Department of Energy and Climate Change
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UK and Ukraine agree to build secure store for radioactive sources

UK and Ukraine agree to build secure store for radioactive sources

News Release issued by the COI News Distribution Service on 01 September 2009

£2.1 Million (29 Million UAH) has been allocated by the UK for a secure storage facility to house used radioactive sources from across Ukraine, removing the potential danger they could pose to public health or from illicit trafficking.

£2.1 Million (29 Million UAH) has been allocated by the UK for a secure storage facility to house used radioactive sources from across Ukraine, removing the potential danger they could pose to public health or from illicit trafficking.

Her Majesty’s Ambassador to Kyiv, Mr Leigh Turner, signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Ukrainian Minister of Emergencies, Mr Voldymyr Shandra in Kyiv yesterday, to establish a framework for the construction of the UK-funded Sealed Radioactive Sources Centralised Store inside the Chornobyl Exclusion Zone.

The funding, which is for the design and construction of the project, is from the UK Government’s Global Threat Reduction Programme. It is being delivered in close cooperation with the Ministry of Ukraine of Emergencies and Population Protection From the Consequences of Chornobyl Catastrophe, and USC Radon.

Notes to Editors

The UK Global Threat Reduction Programme (GTRP) is the UK's largest programme of non-proliferation assistance, working through collaborative projects in vulnerable locations worldwide to reduce proliferation risks and improve the security of all. It forms an important element in the UK's counter-proliferation strategy, addressing proliferation risks assessed as one of the top threats to the UK's security. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office holds the overall policy responsibility for the Programme, the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) manages the nuclear and radiological parts of the programme, and the Ministry of Defence the chemical and biological parts. GTRP delivers the UK's commitment to the G8 Global Partnership (GP) against the spread of weapons and materials of mass destruction agreed at the G8 Kananaskis summit of 2002. This ten-year programme to address the risks posed by Soviet chemical , biological, radiological and nuclear (CBRN) legacies focuses primarily on the Russian Federation but also other Former Soviet Union states including Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Armenia, Georgia, Belarus and Kazakhstan.

The UK is leading on plans for the design and construction of a centralised store for sealed radioactive sources (SRS). This project arose from a US initiative on priority programmes to address the threat of illicit nuclear trafficking. This initiative identified major problems with long-term storage of SRS in Ukraine. The project aims to support the construction of a new centralised facility within the Chernobyl exclusion zone for safe and secure long term storage of SRS which are currently held at a number of obsolete locations across Ukraine. Following a successful tender, UK programme managers were appointed in spring 2008, and management and design contracts were signed with Ukrainian partners in summer 2008. The design is currently ongoing, with the expectation that the project will continue to the construction stage in late 2009, pending licensing approval. It is anticipated that the project will be complemented by work on source management and transportation, to be funded by other international donors. A donor coordination group, bringing together representatives of six countries as well as the EU and IAEA, has been established to facilitate this process.

http://decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/what_we_do/uk_supply/energy_%09mix/nuclear/nonprolif/global_threat/gtrp_annrpt/gtrp_annrpt.aspx

Contacts:

Department of Energy and Climate Change
nds.decc@coi.gsi.gov.uk

Jonathan Farr
Phone: 0300 068 5223
jonathan.farr@decc.gsi.gov.uk

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