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 04 December 2007
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Non Proliferation - Global Threat Reduction Programme - Social and Economic Consequences of Nuclear Power Plant Closure

Street Scene in Slavutych located near Chernobyl in the Ukraine

This programme is aimed at providing support to national and international efforts to mitigate the social and economic consequences of the early shutdown of early generation Soviet reactors - as requested by the international community - and to assist nuclear power plant management, trade unions, local governments and citizens groups to plan socially responsible decommissioning programmes.

It was the Chernobyl accident of 1986 that provoked increased public concern about early generation Soviet-designed reactors. G7 governments and the EU agreed to co-operate with the nuclear power plant operators and regulators to prevent a repeat of the accident and provide financial support for safety improvements and for the decommissioning of those reactors that did not meet international safety standards or were nearing the end of their design life. Concerns were also expressed about the social, environmental and economic impact in timing the shut-down of nuclear facilities and the need to address staff dissatisfaction to prevent a further degradation in operational safety and site security. The EU and a number of western countries (e.g. Denmark, Germany, Sweden, the UK and the USA) then agreed to provide funding for a programme of complementing projects to access and address social mitigation concerns and needs.

Following a series of UK scoping studies in 2002 and 2003, a separate UK programme was developed with the ultimate objective to ensure that high levels of operational safety are maintained before, during and after closure and prevent the risk of proliferation of nuclear material and expertise through developing plant management, community and business capacity building programmes by

  • Creating sustainable employment opportunities for redundant nuclear power plant employees
  • Creating businesses with UK partners
  • Developing enterprises and entrepreneurship
  • Enhancing capacities among the labour force for adaptability and skills need for the labour market
  • Developing business infrastructure for local economic development

For over five years, short-term technical support with seed corn funding has been directed at towns in the vicinity of Chernobyl (Ukraine) Ignalina in Lithuania and Kozloduy in Bulgaria. Lithuania and Bulgaria are now members of the European Union, with access to Social and Structural Funds but for all three countries/regions which have received DTI support, all this work has come to a natural conclusion and with marked success and this came was officially wound up in May 2007.

In total, thirty four business and social capacity building projects have been supported in the three areas. All projects have delivered practical results and some have significantly changed the lives of the local population and implementation of the projects has generated some 700 new jobs for local people, and municipalities and key town institutions are now much better equipped to address arising challenges and changes than they were before.
Examples of projects supported under the Social and Economic Consequences of Nuclear Power Plant Closure Programme

Ignalina

  • Plant management and trade union Change Management programme
  • Feasibility Study for a Decommissioning Training Centre
  • Terms of Reference for a Project Management Unit at the Ministry of the Economy to manage EBRD Decommissioning and EC Social and Structural Funds
  • Business advice and grants for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises
  • Network and database of engineers with experience of decommissioning

Kozloduy

  • Nuclear workers and families employment skills database
  • Training of employment services for Jobs Clubs
  • Support to Regional Economic Development Initiative
  • Support for the development of an energy efficiency company in Kozloduy which is now recruiting and retraining former nuclear personnel
  • Support for an investment brochure including a tourism (Danube) strategy
  • Joint project with UNDP to establish a Business Centre and Business Incubator
  • Technical and financial co-operation between Kozloduy and Copeland (West Cumbria) led to a successful town twinning arrangement.
  • Various training programmes in English Language for Business, skills training e.g. e-commerce.

Slavutych/Chernobyl

  • Increasing the Business Competitiveness in Slavutych through development of the Slavutych Community Potential plus creation of a Regional Development Department to promote the town and encourage inward investment
  • Support to increase economic activity among selected industries
  • Support to develop social enterprises on a commercial basis
  • Development of a town-based Quality Management System for public and private sector
  • Creation and Development of a town-based Credit Union

Further information on this programme and the projects that have been supported are contained in an attached Conference Paper located in the Documents Section to the right of this page entitled ‘Building Blocks for Regeneration: Achievements and Lessons from the UK Programme Addressing the Social Consequences of Nuclear Power Plant Closures in Central and Eastern Europe’.

 

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