Seminar on Global Nuclear Fuel Supply
Hosted by the Government of Japan
(Overview)

January 2009

1. Japan hosted a "Seminar on Global Nuclear Fuel Supply [PDF]" on 26 January 2009 at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) headquarters in Vienna, Austria with the attendance of around 200 participants from IAEA Member States.
2. Mr. Takeshi Nakane, Minister Plenipotentiary and Envoy Extraordinary at the Permanent Mission of Japan to the International Organizations in Vienna, opened and chaired the seminar. In his opening speech, Mr. Nakane stated that Japan decided to organize the seminar to contribute to information-sharing and fact-finding on issues relating to the front-end of the nuclear fuel cycle as a whole, against the background of a wide range of views on global nuclear fuel supply as well as the current trend that a significant number of states were considering to introduce or expand nuclear power generation. Mr. Nakane also stated that, through the seminar, Japan expected a deepening of understanding among participants of the current situation and future prospect of the front-end of the nuclear fuel cycle.
3. Participants from international organizations and the private sector gave technical presentations on topics relating to the front-end of the nuclear fuel cycle, from their respective viewpoints. These presentations focused on the following topics: "Background Information about Issues of the Front-end of the Nuclear Fuel Cycle [PDF]" by the IAEA, "Current and Future Market Trends in Nuclear Fuel Supply [PDF]" by the OECD/NEA, "Primary and Secondary Sources [PDF]" by AREVA of France, "Enrichment" by URENCO [PDF] of the UK and TENEX [PDF] of the Russian Federation, "Fuel Fabrication [PDF]" by Westinghouse of the US, and "Nuclear Power Generation and Nuclear Fuel Procurement of TEPCO [PDF]" by the Tokyo Electronic Power Company of Japan. Following each presentation, participants actively engaged in open and useful exchanges of views and information.
4. In the final session, Japan gave a brief introduction on its proposal "IAEA Standby Arrangements System for the Assurance of Nuclear Fuel Supply (Material 1 [PDF]) (Material 2 [PDF])".

* The presentations given at the Seminar on Global Nuclear Fuel Supply are available for download on this webpage.

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