ABSTRACT
The idea of a nuclear fuel bank or pool has kept recurring. The IAEA Statute provided an institutional framework for the Agency to operate as a fuel bank, but the relevant provisions have never been made use of. Yugoslavia, at the Twentieth General Conference of the IAEA, proposed a fuel cycle pool, to which countries could contribute according to their resources. The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Act (NNPA) of 1978 authorized steps for the eventual establishment of an international authority for ensuring fuel supply. Support for the NNPA idea of a fuel bank ensued from the INFCE discussions, but only in relation to countries with small nuclear power programmes, since developed countries have other means of fuel assurance. Motives for the creation of a bank differ. The bank proposed in the NNPA is motivated by non-proliferation considerations, while the fuel cycle pool proposed by Yugoslavia is motivated by a desire for the promotion of peaceful nuclear energy in accordance with Article IV of the NPT. The fuel cycle pool, with the aim of assuring the fuel cycle supplies of developing countries, has the advantage over a bank in that it would stimulate the active participation of its members, while at the same time widening the base of responsibility for non-proliferation.
