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Dedicated financial programme for decommissioning of nuclear facilities and management of radioactive waste

In “A European Green Deal”

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On 13 June 2018, the European Commission adopted a proposal for a Council Regulation regarding the funding programme for financial assistance for "Decommissioning of Nuclear Facilities and Management of Radioactive Waste". It concerns the decommissioning of nuclear power plants in Bulgaria (Kozloduy units 1-4) and Slovakia (Bohunice V1) and nuclear research installations on four sites of the Commission's Joint Research Centre (Geel in Belgium, Karlsruhe in Germany, Ispra in Italy and Petten in the Netherlands). As nuclear operator, the JRC is responsible under the respective national laws for the decommissioning of closed installations and for the safe management of the resulting spent fuel and radioactive waste. The programme is therefore subdivided into the 'Kozloduy programme' and the 'Bohunice programme' for the safe decommissioning of six nuclear reactors and the 'JRC decommissioning and waste management programme' (D&WM)

The Kozloduy and the Bohunice programmes have been conducted through several financial periods and are expected to be finalised by 2030 and by 2025 respectively. They originated in the context of the accession negotiations of Bulgaria and Slovakia, which took the commitment to close and subsequently decommission their old Soviet-designed nuclear reactors by a commonly agreed date. The closure commitment of the two Member States as well as the commitment of the EU to provide financial support were enshrined in the corresponding Accession Treaties.

The JRC was established under Article 8 of the Euratom Treaty. It took over national nuclear research facilities from Italy and the Netherlands, and put in place new infrastructure dedicated to nuclear research and development at the four sites. Some of the installations are still in use today, while others have been stopped, in some instances more than 20 years ago, and have mostly become obsolete. The D&WM programme also covers nuclear installations that will become obsolete in the future at all four JRC sites, including the management of nuclear materials.

The proposed budget allocation for 2021-2027 is set at €466 million in current prices, with the following indicative distribution:

  • €63 million for actions under the Kozloduy programme;
  • €55 million for actions under the Bohunice programme;
  • €348 million for actions under the JRC decommissioning and waste management programme.

Actions co-financed under the proposed financial programme are based on the respective decommissioning plan established as per the Council Regulation 2013/1368/Euratom. The post-2020 multiannual financial framework budget estimates for the continuation and finalisation of the Kozloduy programme and the Bohunice programme correspond to less than one fourth compared to the multiannual financial framework 2014-2020.

The programming, monitoring and control system would be further improved and streamlined with respect to the existing one. For all three programmes, multiannual work programmes and financing decisions would be adopted, in line with the proposed new financial regulation. The current practice of annual reporting to the European Parliament and the Council would be maintained. The Kozloduy and Bohunice programmes would continue to be implemented by indirect management. The implementation of the programmes' budget would be entrusted to an implementing body, i.e. to the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) in Bulgaria and the Slovak Innovation and Energy Agency (SIEA) in Slovakia. The JRC D&WM programme would executed under direct management, governed by JRC senior management through a high-level steering committee

The maximum EU co-financing rate for the Kozloduy and Bohunice programmes would be set at 50 %; the remaining costs should be provided by Bulgaria and Slovakia, respectively. Annexes to the proposal set out the detailed description of the specific objective of the Programme and specific indicators to report on the progress towards the achievement of the objectives. The disposal of spent fuel and radioactive waste in a deep geological repository is not in the scope of these programmes and remains the responsibility of Bulgaria and Slovakia.

The European Parliament has only a limited role in secondary legislation stemming from the Euratom Treaty, which provides for its consultation only with no obligation to follow its opinion. This procedure will also apply for the proposal for a financing programme for the MFF 2021-2027. The file was referred to the ITRE Committee, which appointed Peter Kouroumbashev (S&D, Bulgaria) as rapporteur. His draft report of 27 September 2018 proposes to raise the EU co-financing rate to at least 60 %. The ITRE Committee adopted the report on 3 December 2018 and the European Parliament plenary on 16 January 2019. The Parliament's legislative resolution would set an EU co-financing rate of at least 50% for the Kozloduy and the Bohunice programmes, instead of a maximum rate of 50 % proposed by the Commission. It proposes an initiative led by the JRC dedicated to knowledge gathering, development and sharing in the field of decommissioning at Union level, without excluding international cooperation.

The Council working party on atomic questions discussed the proposal four times in 2018 and eight times 2019, last on 17 May 2019. The outcomes are highlighted in the progress report of 26 June 2019. The Presidency decided to "bracket" the recital linking the programme with EU climate objectives, which was perceived as extremely controversial. In the version of 9 September 2020, the German Council Presidency proposed to delete the recital.

Since the the Commission's proposal was substantially amended, the European Parliament was consulted again, but decided not to give an opinion.

The Council adopted the regulation on 25 January 2021. It entered into force on 21 February 2021 and applies from 1 January 2021.

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Further reading:

Author: Gregor Erbach, Members' Research Service, legislative-train@europarl.europa.eu

As of 15/12/2024.