Mr ElBaradei, NTI has extended its deadline by another year until September 2009 for IAEA members to reach the target. The UAE is expected to build a fleet of atomic reactors to cater for up to half of the nation's power needs by 2025. Energy demand is rising by 10-15 per cent annually and the nation's heavy reliance on natural gas for power means its carbon emissions are high. The Government is expected to sanction the nuclear programme officially later this year, in time for seven years of construction, with a view to generating its first kilowatt in 2016. Several other countries in the region have also announced plans to make electricity by splitting the atom, but the UAE is hoping to become the first Arab nation to do so. The Government is also developing a network of fuel supply sources to ensure the programme has a secure feedstock, said Hamad al Kaabi, the UAE's special representative for international nuclear co-operation. It has already signed agreements with three nuclear powers - France, Britain and the US - and is expected to sign with five more nations. "The UAE contribution to the proposed fuel bank should provide incentives for other states to follow the UAE model to forego enrichment and rely exclusively on the international market in nuclear fuels," said Mr Kaabi. The fuel bank will act as a backup or reserve mechanism and the IAEA has designed it to operate in such a way as to avoid disrupting the commercial fuel market. However, analysts said the real significance of the fuel bank concept would come in decades to come, if the world turns decisively to nuclear power as oil supplies are expected to tighten and climate change concerns grow. Most nuclear power plants in the world use enriched uranium fuel in light-water reactors, which are seen as less of a proliferation risk than fast-breeder plutonium reactors. However, world uranium reserves are not expected to be sufficient to fuel a massive expansion in this design and the future of nuclear power is almost certainly in fourth-generation plutonium fast-breeder reactors, said Antony Froggatt, research fellow at Chatham House in London. This will entail a greater risk of proliferation of material suitable for nuclear weapons and therefore will require greater international monitoring of each country's sources of fuel. "The longer-term vision for nuclear power requires additional security measures for nuclear fuel management and that is what the fuel bank is all about," he said. @Email:[e-mail]