VIENNA, Aug. 7 (UPI) -- The United Arab Emirates has pledged $10 million in support of a Nuclear Threat Initiative proposal for a secured nuclear fuel bank.

Hamad al-Kaabi, UAE special representative for international nuclear cooperation, announced the UAE plan to endorse the Nuclear Threat Initiative proposal. The $10 million pledge was given to the International Atomic Energy Agency, which is in charge of the NTI fuel bank.

The NTI plan is an effort to establish a secured low-enriched uranium stockpile that would provide countries with a nuclear fuel supply. The initiative, which also has had donations from philanthropist Warren Buffett, is an attempt to counter nuclear proliferation by supplying nuclear fuel to countries, instead of allowing countries to process the fuel themselves in less safeguarded environments.

"I welcome the UAE´s contribution to the establishment of a nuclear fuel reserve under IAEA auspices," Mohamed ElBaradei, IAEA director general, said in a statement.

"This marks another important milestone towards supporting mechanisms for non-discriminatory, non-political assurances of supply of fuel for nuclear power plants."

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