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Nuclear waste from Vinca Institute to be removed by year-end

Belgrade/Vienna, 20 September 2010

Deputy Prime Minister for European Integration and Minister of Science and Technological Development Bozidar Djelic said today that nuclear waste will be removed from the Vinca Institute of Nuclear Science by year-end.

Djelic, who is heading a Serbian delegation at the 54th session of the General Conference of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna, said that in the talks with IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano and Serbia’s key partners – Europe, Russia and the US, it was agreed that the project of nuclear decommission is progressing well.

Djelic told Tanjug news agency that this nuclear decommissioning in the Vinca Institute is a very important goal for Serbia with which a very serious problem that has existed for 26 years would be resolved. The scientific reactor in Vinca was put out of operation in 1984 and since then nuclear fuel has been waiting for removal.

Upon the completion of this task an international event will be held in Serbia, he said and added that Serbia has been evaluated as the most positive example of international diplomacy in the field of nuclear safety.

Serbia, which ratified the Additional protocol for control of nuclear facilities, has received support for obtaining funds from IAEA for research of use of nuclear energy in medicine, where we identified the issue of cancer treatment as one of the priorities, the Deputy Prime Minister explained.

Djelic today also met with US Secretary of Energy Steven Chu and thanked him on US support to Serbia in the relocation of nuclear fuel.

Djelic and Chu reached an agreement on the next meeting in Washington focusing on the two countries’ cooperation in the field of sustainable energy, which is an area which US President Barack Obama defined it as a key research priority for America in the 21st century.