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Foreign Assistance Developments
Please also see the Naval Nuclear Reactors: Foreign Assistance section

During the 1990s the United Kingdom's Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) began funding seminars on nuclear material safeguards for Russian specialists. The first three of these were in December 1992, April 1993, and October 1993. The seminars focused on safeguards to fuel fabrication, reprocessing, and fast-breeder reactors.  Also in 1993, DTI funded the shipment of computers, software, and other equipment to Gosatomnadzor to help Russia establish safeguards information systems. Additionally, British Nuclear Fuels, Limited (BNFL) has worked to increase nuclear material protection, control, and accounting at Russia's RT1 reprocessing facility at the Mayak Production Association.[1] BNFL was also cooperating with Russia in constructing a natural uranium storage facility, producing uranium oxide by BNFL's integrated dry process, storing spent fuel, processing and storing radioactive waste, and converting concentrated uranium ore.[2] The United Kingdom also has aided Russia in the safe and secure transportation of nuclear materials. One hundred fifty super containers were contracted by the Russian Ministry of Defense to be manufactured in the United Kingdom. These containers were to have been delivered by May 1997 after undergoing tests in June and October of 1996. [2,3]

The United Kingdom's support for nuclear safety in Russia and Eastern Europe has focused on RBMK reactor technology. The UK assistance has involved control and safety consulting, transfer of a neutron/ thermal hydraulic code, pressure tube inspection, graphite data, and other technology. Additionally, a large RBMK review project was funded by TACIS and carried out by the United Kingdom.[1]

In addition, the United Kingdom is contributing to the Northern Dimension Environmental Partnership (NDEP). The NDEP was developed in 2001 to address environmental and nuclear waste challenges in northwest Russia. On 11 August 2003, the government of the United Kingdom announced that it would contribute £10 million ($16 million as of August 2003) to the NDEP Support Fund managed by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). The funds have been earmarked for NDEP's nuclear waste management projects.[4]

Additionally, the United Kingdom participates in the G8 Global Partnership, which was launched in 2002.  The United Kingdom's support of the Global Partnership includes an annual contribution of £36.5 million ($68 million), which supports a variety of projects.  Progress in support of nuclear safety includes the completion by 2004 of two nuclear submarine dismantlement projects with a third planned to start in 2005.  Funding allocated to the submarine dismantlement projects, as of December 2004, totals £11 million ($20.5 million).  A program designed to solve safety, security, and environmental problems of spent nuclear fuel storage at Andreyeva Bay has received, as of December 2004, British funding totaling  £2.8 million ($5.2 million).  The United Kingdom's Closed Nuclear Cities Partnership facilitates, among other programs, joint ventures as well as  business development and training programs designed to help former nuclear weapons scientists find lasting civil sector employment.  The United Kingdom's forecasted contribution to this program in 2004-05 totals £4 million ($7.4 million).[6] The Arctic Military Environmental Cooperation Program (AMEC), which the United Kingdom joined on June 27, 2003, has also come under the Global Partnership framework.  AMEC was designed to address environmental problems in the Arctic region associated with Russian nuclear submarine decommissioning. The program, a Norwegian initiative, officially started on 26 September 1996.[5] The United Kingdom assumed the presidency of the G8 in 2005, stating that it would focus on constraining the spread of nuclear enrichment and reprocessing technology, and on combating
the threat of bioterrorism, as well as promoting the conversion of pledges into actual projects.[6]  For a detailed report on UK programs, see the official UK report The G8 Global Partnership: Second Annual Report 2004.
Sources:
[1] Scientific and Technological Options Assessment Programme, Directorate General for Research, European Parliament, "Nuclear Safeguards and Nuclear Safety in the East: Final Report," Luxembourg, November 1996, pp. 23, 45-46.
[2] "Russia's Cooperation with the Nuclear Summit Participants: the USA, Great Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Canada, and Japan," International Affairs, 1996, vol. 42, no. 3, pp. 48-49.
[3] Department of Defense, "CTR Update: Russia," 19 September 1996.
{Entered 4/5/98 PBI}

[4] Northern Dimension Environmental Partnership (NDEP) Web Site, http://www.ndep.org. [Entered 02/23/04 AI)
[5]"United Kingdom Joins Arctic Environmental Cooperation," State Department Website, http://usinfo.state.gov/gi/Archive/2003/Jun/27-824046.html.

[6] The G8 Global Partnership: Second Annual Report 2004. [Entered 02/09/05 WDP]

ARCHIVED UK ASSISTANCE DEVELOPMENTS (For more recent developments, please see the Russia: Foreign Assistance Developments section):

27 JUNE 2002: UK COMMITS TO GLOBAL PARTNERSHIP AGAINST THE SPREAD OF WMD
On 27 June 2002, the G8 issued a statement outlining a new initiative, entitled the Global Partnership Against the Spread of Weapons and Materials of Mass Destruction (for more information on this initiative, see the G8 information in the International Assistance file). On 1 July, Prime Minister Tony Blair said that Great Britain would provide up to $750 million for the initiative over the next 10 years.[1] The British funding, based on current and planned future assistance, will include support for the disposal of weapons-grade plutonium, destruction of chemical weapons, defueling and dismantlement of nuclear-powered submarines, decommissioning of nuclear reactors, materials control and accountancy (MC&A) assistance, nuclear safety work, physical protection of nuclear materials, provision of non-weapons employment to personnel in closed nuclear cities, and alleviation of the social and economic impacts of nuclear plant closures, in addition to British
participation in European Union programs. However, this work requires a legal framework, an issue raised at the G8 summit. The United Kingdom is a party to the stalled MNEPR negotiations, and is also in talks with Russia on a bilateral agreement to allow substantive project work in northwest Russia to commence. The British have already concluded a legal framework agreement with Russia to cover the destruction of chemical weapons stocks.[2]
Sources:
[1] Tony Blair, "Statement on the G8 Summit in Kananaskis" to the House of Commons, 1 July 2002, Foreign and Commonwealth Office, http://www.fco.gov.uk.
[2] E-mail correspondence with official at the Nuclear Industries Directorate, Department of Trade and Industry, United Kingdom, 14 August 2002.
 

Page last updated 19 April 2005

Comments or questions? Contact Contact Cristina Chuen at MIIS CNS: Cristina.ChuenATmiis.edu

This material is produced independently for NTI by the Center for Nonproliferation Studies at the Monterey Institute of International Studies and does not necessarily reflect the opinions of and has not been independently verified by NTI or its directors, officers, employees, agents. Copyright © 2003 by MIIS.

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