07 February 2007
ENERGY DAILY (WASHINGTON, DC) - The US took a step toward joining a proposed UN-supervised international nuclear fuel bank aimed at deterring the spread of nuclear weapons. Tom Lantos, chairman of the House of Representatives committee on Foreign Affairs, introduced a bill on 7 February 2007 that authorizing US participation in a nuclear fuel bank. The bill drew immediate support from the Bush administration. IAEA director Mohamed Elbaradei proposed the idea of a fuel bank in September, 2006 as a way to keep countries like Iran from developing their own uranium enrichment programs. Source: http://www.energy-daily.com/reports/US_takes_step_toward_joining_UN_nuclear_fuel_bank_project_999.html (Reliability: 7)
Analysis: It is likely that the US will join the UN fuel bank to put pressure on Iran to give up its enrichment program. Keeping nuclear weapons out of the hands of countries like Iran and limiting the amount of uranium enrichment programs worldwide are issues that are too important to deal with unilaterally, so joining this bank will help the US in its dealings with Iran. (Analytic Confidence: 8)
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