Nuclear safety funds

Cooperation on nuclear safety between the West and eastern Europe began in the early 1990s following the disintegration of the Soviet Union. Initially, it focused on lessons learnt from the 1986 Chernobyl accident which had revealed serious design flaws in Soviet-built nuclear power plants of the first generation as well as inefficient management and regulatory structures. At their 1992 summit in Munich, the G7 heads of state and government declared their will to support countries of central and eastern Europe which operate soviet-designed nuclear power plants with the objective to improve safety until conditions for early closure had been met. This initiative led to the establishment of the Nuclear Safety Account at the EBRD.

EBRD nuclear safety funds

The EBRD administrates 6 nuclear safety funds which have received close to EUR 2 billion in committed contributions:

• Nuclear Safety Account (NSA)
  
  
• Chernobyl Shelter Fund (CSF)
  
  
• 3 International Decommissioning Support Funds (IDSFs) - Bulgaria, Lithuania and the Slovak Republic
  
  
• Nuclear window of the Northern Dimension Environmental Partnership (NDEP) Support Fund

EBRD Nuclear Safety Department

The funds are managed by the Nuclear Safety Department at the EBRD on behalf of the contributing countries. Established in 1993, the Department is responsible for all technical, financial, administrative and legal aspects of fund management, and compliance with EBRD's rules and policies particularly with respect to procurement, environmental protection and public information.

Governance

Each Nuclear Safety fund is governed by fund rules agreed by the respective Assembly of Contributors to the fund and approved by the EBRD Board of Directors. The Assembly approves and oversees fund management, work programmes and financial statements, and decides on the financing of individual projects.