Buffett Makes $50-Million Nuclear-Safety Gift

The philanthropist Warren Buffett will give $50-million to a nonprofit group to create a stockpile of uranium from which countries can obtain a supply of low-grade fuel for nuclear plants rather than develop their own, reports the Associated Press.

The Nuclear Threat Initiative, on which Mr. Buffett is working with Ted Turner, the founder of CNN, and the former U.S. senator Sam Nunn, hopes its pledge to the International Atomic Energy Agency will spur governments into creating the stockpile, the news agency reports. The donation from Mr. Buffett must be matched by $100-million from governments that are members of the atomic-energy agency, which is related to the United Nations system.

Mr. Turner and Mr. Nunn started the nonproliferation group, which is in Washington. Mr. Nunn said the existence of such a stockpile would be useful in negotiations with countries such as Iran, which has been criticized for its apparent work to develop nuclear technology.

“It would certainly be a powerful tool in the hands of the international community, saying, ‘You don’t need your own nuclear fuel supply. You have this available,’” Mr. Nunn said.