Fifteen years after Chornobyl: financing a lasting solution
- Author(s):
- Parliamentary Assembly
- Origin
- Assembly debate on 26 April 2001 (15th Sitting) (see Doc. 9017, report of the Committee on Economic Affairs and Development, rapporteur: Lord Ponsonby). Text adopted by the Assembly on 26 April 2001 (15th Sitting).
- Thesaurus
1. The Assembly – recalling in particular its
Resolution 1087 (1996) on the consequences of the Chernobyl disaster, its
Resolution 1127 (1997) on the health effects of the Chernobyl nuclear accident and its
Recommendation 1311 (1997) on the safety of nuclear installations in the countries of central and eastern Europe – welcomes the closure of the Chernobyl nuclear plant in December 2000, fifteen years since the explosion of the plant’s Reactor 4 sent death and disease across Ukraine and neighbouring countries in Europe and beyond.
2. The Assembly commends Ukraine on its agreement to the closure of Chernobyl, and the international community – acting through the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and Euratom – on its major financial assistance in this process, in accordance with the Memorandum of Understanding concluded in 1995 between the Government of Ukraine, those of the G-7 countries and the European Commission.
3. The Assembly recognises Ukraine’s current economic difficulties. It also notes the preliminary agreement between Ukraine and the EBRD to help finance completion of two new nuclear reactors at Khmelnitsky and Rovno, the so-called “K2/R4” project.
4. The Assembly recognises that the K2/R4 project is a decision for Ukraine alone. It nevertheless harbours serious doubts as to its financing by the international community. The reasons are that the K2/R4 project would further increase Ukraine’s reliance on nuclear energy, that funds would be better used in diversifying the country’s sources of energy and reducing energy waste throughout the economy and that the project would significantly increase the country’s external debt.
5. The Assembly hopes that additional projects will be considered to assist Ukraine to meet her energy needs. This could be achieved by reducing energy waste throughout the economy, by diversifying energy supply sources and by upgrading safety and efficiency at the country’s remaining nuclear and thermal plants.
6. The EBRD is to periodically inform the Assembly on the progress of Ukraine in meeting the four main conditions set for the loans to be approved for the K2/R4 project.
7. The Assembly draws attention to the continued need to assist Ukraine and the Russian Federation – but also particularly hard-hit Belarus – in overcoming the health, social and environmental consequences of the Chernobyl catastrophe. This holds in particular for the near surroundings of Chernobyl. In its financial assistance, the international community must, however, ensure that funds are used efficiently and responsibly throughout. The Assembly in this context encourages Ukraine to examine the possibility of joining the Council of Europe Development Bank.
8. The Assembly welcomes the fact that practical work should now begin on the Chernobyl Shelter Implementation Plan and the financial support from the international community, which currently amounts to 713 million dollars out of the total 768 million dollars needed. It calls on Council of Europe member states to ensure, together with others, that the remaining funding necessary for the completion of the project can be raised as the Plan progresses, and that as many Ukrainian workers as possible be employed under strict observance of international safety standards.
9. Finally, everything possible must be done to guarantee optimal safety at other RBMK-type nuclear plants and to raise the financial resources necessary for their decommissioning. The Assembly therefore needs to monitor closely the safety aspects of the remaining thirteen reactors of this type still in operation in central and eastern Europe (eleven in the Russian Federation and two in Lithuania), so that they may be closed down as soon as possible.
