In observing the 30th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, the European Commission on Monday pledged €20 million to its Nuclear Safety Account as part of the €45 million total expected from the multinational body and the Group of Seven nations.
The fund finances decommissioning work for units 1, 2, and 3 at Ukraine’s Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant, which in 1986 experienced a catastrophic power increase that triggered core explosions and resulted in 31 direct deaths. The fund, which is sourced by 29 countries, is managed by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.
“The European Union has been at the forefront of the international efforts to deal with the aftermath of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster, to decommission the nuclear power plant and to make the site environmentally safe,” EU Commissioner for International Cooperation and Development Neven Mimica said in a statement Monday. “Today’s pledge will further contribute to ensuring that the projects are brought to a successful conclusion.”
Ukraine President Petro Poroshenko thanked the European Council for the contribution in a phone conversation this week with European Council President Donald Tusk.
“Ukraine is grateful for many years of assistance of the EU in the amount of EUR 730 million approximately,” Poroshenko said in a statement Tuesday.
Tusk said the EU remains “the main donor in overcoming consequences of the tragedy, decommissioning of the NPP and revival of environment.”
