EU contributions to nuclear safety and security.
Date: 2023-08-01
Institutions: Joint Research Centre
Subjects: fund (EU), international cooperation, nuclear accident, nuclear safety, nuclear security, technical standard, vocational training

EU CONTRIBUTIONS 
TO NUCLEAR SAFETY 
AND SECURITY

July 2023

The EU is resolved to ensure the highest standards of nuclear safety, security and safeguards worldwide 
and recognises the IAEA’s central role in this regard.

The European Union supports preventive measures to secure nuclear and radiological materials throughout their 
entire lifecycles against malicious acts perpetrated by threat actors, and help strengthen nuclear security 
capabilities around the world. 

IAEA NUCLEAR SECURITY FUND

The EU remains a major donor to the IAEA Nuclear Security Fund with about €60 million committed for the period of 
2009-2023 through eight successive actions in support of IAEA’s nuclear security activities.

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The EU contributes €3 million to the IAEA Marie Sklodowska-Curie Fellowship, funding at least 100 students
between 2020 and 2023.

In partnership with the International Science and Technology Center (ISTC) and the Science and Technology Centre
in Ukraine, the EU supports a large scale Nuclear Forensics project with a budget of €2,3 million, covering Georgia,
Ukraine, Azerbaijan, Moldova and Armenia.

The EU supports the Centre of Excellence of Eastern and Central Africa in Nuclear Security amounted to €5 million,
covering  Kenya,  Ghana,  the  Democratic  Republic  of  Congo,  Uganda,  Rwanda,  Tanzania,  Burundi,  the  Seychelles,
Zambia, Malawi and Namibia.

The  EU  contributed  with  €340  000  to  the  Regional  Human  Resource  Development  for  Nuclear  Safety,  Security
and Safeguards Management through a University Masters Programme, carried out in Thailand (2012-2016) with
participants from Cambodia, the Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

EUROPEAN INSTRUMENT FOR INTERNATIONAL 
NUCLEAR SAFETY COOPERATION 

The  European  Instrument  for  International  Nuclear  Safety  Cooperation  (INSC),  with 
a budget of €300 million for 2021-2027 helps to strengthen nuclear safety and 
radiation protection, waste management, and safeguards in countries outside the EU.

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The EU contributed to the establishment and secure management of the IAEA Low
Enriched Uranium (LEU) Bank with €24,4 million, of which €20 million to acquire LEU
and €4,4 million for nuclear safety and security related measures.

The EU is cooperating closely with the Central Asian countries in improving the life
quality  in  regions  impacted  by  uranium  legacy  contamination.  The  EU  has  thus  spent  more  than  €36  million
since the 2012 in a regional Environmental Remediation Program for Central Asia in response to two UN General
Assembly Resolutions.

IAEA nuclear safety projects with EU support include, among others, development of emergency, preparedness and
response procedures in Western Balkans countries and the upgrading of the Metzamor Nuclear Power Plant to meet
current nuclear safety standards in Armenia.

EUR 
300 million

(2021-2027)
European Instrument 
for International 
Nuclear Safety 
Cooperation (INSC)

IMPROVING AWARENESS AND RISK 
MITIGATION CAPABILITIES THROUGH 
THE EU CBRN CENTRES OF EXCELLENCE 

The EU launched in 2010 the EU CBRN Centres of Excellence (CoE) Initiative to support countries outside EU 
to strengthen the institutional capacity to mitigate CBRN risks. The initiative provides support for regional and 
inter-regional projects in the area of CBRN risk prevention, emergency preparedness and response. Some figures about 
the EU CBRN CoE:

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63 partner countries clustered under 8 regions, with national focal points and permanent regional secretariats

90 projects funded

45 national expert teams gathering representatives from national ministries, agencies and industry

45  partner  countries  completed  a  needs  assessment  questionnaire  (NAQ),  out  of  which  30  adopted  a
national action plan (NAP)

ENHANCING NUCLEAR SECURITY CULTURE 
THROUGH TRAINING AND JOINT EXERCISES

The JRC established the EUSECTRA training centre, at the service of EU Member States interested in improving their 
knowledge  on  nuclear  security  and  safeguards, and to collaborate with international partners and cooperating 
states.

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Highly  specialised  training:  EUSECTRA  programme  implements  the  commitments  made  by  the  European
Commission  to  enhancing  nuclear  security  culture  in  the  EU  and  globally,  by  providing  highly  specialised
training to front line officers and law enforcement bodies, nuclear security experts or safeguards inspectors, border
control officers, among others.

2000  participants,  90  countries:  EUSECTRA  combines  scientific  expertise,  specialized  technical
infrastructure and availability of a wide range of nuclear and radioactive materials, to have trained more
than 2000 participants from around 90 countries worldwide in preparedness, detection capabilities and response
to nuclear and radiological security events, and safeguards inspectors from IAEA and EURATOM.

EUSECTRA  Training  Portfolio:  Training areas for EUSECTRA include border detection, mobile detection, covert
search, train-the-trainers, Mobile Experts Support Team, reach-back, creation of national response plans, nuclear
forensics,  radiological  crime  scene  management,  nuclear  security  awareness,  and  sustainability  of  a  national
nuclear security posture, together with dedicated safeguards trainings of IAEA and EURATOM.

EUSECTRA Remote Interactive eTraining: Launched in November 2021, these training sessions have a focus on
live field/practical exercises supported by modern technical tools and new learning facilities. The hybrid approach of
the remote real-field exercises is meant to reinforce the EU’s strong contribution to strengthening capacity building
worldwide, particularly on CBRN related threats and nuclear terrorism.

ENSURING ILLICIT TRAFFICKING RADIATION 
DETECTION TECHNOLOGIES 

Through the Illicit Trafficking Radiation Assessment Programme (ITRAP+10), the JRC and international partners 
worked to ensure that rad-nuc detection equipment is tested according to state-of-the-art standards, providing 
first responders agencies and industry stakeholders with reliable performance assessments. These are ITRAP+10 
main outcomes:

• Over  150  instruments  tested:  The  JRC  and  partners  assessed  the  performance  of  more  than  150  different
detection technologies and transferred the methodology to European laboratories with a view of strengthening
capacity for testing equipment within Europe.

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9 international standards developed: European experts contributed to the development of nine international
standards (including revisions) within the IEC/SC 45B ‘Radiation protection instrumentation’.

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JRC130809    
KJ-09-23-340-EN-N         

     doi:10.2760/40039
     ISBN:978-92-68-05730-8