The European Commission has proposed providing a further EUR 500 million ($666 million) to support the decommissioning in Bulgaria, Lithuania and Slovakia. The funds will contribute to the continuation of safe decommissioning of the Kozloduy, Ignalina and Bohunice nuclear power plants.
Lithuania’s Ignalina plant
EU Commissioner for energy Günther Oettinger said: “It is in our citizens’ interest, that these reactors will be safely decommissioned and that they will never be restarted again. This additional financial support will help the three Member States to timely progress in defueling and decommissioning of these nuclear reactors.”
The proposal foresees for Bulgaria additional EUR 185 million until 2020, for Lithuania EUR 210 million until 2017 and for Slovakia EUR 105 million until 2017 (in 2011 prices).
Before the financial support will be provided, Bulgaria, Slovakia and Lithuania will have to: fully implement EU legislation on nuclear safety and on the management of nuclear waste; create legal frameworks for timely accumulation of financial resources to cover the remaining financing need for the decommissioning and submit revised detailed decommissioning plans to the Commission.
The EU committed itself to provide some financial assistance for the decommissioning of Kozloduy 1-4, Ignalina and Bohunice 1 and 2 reactors as an expression of European solidarity when Bulgaria, Lithuania and Slovakia joined the EU. The EU has not committed itself to cover the total amount of costs.
The total financial assistance from the EU to the three Member States until the end of 2013 is expected to be EUR. 2.8 billion in current prices (EUR 1367 million for Lithuania, EUR 613 million for Slovakia and EUR 867.8 million for Bulgaria).
The Commission’s proposal to provide additional financial assistance beyond 2014 contributes to the overall nuclear safety within the EU.
