The IAEA LEU Bank is a reserve of low-enriched uranium hexafluoride owned and controlled by the IAEA, and a mechanism of last resort for Member States in case the supply of LEU to a nuclear power plant is disrupted due to exceptional circumstances that disable securing the fuel from the commercial market or any other supply arrangement.

The IAEA LEU Bank is located at the Ulba Metallurgical Plant in Oskemen, Kazakhstan. It is under the responsibility of the appropriate local authorities for safety, security, and safeguards in Kazakhstan.

The IAEA LEU Bank is a physical stock of 90 metric tons of low-enriched uranium hexafluoride suitable to make fuel for a typical light water reactor, the most widely used type of nuclear power reactor worldwide. The LEU contained within the Bank can produce enough nuclear fuel to power a large city for three years.

The Bank provides Member States with additional confidence in their ability to obtain nuclear fuel assuredly and predictably if there is a disruption in existing fuel supply arrangements due to exceptional circumstances and when LEU can be obtained by no other means.

According to the Internet