Kazakhstan is prepared to host a nuclear fuel bank from which countries could purchase fissile material for peaceful energy use, Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev said Monday.
"If a nuclear fuel bank for nuclear energy was created, then Kazakhstan would consider hosting it," Nazarbayev said.
Nazarbayev floated the idea — aimed at providing nuclear power to developing states — at a joint press conference with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in Kazakhstan's capital Astana.
Iran and the West have been locked in a fierce diplomatic battle in recent years over what Tehran describes as a peaceful nuclear programme, but which many fear is a front for the creation of atomic weapons.
The proposal appears aimed at offering countries like Iran a way to obtain fissile material without pursuing enrichment, at a time when US President Barack Obama has made non-proliferation a priority of his young administration.
Kazakhstan, which found itself with a large nuclear stockpiles after the collapse of the Soviet Union, has since renounced nuclear arms and become a strong supporter of non-proliferation.
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