banks. The first, formally established by the IAEA and the Russian government in March 2010, is owned, operated, and paid for by the Russian Federation and located near the Siberian city of Angarsk. The reserve has been fully stocked and became operational on 1 December 2010. The Board of Governors approved a second fuel reserve in December 2010, which will be owned and operated by the IAEA itself, but this fuel bank is not yet operational. Kazakhstan has offered to host a nuclear fuel bank under IAEA auspices as a way to curb nuclear proliferation. In May 2015, the IAEA approved a Host-State Agreement with Kazakhstan, paving the way for Kazakhstan to host the LEU Bank. The plans call for having Russia enrich the uranium before it is stored. Kazatomprom proposed at the 2013 IAEA General Conference that Kazakhstan host the LEU bank at its Ulba Metallurgical Plant. Kazakhstan's Foreign Minister Erlan Idrissov said in an interview that the bank posed no environment threats and highlights Kazakhstan's contribution into the global efforts of nonproliferation and peaceful use of nuclear power. The LEU bank is under construction in Ust-Kamenogorsk, Kazakhstan under the aegis of the IAEA. In addition to the two fuel banks, the Russian Federation has also established an International Uranium Enrichment Center (IUEC) located at Angarsk. The IUEC is set up as a joint stock company between Russia's Rosatom Corporation holding 80% of the shares, Kazakhstani and Ukrainian corporations, while the government of Armenia slated to join the company in the future. The IUEC differs from the two fuel banks in several important ways. First, it is a for-profit entity owned by state-backed companies. As a result, unlike the fuel banks, it is preferential and exclusive in its provision of enrichment services. The IUEC gives preferential treatment to its shareholders when selling enrichment services, and is only available to states that do not have domestic enrichment capabilities and perform their obligations under the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. Like the fuel banks, it provides an alternative to the expensive start-up costs of an indigenous enrichment capacity, but unlike the fuel banks it provides a further financial incentive to its shareholders in the form of dividends. Proposals A fuel bank would act as a back-up supply for nuclear power reactors throughout the world on a non-discriminatory and apolitical basis, reducing the need for countries to develop their own uranium enrichment technologies at