ASTANA. May 18. (Interfax) - The Ulba Metal Plant (UMP) in Ust-Kamenogorsk, Kazakhstan, is one of the safest locations in the world to host the international bank storage of low enriched uranium, said the head of Kazakh nuclear corporation Kazatomprom, Vladimir Shkolnik.
"Kazakhstan suggested two sites on its territory: the UMP, which has 50 years experience in dealing with radioactive materials and [the former Semipalatinsk testing grounds,]" he said.
"Our international experts visited the facility (...) and approved the UMP location for the nuclear fuel bank," he said at the conference "Kazakhstan-USA: 20 Years of Partnership for Security and Development" in Astana on Friday.
"I think this is one of the safest places in the world for hosting a nuclear fuel bank. Besides, its storage technology is the most advanced in the world," said Vladimir Shkolnik.
He noted that currently Kazakhstan is expecting the decision of the IAEA Board on the country, which will host the international bank of nuclear fuel.
Storing uranium fuel at UMP would be absolutely safe for the environment, he said.
"We are discussing the storage of 60-70 tonnes of low enriched uranium, which is currently available, at UMP. In other words, the bank will add only 5%-7% to that uranium storage that we are currently maintaining," he said.
"Having worked in the nuclear industry for 40 years, I can say that [storing uranium at UMP] is absolutely safe and in no way it will affect the environment," Shkolnik said.
He said "it is not storage of radioactive materials, as it is not a radioactive material."
UMP, according to Shkolnik is the safest options, as the plant has managed uranium production for over 50 years and in the Soviet era produced nearly 1,200 tons of fuel for nuclear power plants in the USSR and Eastern Europe. The plant, said Shkolnik, also stored up to 1,000 of low-enriched uranium, in form of hexafluoride," said Shkolnik.
A member of the bilateral commission on a new US-Russian START Treaty, the former U.S. ambassador to Kazakhstan, John Ordway, said that the U.S. supports Kazakhstan's initiative to host the fuel bank.
"One of the reasons why Kazakhstan has been chosen as the host of a fuel bank is the level of safety and experience, exactly what Vladimir Shkolnik was just saying," said Ordway.
Kazakhstan meets all IAEA requirements as a country to host the nuclear fuel bank, but the Board of Directors must say the final word, said Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Kairat Umarov.
"Kazakhstan's application has been considered by the IAEA and, it was decided that Kazakhstan, in principle, meets all the conditions for hosting such bank," he said at the conference.
Umarov said that negotiations on the draft agreement for hosting the fuel bank in Kazakhstan are underway.
"Approximately by the end of the year, the IAEA Board will hold a meeting. If the agreement is approved, then we can announce Kazakhstan as the fuel bank host," said Umarov.
In 2009, Astana came up with an initiative to house an international nuclear fuel bank in Kazakhstan under the auspices of IAEA. In April 2010 Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev confirmed that intention when addressing the global nuclear security summit in Washington.
According to the leadership of the republic, Kazakhstan has at least two sites where the nuclear bank can be created: the special storage facility at the Semipalatinsk former nuclear test site and the Ulba Metallurgical Plant in Ust-Kamenogorsk (the administrative center of the East Kazakhstan Region).
The Semipalatinsk nuclear test site was in use from 1949 to 1989 and about 500 nuclear tests were conducted there during this period. Officially the site was closed on August 29, 1991. The National Nuclear Center was organized on the basis of the test site in 1992 following the presidential decree. The former test, the total area of which is 18,500 square kilometers, is located in northeastern Kazakhstan.
The Ulba Metallurgical Plant (UMZ), part of Nuclear Company Kazatomprom, produces uranium fuel pellets for nuclear power plants.