EC infuses Serbian nuclear relic cleanup with critical donation

In addition to the radiological legacy at Vinca, security had long been a source of concern. The reactor has been offline since 1984, and much of the dangerous material and facilities were inadequately protected. Thanks to funding and other support activities provided by the Serbian government and the USA for security upgrades and police support, overall site security has been substantially improved over the past two years.

Yet more needs to be done, and time is running out. Along with the EC’s recent donation, an additional $25 million must be raised by 2010 to meet a crucial deadline. The fuel needs to be shipped back to Russia by the end of 2010 or the job falls off the shipping schedule, and potential funding for VIND would also dry up should the 2010 target date be missed.

VIND is the largest one-house programme within the IAEA, and the EC contribution is the largest single contribution ever received for a Technical Cooperation (TC) national project. “The EC support was absolutely crucial to the life of the programme, but we have quite a ways to go to find the remaining $25 million for the project,” said Kelly. “The EC contribution serves as a great example and encourages other potential donors to invest in an important and successful project.”

Background

Located on the outskirts of Belgrade, the ‘Institute for Nuclear Sciences Vinca’ was set up as a research centre in the former Yugoslavia in the 1950s. A civilian nuclear research reactor loaded with high-enriched uranium was housed at the site. The area was also central radioactive waste collection and consolidation centre for the former Yugoslavia. The grounds at Vinca accumulated all the former country’s dangerous radioactive waste and other radioactive sources for nearly 45 years, and though the reactor went offline in 1984, the radioactive waste and sources received from around the country continued to pile up. International concern about Vinca mushroomed in the 1990s after the break-up of the former Yugoslavia, which led to increased international cooperation to remediate the site and reduce the radiological risk.

Initial seed funding of $5 million to tackle the situation at Vinca was put forth in 2004 by the Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI), a non-governmental organization dedicated to non-proliferation. VIND is part of the Russian Research Reactor Fuel Return Programme, a project borne out of the Global Threat Reduction Initiative.