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UN-backed efforts to upgrade nuclear
safety move ahead with Serbian clean-up
6 October 2006 – As part
of its multi-national efforts to upgrade nuclear safety and security at the
world's research reactors, the United Nations atomic watchdog agency has
concluded a $4.3 million contract to rid a Serbian reactor site of old ‘spent’
nuclear fuel that is posing a serious radiological hazard.
The contract, one of the
biggest involving the UN International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)
technical cooperation programme, provides for a Russian consortium and Serbia to
start the work to prepare about 8,000 old fuel elements for shipping casks at
the closed reactor at the Vinca Institute of Nuclear Sciences. Another contract
of nearly $5.5 million is being negotiated to cover transport and related tasks.
Four years ago, the United
States and Russia joined with Serbia, the IAEA and other partners to remove
nearly 50 kilograms of high-enriched uranium, the kind classed as weapons-grade,
from the Institute.
The Vinca project is part of
IAEA-supported efforts involving over 50 countries that collectively house some
350 research reactors, including shutdown facilities, that were once supplied
and fuelled mainly by the US and Russia. The IAEA is involved in various
initiatives to minimize the reliance on highly enriched uranium and encourage
the return of spent fuel to the country of origin.
The latest operation is no
quick or easy job as the fuel contains uranium enriched to varying levels and a
good part of it is degrading, making it more dangerous to handle, IAEA said in a
news release today.
“The fuel is highly
radioactive, it´s leaking, so everything will have to be done remotely,” using
special tools designed for remote control, IAEA special programme manager for
Vinca Michael Durst said. Once repackaged, the fuel will be put into heavily
shielded shipping containers that are specifically licensed for international
transport.
“The sooner we get this done,
the better for everyone," he said, estimating that about 30 per cent of the fuel
could be contaminating the pool where it is stored underwater.
Over the coming months, the
IAEA is planning a series of donor conferences to solicit additional funding for
the work ahead at Vinca. Initial funding has been provided by the US Department
of Energy and the Nuclear Threat Initiative, a private US based non-governmental
firm, owned and operated by the Ted Turner Cooperation.
(Source: UN News Service)
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