Funding for Tacis nuclear safety programme
The European Commission has approved 23 million euros for the 1999 Tacis Nuclear Safety Programme. This funding will cover continued on-site assistance, design safety, support to the Regulatory Authorities, spent fuel and radioactive waste management and support for the implementation of the Memorandum of Understanding on the closure of Chernobyl. The 1999 programme is of a reduced size because of commitments to the Chernobyl Shelter Fund and a desire not to add new projects in areas where a backlog persists. In order to improve its implementation the programme is focused on a reduced number of large-scale actions. Further support for the decommissioning of reactors 1, 2 and 3 at Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant will be provided. The 1999 funds are foreseen for the 'short lived waste disposal facility', and for the extension for the contract of the EU/Ukranian Chernobyl On Site Assistance Team (OSAT) that supervises EU-financed projects and coordinates with decommissioning projects financed by other donors. Projects will address problems present in the north-west region of Russia where spent nuclear fuel from submarines and icebreakers as well as radioactive waste represent a high risk to Arctic populations and the environment. The Commission will provide technical assistance to update its related strategy and to review the modalities of its implementation. Feasibility studies on unloading floating fuels on board submarines out of service, and the safety of ground storage and the transfer of spent nuclear fuel will be funded. Furthermore on-site assistance in Russia and Ukraine to ensure completion of activities undertaken in the framework of previous programmes, in particular equipment supply projects, will be continued.