Current focus and key challenges

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 learned 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 G-7 heads of state and government committed to support the 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.