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The Government of the Republic of Serbia

In the service of citizens

Djelic, Kiriyenko meet

Belgrade/Vienna, 30 September 2008

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Science and Technological Development Bozidar Djelic met in Vienna with head of the Russian Federal Agency for Nuclear Energy Rosatom Sergey Kiriyenko and agreed that the inter-state agreement on transporting spent nuclear fuel from the Vinca institute should be completed by end-year.

Djelic, who is heading a Serbian delegation at the general conference of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna, said last night that he and Kiriyenko also discussed commercial sections of the arrangement.

According to him, spent fuel from the nuclear reactor in Vinca is to be returned to the country of origin – Russia – before 2010.

Djelic said that the Vinca Institute Nuclear Decommissioning (VIND) programme, implemented with international assistance, is composed of three parts. The first is the transport of the spent fuel to Russia, the second the construction of safe storage facilities in Serbia for the remaining nuclear waste and the third is decommission of the reactor.

The fuel transfer to Russia costs around $40 million, of which sum enough has been collected so far to ensure safe packaging and transport, added Djelic.

He noted that in order to interest more donators in the remaining portion of finances, he will attend a donors’ conference tomorrow dedicated to the VIND project.

He said that the Serbian delegation is taking part in the IAEA conference as a country that is giving its contribution to nuclear safety and the fight against nuclear terrorism.

He stressed that the importance of nuclear energy in the civil sector is obviously on the increase and added that Serbia does not have plans in this respect, because there is a legal ban on it.

At today’s plenary session Djelic will speak about synchronising Serbian regulations on nuclear and radiation safety with EU and international standards, which is one of Serbia’s obligations stemming from the Stabilisation and Association Agreement with the EU.

Djelic will also meet with IAEA director general Mohamed El Baradei, head of the UN Organisation for Industrial Development Kandeh Yumkella and a US delegation.