Nuclear safety cooperation with Ukraine

At a meeting with Ukraine’s Acting Foreign Minister Andrii Deshchytsia during the Nuclear Security Summit in The Hague, Prime Minister Erna Solberg was able to offer Ukraine a long-term programme of safety cooperation with Sweden and Norway at the country’s four nuclear power plants.

Norway and Sweden are to have further talks with the Ukrainian authorities to discuss more specifically what assistance Ukraine needs.

“We can build on 20 years’ experience of similar cooperation with Russia, where the focus has been on safety and emergency preparedness, based on close cooperation between the authorities,” said the Prime Minister.

In 2012, Norway and Ukraine concluded a bilateral agreement on safety and emergency preparedness at Ukraine’s nuclear power plants.

Ukraine currently has four operating nuclear power plants, with 15 reactors in all. These provide about 50 % of the country’s electricity supplies.

In addition to the Swedish-Norwegian cooperation, Norway will participate in two US-run projects in Ukraine. These are on strengthening border controls, among other things to prevent smuggling of radioactive material, and on radiation control and monitoring.