Russia set for deal with EU to dispose of nuclear fuel rods

Date: 17/05/01

By Simon Taylor

The EU is inching closer to a landmark agreement which would pave the way for the Union to fund the disposal of tens of thousands of spent Russian nuclear fuel rods - possibly including the reactor in the Kursk submarine which sank last summer.

Swedish presidency officials hope this week's EU-Russia summit in Moscow (17 May) will announce a deal to set up a framework called the Multilateral Nuclear Environment Programme in the Russian Federation (MNEPR).

Swedish officials said it could pave the way for hundreds of millions of euro in funding to help Russia dispose of its nuclear waste. "This is a key legal framework for dealing with nuclear waste all over Russia", one diplomat said.

"The agreement clarifies many legal issues including who would be responsible for any leaks which occurred in transporting or storing spent nuclear fuel."

External Relations Commissioner Chris Patten recently stressed the importance of an agreement on the MNEPR, saying: "There are problems of sovereignty; and there are financial and legal issues too. But we need to cut through these and to do so rapidly."

Russia faces an enormous financial and technical burden in disposing of waste from both civilian and military nuclear power plants. According to Norwegian environmental campaign group, the Bellona Foundation, Moscow could have to dispose of a minimum 73,000 spent fuel rods from nuclear-powered submarines and ice breakers.

The waste would continue to be a threat to health and the environment for the next 100,000 years, the group claims.

A Swedish official said that the cooperation programme could eventually cover the recovery and disposal of the Kursk submarine, but he stressed that this was not a high priority for the EU.

Presidency diplomats said this week's summit should finalise details of the €100 million loan from the European Investment Bank for a waste water treatment plant for St Peterburg as well as a new Northern Dimension Environmental Partnership.

But the western aid may come at a price. "We have offered the Russians a lot. We are not prepared to go on offering unless they offer something in return," said a Swedish official.

The EU has, for instance, been pushing Moscow to resolve a number of minor trade disputes such as ending fees for EU airlines to fly over Siberia.

The EU is inching closer to a landmark agreement which would pave the way for the Union to fund the disposal of tens of thousands of spent Russian nuclear fuel rods - possibly including the reactor in the Kursk submarine which sank in Summer 2000.