Concept would theoretically mollify proliferation
– By Stephen Heiser –
As part of a new strategy to stop Iran from making nuclear weapons, President Obama plans to seek the creation of the first-ever international supply of uranium that would allow nations to obtain fuel for civilian nuclear reactors but limit the capacity to make bombs, according to senior administration officials.
The idea would be a "fuel bank" controlled by the International Atomic Energy Agency. It would also be a key way to test the sincerity of Iranian leaders, who maintain that their enrichment program is only for civilian use and necessary because they cannot be assured of energy supplies from other countries. The uranium nuclear fuel bank is a key building block of Obama's overall strategy, which is aimed at helping limit the further spread of the technology needed to build nuclear weapons – the same technology that provides nuclear energy.
"We want to give the Iranians an opportunity to demonstrate their commitment to peaceful nuclear energy and serve as a new model," said a top administration official involved in crafting arms-control policy. "What we can do is create a system of incentives where, as a practical matter for countries that want nuclear power, the best way to obtain their fuel and to handle fuel services is through a new international architecture."
The IAEA is also pursuing the fuel-bank idea, and in a pair of reports Friday highlighted the urgency of the issue. It said that Iran has expanded the number of centrifuges enriching uranium, making it more difficult for UN inspectors to keep track of the Iran's disputed nuclear program. The agency also said it had discovered traces of processed uranium at a second site in Syria, where Israel in 2007 bombed a North Korean-designed reactor that U.S. intelligence says was built to produce weapons-grade plutonium.
Obama wants to rid the world of nuclear weapons and has pledged to reduce the U.S. arsenal and take other steps toward that long-term vision. In his speech to the Muslim world last week, he declared that "we have reached a decisive point" on the Iran nuclear weapons issue and that he is committed to "preventing a nuclear arms race in the Middle East that could lead this region and the world down a hugely dangerous path. Any nation – including Iran – should have the right to access peaceful nuclear power" if it follows nuclear weapons nonproliferation agreements.