EU Pledges €22Mln to Nuclear Safety Fund on Chernobyl Disaster Anniversary

The European Commission decided to allocate about 20 million euros to the Nuclear Safety Account fund on the day marking the 30th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) – The European Commission will allocate about 20 million euros ($22.5 million) to the Nuclear Safety Account (NSA) fund, it said in a press release issued on Tuesday to coincide with the 30th anniversary of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster.

"The European Commission pledged around €20 million to the Nuclear Safety Account fund as part of the €45 million expected from the G7 and the European Commission in addition to the existing support," the press release reads.

Ahead of 30th anniversary of the #Chornobyl nuclear disaster the EU steps up its contribution to #NuclearSafety: https://t.co/4rGeWQAJy2

— European Commission (@EU_Commission) 25 апреля 2016 г.

​Among other stated goals, the fund currently grants financial resources for the decommissioning of the three remaining Chernobyl units, the last of which was closed in 2000, it added.

The 1986 Chernobyl nuclear plant disaster contaminated some 50,000 square kilometers [19,305 square miles] with radiation, mainly in the three then-Soviet republics of Ukraine, Belarus and Russia. Some 200,000 people were relocated as a result of the life-threatening incident.

The NSA fund was set up in 1993 at the initiative of the Group of Seven (G7) to ensure safety assistance to countries operating Soviet-era nuclear power plants. In 1995, the NSA extended the scope of its activities to Ukraine. A total of 29 countries and the European Commission contribute to the fund, according to the EC's website.