📋 Tender Overview
Russian attacks on Ukraine's energy production have intensified recently. It has made the country even more dependent on nuclear power, and President Zelenskyy has recently expressed concern that Russia will also affect this production.
Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide visited the Rivne nuclear power plant in Ukraine on Friday to express Norwegian support for work on nuclear safety.
Russian attacks against the Ukrainian power grid can endanger nuclear safety even if the nuclear power plants are not directly affected. International law places a clear responsibility on the parties to avoid disproportionate civil damages. Any attack that endangers nuclear security in Ukraine and in Europe will therefore be unacceptable, he says.
Repeated blackouts and persistently unstable power supply increase the risk of unwanted incidents at the nuclear power plants operating in Ukraine. The nuclear power plants depend on stable electricity from the grid.
Secure power supply is absolutely necessary for Ukraine. They face a very demanding winter. The destruction has made Ukraine even more dependent on nuclear power to ensure the electricity supply to the population, says the foreign minister. Norway has long cooperated with Ukraine on nuclear safety. Through the Nansen programme, Norway contributes with important investments in Ukraine's energy supply and with measures that strengthen nuclear safety, says Foreign Minister Barth Eide.
A nuclear incident can have consequences across national borders. Our nuclear safety cooperation with Ukraine started after the Chernobyl accident in 1986, which led to radioactive contamination over large areas, also in Norway. Cooperation with Ukraine was expanded after Russia's illegal annexation of Crimea and destabilization of eastern Ukraine in 2014.
Norwegian cooperation with Ukraine was greatly strengthened in 2022. Norway has contributed to increased nuclear safety in Ukraine in several areas, says Eide.
Among other things, Norway contributes with strengthened security at nuclear power plants, tighter border controls to prevent the smuggling of nuclear and other radioactive material, nuclear preparedness and strengthening of the Ukrainian nuclear safety authority. Control of spent nuclear fuel and radioactive sources and waste, environmental monitoring and regulatory development are also important areas of cooperation. Incidents and radioactive emissions at the three nuclear power plants Rivne, Khmelnitsky, and Southern Ukraine entail the greatest risk, because they are in operation.
The fact that Norway already had good and long-term nuclear security cooperation with Ukraine when the war broke out in full, meant that we could cover urgent needs as early as March 2022. We then delivered equipment to the border control authority and Rivne nuclear power plant received the necessary spare parts for safe operation. We have also supported Rivne with measures for cyber security at the systems at the nuclear power plant, and equipment to ensure rapid start-up of the reactors after automatic shutdown as a result of unstable power supply, says Eide.?
Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant is under Russian control. The reactors today shut down. Power supply is nevertheless absolutely necessary to be able to cool the reactors, and to maintain safety and control systems. At Zaporizjzja, since 2022, they have used diesel generators on several occasions following damage to the external power supply.
We are very concerned about the serious situation at the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant. The IAEA plays an important role in Ukraine as the only international actor present at all the nuclear power plants, including at Zaporizhzhya. Norway supports the IAEA's work in Ukraine, and we are extending the agreement on funds for this work in 2025. Norway is the largest contributor to the international fund which will contribute to the clean-up of Chernobyl after the devastation by Russian forces, and which will also support other nuclear power plants in Ukraine. Norway is active in international cooperation to support Ukraine in the area of ??nuclear security. Important partners include the EU, the USA, Great Britain and other Nordic countries, says Eide.
In June 2024, the government presented the parliamentary report International cooperation on nuclear safety and the environment in a changed Europe. We report on what we have achieved through the nuclear safety cooperation after the last report to the Storting on the topic in 2010 to 2023. The government's action plan for nuclear safety and the environment has been leading Norwegian work since the 1990s. Until 2022, most of the nuclear security cooperation was in North-West Russia. Norway has spent nearly NOK 2.5 billion on the nuclear action plan. The new report to the Storting describes the absolutely necessary restructuring of our nuclear cooperation and lays down guidelines for the way forward.
