OREANDA-NEWS. On June 05, 2008 the international efforts to mitigate the legacy of the operation of nuclear-powered ships and submarines of the former Soviet fleet in north-west Russia have reached a milestone. The EBRD as manager of the Northern Dimension Environmental Partnership (NDEP) Support Fund has signed four grant agreements worth over ?70 million with Rosatom, the Russian State Corporation for Atomic Energy, reported the press-centre of EBRD.

The largest contract worth ?43 million is related to the former service ship Lepse, which contains damaged spent nuclear fuel and radioactive waste and is moored in Murmansk. The project will improve radiation protection and remove a serious environmental hazard by retrieving spent fuel from the ship and safely managing the radioactive waste followed by the dismantlement of the ship. Time for implementation of the full programme is approximately 5 years.

Another hot spot is Andreeva Bay where some 22,000 spent nuclear fuel assemblies from nuclear-powered submarines and icebreakers are kept in unsafe condition. The now signed project worth ?20 million will establish a local system for spent fuel transport and buffer storage within the framework of the overall remediation plan to retrieve and ship the fuel for treatment or long term storage. Duration is approximately 3 years.

The third project (?5,6 million) is the defueling of Papa class submarine to improve the environmental situation and reduce risks of nuclear and radiological accidents. To achieve this goal, spent fuel will be unloaded and stored safely. The dismantlement itself will be carried out by Rosatom and the project is expected to take 2,5 years.

These three projects will be managed by the Federal Centre for Nuclear and Radiation Safety of Rosatom.

The fourth grant worth ?5.1 million covers the improvement of the radiation monitoring and emergency response system in the Arkhangelsk region by installing a modern monitoring and communications systems as well as emergency plans covering all facilities presenting nuclear hazard in the region. An identical system has already been successfully put into place in the Murmansk region with NDEP funding. The implementation will take approximately 2,5 years. This project will be managed by the Administration of the Arkhangelsk Region with support of the Nuclear Safety Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences (IBRAE).

All projects are implemented under the Strategic Master Plan which sets out measures for the remediation of the affected areas in north-west Russia by 2025. The estimated cost is approximately ?2 billion.

Vince Novak, EBRD Director of Nuclear Safety, said the signings were “a milestone towards the implementation of the Strategic Master Plan. While it is true that we are at the beginning of a very ambitious and challenging task, the progress we have made lately gives us the confidence that we will continue to progress and eventually reach our goal. I specifically want to thank our Russian partners who are showing great commitment to this task.”

Evgeny Evstratov, Deputy Director General of Rosatom, added: “We are faced with a huge task, but equally big is our determination to overcome the environmental legacy which is still burdening the north-west of Russia. The four projects signed today demonstrate that the Strategic Master Plan is working and represent an important step forward.”

The NDEP Support Fund was established in July 2002 under EBRD management to pool grant contributions for environmental projects in Northern Europe. One of the most urgent challenges is the risk of contamination from the former Soviet fleet in north-west Russia. It is being addressed by the “Nuclear Window”, a special programme of the NDEP Support Fund, which complements Russian and bilateral programmes.

The NDEP Nuclear Window to date has received ?150 million in pledges. Contributors to the NDEP are the European Commission, France, Canada, UK, Finland, Germany, Sweden, Russia, the Netherlands, Norway, Denmark and Belgium.