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IAEA / RUSSIA SERBIA NUCLEAR DEAL
STORY: IAEA / RUSSIA-SERBIA NUCLEAR DEAL
TRT: 1.41
SOURCE: IAEA
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / ARABIC / NATS
DATELINE: 16, 15 SEPTEMBER 2009, VIENNA, AUSTRIA / FILE
15 SEPTEMBER 2009, VIENNA, AUSTRIA
1. Med shot, signing procedure
2. Close up, hands signing document
3. Med shot, documents being exchanged
1 JULY 2009, VINCA, SERBIA
4. Close up, gloved hand holding radioactive fuel element
5. Med shot, scientist in white coat holding radioactive fuel element
6. Close up, radioactive sign
7. Wide shot, fence outside Vinca Institute of Nuclear Sciences
8. Wide shot, Vinca Institute of Nuclear Sciences
16 SEPTEMBER 2009, VIENNA, AUSTRIA
9. SOUNDBITE (English) Dr Mohamed ElBaradei, IAEA Director General: “We have had a lot of concern from a safety perspective, from a security perspective. It is a large undertaking it’s about 25 million dollars to remove the spent fuel to Russia for reprocessing.”
1 JULY 2009, VINCA, SERBIA
10. Med shot, sealed off area in research reactor
15 SEPTEMBER 2009, VIENNA, AUSTRIA
11. SOUNDBITE (English) Mr. Božidar Đelic, Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Serbia:
“There is really a very wide front helping in the heart of Europe to make sure there are no nuclear terrorism threats and also that there are no environmental threats, because Vinca is only a few kilometres away from Belgrade and from the Danube.”
1 JULY 2009, VINCA, SERBIA
12. Pan left, IAEA Director General, Dr Mohamed El Baradei with a group in white overalls during a walk through the reactor.
13. Med shot, delegation with El Baradei walking outside the research reactor.
14. Med shot, a stack of red fuel drums lined up against a wall.
15 SEPTEMBER 2009, VIENNA, AUSTRIA
15. SOUNDBITE (English) Ambassador Lars-Erik Lundin, Head of Delegation, European Union, Delegation of the European Commission to the International Organizations in Vienna: “
“We expect, of course, that the western Balkans and Serbia will become members of the European Union at some point. We would like to help to see that they can enter the EU with as little problems as possible also in this area. And this particular institution was a problem, and this particular fuel was a problem, we had to get rid of it.”
1 JULY 2009, VINCA, SERBIA
16. Med shot, hand shake after signing ceremony, delegations clapping in the background
A (USD) 25 million dollar agreement that will allow spent nuclear fuel to be removed from Serbia and returned to Russia was signed this week at the IAEA’s General Conference.
The irradiated fuel looks similar to this but is highly radioactive. For decades about 2.5 tonnes of these elements have been sitting at the Vinca Institute of Nuclear Sciences, each containing a radioactive cocktail of plutonium and enriched uranium.
SOUNDBITE (English) Mohamed El Baradei, IAEA Director General:
“We have had a lot of concern from a safety perspective, from a security perspective. It is a large undertaking it’s about 25 million Dollars to remove the spent fuel to Russia for reprocessing.”
The fuel once powered this nuclear research reactor, which was shut down in 1984. Now it can be returned to Russia, which supplied the fuel during Soviet times.
SOUNDBITE (English) Božidar Đelic, Deputy Prime Minister of the Republic of Serbia:
“There is really a very wide front helping in the heart of Europe to make sure there are no nuclear terrorism threats and also that there are no environmental threats, because Vinca is only a few kilometres away from Belgrade and from the Danube.”
For more than two decades, the radioactive waste was left to cool in a pool of water beneath the floor. The elements have corroded and leached radiation into the water. By signing this contract, the fuel can now be repackaged, with plans to return it to Russia in 2010.
The IAEA spearheaded the project with Serbia to secure and clean up the site, funded by Serbia, the Nuclear Threat Initiative, the Czech Republic, USA, Russia and the European Union.
SOUNDBITE (English) Ambassador Lars-Erik Lundin, Head of Delegation, European Union, Delegation of the European Commission to the International Organisations in Vienna:
“We expect, of course, that the western Balkans and Serbia will become members of the European Union at some point. We would like to help to see that they can enter the EU with as little problems as possible also in this area. And this particular institution was a problem, and this particular fuel was a problem, we had to get rid of it.”
This week’s signing will make that a reality, and finally strip Vinca of its irradiated fuel.
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