Commission pledged an extra €20 million to the Nuclear Safety Account (NSA) of the European Bank of Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), on the 30-year anniversary of the highest scale nuclear technological disaster in Europe, Chernobyl.
The NSA, dates back to 1993, when the Chernobyl disaster aftermath
initiative of the G7 to provide safety assistance to countries operating
Soviet-designed nuclear power plants, made this EBRD-managed fund
reality. Since then, urgent nuclear safety improvements in power plants
in Bulgaria, Lithuania and Russia have taken place.
NSA is very active on decommissioning projects of units 1 to 3 of the
Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant. The new Interim Spent Fuel Storage
Facility, the largest of its kind in the world, that will process fuel
from all Chernobyl’s reactors is underway and expected to be complete
soon, in 2017. Further decommissioning projects to come, as €45 million
is expected from the G7 and the European Commission, in addition to the
existing and announced support.
“The European Union has been at the forefront of the international
efforts to deal with the aftermath of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, to
decommission the nuclear power plant and to make the site
environmentally safe. Today’s pledge will further contribute to ensuring
that the projects are brought to a successful conclusion,” stressed
Commissioner for International Cooperation and Development,
Neven Mimica.
Nuclear Safety Account is making possible the new Interim Spent Fuel Storage Facility
At the moment, 29 countries and the European Commission contribute to
the Nuclear Safety Account, making possible the new Interim Spent Fuel
Storage Facility.
The EU’s contribution was announced at the Nuclear Safety Account
Pledging Conference that took place on Monday, just one day ahead of the
30th anniversary of 26 April 1986’s Chernobyl nuclear accident, the
worst n history in terms of cost and casualties, being the only ont
together with 2011’s Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant accident
after the Mw=9.0 earthquake of 11 March. Both events were classified as
level 7 “major accident” events, on the International Atomic Energy
Agency (IAEA)’s 7-grade International Nuclear Event Scale (INES). Level 7
events, are briefly described as major release of radioactive material
with widespread health and environmental effects requiring
implementation of planned and extended countermeasures.
Chernobyl facts
In the early hours of 26 April 1986 the Unit 4 reactor at the
Chernobyl power station blew apart. Facing nuclear disaster on
unprecedented scale Soviet authorities tried to contain the situation by
sending thousands of ill-equipped men into a radioactive maelstrom. The
men barely lasted more than a few weeks suffering lingering painful
deaths.
In detail, the amount of the nuclear fuel at the reactor was 245 tons
and the maximum peak of radiation detected after the accident was
300Sv/h, shortly after the explosion near the area of reactor’s core
took place. An immediately lethal dose is estimated at 4.5Sv. On the
proximate cause of this major accident, it was most possibly human
error, as security procedures seem to have been violated. This, together
with the unsafe reactor design, quickly caused instability at low
power, due to a positive void coefficient and steam formation.
The issue escalated fast, after an an improper test was conducted at
1:00 am at low power, destabilizing even more the reactor. A steam
explosion followed, exposing the nuclear fuel and causing a big fire to
the graphite protection shell, resulting to the disastrous core
meltdown. According to the United Nations, a buffer zone of up to 500 km
was contaminated, further than the 30 km evacuation buffer zone.
About 115,000 from areas surrounding the reactor in 1986; about
220,000 people from Belarus, the Russian Federation and Ukraine, summing
up to 335,000 people in total were relocated, while 2 immediate trauma
deaths occurred, while 28 deaths from Acute Radiation Syndrome out of
134 showing symptoms are reported.
30 years support from the EU
After the Chernobyl accident of 1986 and political changes in the
years that followed, the Commission initiated a vast nuclear safety
programme and cooperated with international partners to improve the
safety of the Nuclear Power Plants in the New Independent States. In the
context of this programme the European Commission funded a number of
assistance projects in Chernobyl, worth some €550 million until today.
In total, the Commission addressed the social and regional
consequences of the Chernobyl accident and provided for power
replacement following the closure of the plant, as well as reform of the
energy sector in Ukraine, committing around €730 million so far: €550
million on assistance projects: €470 million of which were channelled
through international funds, and €80 million implemented directly by the
European Commission. On power generation support €65 million were
provided. On Social Projects, €15 million were delivered and some €100
million on research projects.
https://www.neweurope.eu/article/30-years-chernobyl-another-eu-e20-million-goes-decommission/