Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen,
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 had approved the proposal of the Russian Federation for its creation.
This LEU Reserve would 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 the 120 tonnes of LEU in the Reserve, whose costs are funded by the Russian Federation, 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 they would be able to obtain the LEU required for the operation of their nuclear power plants.