Peaceful uses of nuclear technology

European Union international cooperation

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The IAEA International Remediation Expert Mission examines Reactor Unit 3 during the team’s visit to TEPCO’s Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power plant (Fukushima, 11 October 2011)

GENERAL SECRETARIAT OF THE COUNCIL DGF - Publications 049/2012 – RS 49/2012

© European Union, 2012

TECHNICAL SUPPORT TO THE IAEA

The IAEA funds its technical and scientific programmes with contributions from its Member States. The European Commission/IAEA cooperative programme on nuclear safeguards started in 1981, and is the second-largest of the 21 IAEA Member State support programmes. It is operated by the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC) and its institutes at Ispra (Italy), Geel (Belgium), and Karlsruhe (Germany). These provide the IAEA with technology, expertise and training in verifying safeguards, including detecting undeclared materials, activities and facilities. The JRC supports the IAEA in developing detection and nuclear forensics technologies and training for front-line officers, police and national experts. It also works with the IAEA on its Illicit Trafficking Database, and chairs working groups on nuclear smuggling and border monitoring.

The European Union also supports IAEA verification tasks within its borders, in which the European Atomic Energy Community (Euratom) safeguards act as the regional system for nuclear material accountancy and control. By sharing its know-how in the area of safeguards, the European Commission is also contributing to the development of IAEA methodologies, equipment and facilities.

The European Union supports the development and implementation of the IAEA nuclear safety standards and other safety and security guidance documents through its contribution to different IAEA working groups, standards committees and IAEA peer review services. In doing so, the EU Member States and the EC JRC experts contribute to finding international consensus on the nuclear safety goals and objectives to be applied globally.

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Vienna International Centre with Buildings A and B, headquarters of the International Atomic Energy Agency

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The European Union and its Member States are, together, the largest single provider of aid and assistance worldwide. For 20 years, a part of that assistance has been used to work towards the safe and secure use of nuclear energy across the globe. Several hundred million euros have been spent, especially through the PHARE and TACIS Programmes in Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union.

The EU and its Member States also have a leading role during the IAEA General Conferences for setting up IAEA resolutions, programmes and different action plans (e.g. IAEA post-Fukushima Safety Action Plan). Furthermore, they actively work to implement and promote reinforcement of the IAEA conventions, protocols and other legal instruments in the nuclear field.

The 7th Euratom Framework Programme (2007-2011) supported research activities launched under Nuclear Cooperation Agreements with other countries, and within the Generation IV International Forum. So far, partner countries have included Argentina, Australia, Brazil, China, India, Kazakhstan, Russian Federation, South Korea, and Ukraine. Euratom has negotiated Nuclear Cooperation Agreements with 14 countries. These cover nuclear trade, research activities in nuclear safety and fusion energy, and all other activities which support peaceful uses of nuclear energy.

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The European Union underscores the peaceful use of nuclear energy and nuclear applications around the world by supporting the work of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), and by working directly with other countries. Funds are channelled through some of its different financial instruments, in the fields of nuclear safety, security and research, guided – inter alia – by the EU’s 2003 Strategy against the Proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction. Funding amounts to some €150 million a year. The EU and its Member States provide valuable technical and scientific support for the IAEA. In the field of nuclear safeguards, the EU programme of financial support to the IAEA is the second biggest. The EU and its Member States make their expertise available to the IAEA in nuclear energy, and thus contribute to the implementation of the major IAEA programmes on nuclear safety, waste management, radiation protection, nuclear safeguards and security.

GLOBAL NUCLEAR SAFETY COOPERATION

The EU is expected to commit up to €524 million for nuclear safety co-operation programmes during its current financial cycle, from 2007 to 2013, through the EU Instrument for Nuclear Safety Cooperation. These funds support worldwide cooperation on nuclear regulatory matters, operational and safety design, radioactive waste management and decommissioning, off-site emergency preparedness and safeguards. Priority partners include countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States, countries with established nuclear programmes in Asia and Latin America, and countries launching nuclear power programmes or needing to address radioactive waste issues, in particular in North Africa and the Middle East, and South-East Asia. The EU also contributes to international funds addressing nuclear safety issues, for instance for the Chernobyl shelter.

