IAEA and EU set aside nearly 5.5m EUR for first two phases of project for decommission of Institute "Vinča"

- International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and European Commission have signed the agreement on allotment of 5.46m EUR for the nuclear decommission progra in Institute "Vinča" (VIND) - the Ministry of Science announced today (March 31, 2008).

With these funds, European Commission will cover expenses of the first two phase of the decommission project, which include preparation of fuel for transport, but it also promised to donate 25m USD for the third phase of the project and moving of fuel from "Vinča" to the warehouse beneath Ural mountain.

The most important task of VIND program is returning of used fuel from nuclear reactor in "Vinča" to Russia, the country where that fuel was made, and the deadline for transportation is the end of year 2010.

The decommission program in "Vinča" is the largest project of the International Atomic Energy Agency related to only one institution, and the project is financed from the funds of the Ministry of Science and from international donations.

According to the announcement, that is the largest donation of the kind ever allotted to one country and it is the result of successful negotiations led by that Ministry since June 2006.