Brussels, 06/11/2014 (Agence Europe) - The governors of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) will take a decision by the end of November on a proposal for additional EBRD contributions for the completion of the Chernobyl New Safe Confinement on the site of the 1986 nuclear accident. The proposal was adopted by the board of directors on Wednesday and will now be transmitted to the Bank's shareholders, the Bank announced on 31 October.
The project in Chernobyl has a funding shortfall of €615 million. To fill this gap the proposal provides for an additional contribution of €350 million by the EBRD in anticipation of a €165 million contribution by the G7 and the European Commission and the balance of €100 million by non-G7 donors. The G7 leads the effort to mobilise the additional funds and will organise a pledging event in the spring of 2015. Should pledging efforts fall short of the amount allocated to non-G7 donors, the EBRD would step in.
The New Safe Confinement will make the old Chernobyl shelter and remnants of the damaged reactor safe and environmentally secure. Equipped with automated cranes, it will create the conditions that will permit the dismantling of the hastily built old structure and for nuclear waste management operations for the duration of its design life of 100 years. Completion of the project is scheduled for end-2017. The total cost of the Shelter Implementation Plan, of which the New Safe Confinement is the most prominent element, is estimated to be of the order of €2.15 billion. Of this, the New Safe Confinement will cost about €1.5 billion.
The Chernobyl Shelter Fund was set up in 1997 with the EBRD as administrator and to date has received contributions from 43 donor governments. The EBRD has also provided €325 million from its own resources in support of the work in Chernobyl to date. (EH)