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This is an archived page. Please visit the new Ukraine country profile
Ukraine: Foreign Assistance Overview  Nuclear
Disarmament
 Cooperative Threat Reduction Program
CTR Funding for Ukraine
Defense Conversion
Agreement
Science and Technology Center in
Ukraine (STCU)
Nuclear Power and Safety
International Assistance:
Canada, France,
Germany, IAEA,
Italy,
Japan, TACIS,
United Kingdom
Nuclear Disarmament Approximately $11 million has been used to finance several defense conversion projects involving Ukrainian firms which formed part of the Soviet nuclear weapons complex, including the Khartron Production Association in Kharkiv and the Kommunar Production Association in Zaporizhzhya.[2] Implementation of these projects began following the signing of the Defense Conversion Agreement by the United States and Ukraine in December 1994.[3] To facilitate the retirement of Strategic Rocket Forces officers in Ukraine who operated the missile units subject to elimination, the United States agreed to provide housing, thus satisfying Ukrainian laws mandating that all officers be provided housing upon retirement. By November 1997 the US Army Corps of Engineers, in conjunction with US and Ukrainian firms, had constructed 261 houses at the Pervomaysk ICBM base and 605 apartments at the Khmelnytskyy ICBM base.[4] Another major CTR-funded project is the Science and Technology Center in Ukraine (STCU) the main mission of which is to support research projects by Ukrainian scientists who were previously involved in the development of weapons of mass destruction or their delivery systems. The center was established on the basis of an agreement signed on 25 October 1993 by Canada, Sweden, Ukraine, and the United States. On 4 May 1994 Ukrainian President Leonid Kravchuk issued an edict by which the STCU entered into force. The STCU became fully active in January 1995.[5] Since its beginning, the STCU has funded projects worth $29 million and involving over 4500 scientists.[6] In addition to CTR funds, the STCU receives significant financial support from other signatories of the founding agreement. While the US has been the largest single donor of assistance
for Ukrainian nuclear disarmament, other countries have contributed significant
amounts of aid as well.
Canada has donated $15 million for projects ranging from
environmental restoration of eliminated ICBM silo sites and conversion of defense
industry enterprises to civilian production, to radiation monitoring and reactor
safety and funding the Science and Technology Center in Ukraine.[7]
The government of
Germany has allocated DM 3.5
million for ICBM silo elimination, as well as additional funds for medical
equipment and officer housing.[8,9]
Japan has contributed $16 million to Ukrainian disarmament
efforts.
Nuclear Power and Safety Several countries have offered to assist Ukraine in closing down the Chornobyl NPP and restoring the environment affected by the 1986 disaster. By July 2000 the G-7, the European Union and 30 other countries pledged $715 million for the Chornobyl Shelter Fund, which was initiated in Denver in July 1997. Ukraine plans additional donor conferences, to raise the additional $53 million required for the reconstruction of the existing Chornobyl Unit 4 sarcophagus and the construction of a new containment structure.[6,7] Through the end of 1997, the US government had provided $5.4 million to the Chornobyl Center on Problems of Nuclear Safety, Radioactive Waste, and Radioecology. The Center has been involved in a number of projects related to the safety of the Chornobyl Unit 4 sarcophagus.[8] European countries have provided assistance to this center as well. Germany and Italy have expressed interest in the project, and France agreed in 1996 to provide roughly $200,000 in aid.[9] Along with attracting assistance for nuclear safety and the Chornobyl shut-down, Ukraine has been seeking foreign support for the completion of additional power units at Rivne and Khmelnytskyy NPPs, hoping to receive a loan from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD). Although the German government's June 2000 decision to phase out nuclear energy placed its support, as a major EBRD shareholder, for the loans under some doubt, on 7 December 2000 the EBRD approved a $215 million loan for the completion and safety upgrade of Rivne-4 and Khmelnytskyy-2 units.[10,11,14] In November 2001 Ukraine rejected the EBRD requirements and in December 2001 it reached a preliminary agreement with Russia concerning loans and credits for the reactor construction.[15] As of April 2002, negotiations with the EBRD continued, however.[16] US assistance to Ukraine in the area of
nuclear safety has centered on
improving its Materials Protection, Control, and Accountability (MPC&A)
safeguards (please see
Ukraine: MPC&A
Overview).
Additionally, the United States assisted Ukraine through the transfer of dry
nuclear waste storage technologies under the US Department of Energy's
International Nuclear Safety Program.[12] In 1999
the US government provided $25 million for nuclear safety programs, and in the
same year the US-Ukrainian Agreement on Cooperation in the Nuclear Energy Field
was signed.
This agreement includes the Ukraine Nuclear Fuel Qualification Project with an
estimated cost of $30 million. Its implementation began in June 2000, when
Presidents Clinton and Kuchma signed the project's implementing agreement in
Kiev.[13] For more recent updates, see the Ukraine: Cooperative Threat Reduction Program, Ukraine: Other US Assistance Programs, and Ukraine: International Assistance Programs files. Comments or questions? Contact Michael Jasinski at MIIS CNS: Michael.Jasinski@miis.edu
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