Russia will provide by the end of 2010 the first batch of low-enriched uranium for an international nuclear fuel reserve bank under control of the UN nuclear watchdog IAEA, a senior official said.

'I believe that the first part of these reserves could be formed by the end of this year,' said Sergei Kiriyenko, head of Russia's state-run nuclear power corporation Rosatom.

'We want to initially build LEU reserves that would ensure the operation of at least one 1,000 MW reactor,' he said at an international conference on nuclear energy in Paris Monday.

Kiriyenko said a detailed agreement between Russia and the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) on the nuclear fuel bank could be signed in April-May.

Russia has proposed in 2007 to set up international reserves of low-enriched uranium (LEU) to ensure stable fuel supplies to IAEA member countries in case of emergency, including 'insurmountable political difficulties'.

The nuclear centre with LEU reserves was proposed to be set up in in Angarsk, 5,100 km east of Moscow, to enable countries, including Iran, to develop civilian nuclear power without having to enrich their own uranium.

Russia has pledged to give access to the reserves 'to any IAEA member country that honours its non-proliferation commitments'.

The IAEA Board of Governors approved the establishment of nuclear fuel reserve bank in November 2009.

--IANS/RIA Novosti

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