A joint EU – IAEA – Ukraine project was completed in 2010 for safety assessment of the Ukrainian nuclear power plants. The EU contributed by giving financial support, as well as through technical expertise provided by the European Commission Joint Research Centre (JRC) Institute for Energy and Transport. The EU allocated also two sets of financial support (worth €6.5 million in 2009, and €4.5 million in 2010) for nuclear safety activities to be implemented by the IAEA, and a further €10 million has been earmarked up to 2013. Part of this cooperation (delivered through the IAEA Technical Cooperation Fund) focuses on the setting up of the regulatory infrastructure in countries committed to developing peaceful uses for nuclear energy. This work extends far beyond the EU’s borders, from the uranium mines of Central Asia, to the Asian Nuclear Safety Network, and to projects in Latin America.

PRE-ACCESSION ASSISTANCE

The EU is also providing assistance to candidate and potential candidate countries which seek to join through its dedicated Instrument of Pre-accession Assistance. Some €21 million was spent through the IAEA up to 2011. Activities include a regional programme in the Western Balkans to improve the nuclear regulatory environment, and the Vinča Nuclear Decommissioning Programme designed to handle safely the spent fuel from the Vinča research reactor in Serbia, and return it to the Russian Federation. This project is also supported by the US, the Russian Federation and a number of EU Member States.

PROMOTING STABILITY

The EU’s Instrument of Stability has also allocated nearly €300 million to Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN) risk mitigation for 2007-2013. Whilst most projects do not differentiate between radiological and nuclear parts, and chemical and biological parts, some have focused on the illicit trafficking of nuclear materials, and on sharing information on CBRN incidents. With this instrument, the EU supports the IAEA in a number of ways by: • contributingtoalow-enricheduraniumfuelbank (€20 million from the Instrument for Stability, with the prospect of a further €5 million from the Foreign and Security Policy budget), • supportingthemodernisationoftheIAEAsafeguard laboratory for analysing nuclear material (€5 million), • establishingChemical,Biological,RadiologicalandNuclear

Centres of Excellence, building national and regional institutional capacity to counter the CBRN risk. The origins

of this risk can be criminal (proliferation, theft, sabotage, illicit trafficking), accidental (industrial, chemical or nuclear disasters, waste treatment, transport) or natural (mainly pandemics). Nearly €100 million will be allocated in

2009-2013. The centres address legal, regulatory, technical, enforcement and control issues relating to CBRN risk

mitigation. In each region, networks of experts, including from the IAEA, share best practices, review laws and

regulations, and develop technical capacity.

The European Union also continues to contribute to the G8 Global Partnership. These G8 Global Partnership activities include as-sistance on nuclear security, the involvement of scientists, export controls, border monitoring, bio-safety, bio-security and the fight against illicit financing and illicit trafficking of nuclear and radiologi-cal materials.

FOREIGN MINISTERS’ SUPPORT FOR NUCLEAR SECURITY

Through five separate European Union Council Decisions – worth €31 million, as part of the Common Foreign and Security Policy – and additional Member States funds, the EU and its Member States have become the second largest donor to the IAEA nuclear security fund. Through the IAEA Office of Nuclear Security, this fund supports the Agency’s nuclear security plan and builds on existing international legal instruments and agreements to help States strengthen their nuclear security and create a secure environment for the peaceful use of nuclear technology.

The grants have been used to support IAEA assistance projects to improve the security of nuclear and radioactive materials in the Balkans, the Caucasus, Central Asia, the Mediterranean region, Africa, and South-East Asia. Support includes legislative and regulatory assistance for the implementation of countries’ obligations under IAEA safeguard agreements and protocols, strengthening the physical protection of nuclear and radiological materials, and improving capabilities for detecting and responding to illicit trafficking.

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Safe and secure use of nuclear energy across the globe also in technical support programmes for water treatment