Annex 1

of the Commission Implementing Decision on the Annual Action Programme 2013 for Nuclear Safety Cooperation to be financed from the general budget of the European Union

Action Fiche for Central Asia

1.  Identification

Title/Number / MC4.02/13 – Urgent measures for the management and remediation of high risk uranium legacy sites in Central Asia
Total cost / Total estimated cost: EUR 3 million
Total amount of EU budget contribution
Instrument for Nuclear Safety Cooperation (INSC)
Aid method / Method of implementation / Project approach:
Direct centralised management – procurement of services and supplies
Joint management with UNDP
DAC-code / 23064 / Sector / Nuclear Safety

2.  Rationale & Context

2.1.  Summary of the action and its objectives

The objectives of the project are to improve the safety of the uranium legacy sites in Central Asia and to prepare the basis for future remediation works. The actions will include the construction of a water treatment facility in Taboshar in Tajikistan and a stakeholder engagement process for uranium legacy remediation in Central Asia. The foreseen actions contain the financing of a number of tools aimed at building consensus among national and local authorities on the measures to be carried out.

2.2.  Context

Uranium ore mining and milling in the Central Asian region carried out between 1944 and 1995 provided approximately 30% of the uranium production of the Soviet Union. This resulted in the significant legacy of about 1 billion tones of waste from uranium ore mining and processing. After 1995 many of the conventional uranium mines were closed and a considerable number of uranium legacy sites were left without appropriate monitoring and maintenance. A strategy on remediation priorities in Central Asia was developed through a baseline technical document[1]. This report identified hot spots and priorities for site remediation activities in the most affected countries Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.

Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan have inherited together with Uzbekistan the majority of uranium legacy sites. Especially the first two countries do not have the technical capabilities and economic means to conduct safety and environmental impact assessments of these legacies, including the development of national strategies for environmental remediation. The current situation has a severe impact on the living conditions of the local population, in particular with respect to public health and environmental conditions, i.e contamination of drinking water with radioactive materials. The nature of the problem has in various cases a cross-boundary dimension.

The European Commission under the INSC programme is funding already one regional and five site-specific projects in the Central Asian region. All these uranium legacy sites benefitting from these projects were rated as high priority in the recent International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) assessment1.

The EC under the INSC programme funded Environment Impact Assessments (EIA) and Feasibility Studies (FS) for the region that will result in the identification of necessary remediation works and their technical specifications, including the legacy site at Taboshar in Tajikistan. The situation at Taboshar is serious and urgent actions are required. The radiotoxicity of the outflowing water coming from the mines exceeds the World Health Organisation limit for drinking water 50 times or even more. The population of Taboshar uses this water for drinking, for livestock and for the irrigation of crops due to the lack of alternative water resources in the area.

The current projects in the region require comprehensive site characterisation activities (soil/water sampling, borehole drilling and air monitoring). There is a need to promote public awareness on the activities to be carried out including outreach activities in order to inform local governments and local communities in an appropriate manner. There is also a need to promote capacity building to ensure well-informed decision-making processes with public support and grassroot-level involvement to guarantee the successful implementation of the EIA and FS studies/projects.

2.3. Lessons learnt

There are a number of important lessons to be learned from similar large scale multi-donor funding projects. These are:

- A comprehensive Environment Impact Assessment (including safety assessment) and Feasibility Study (FS) for each high priority legacy site in Central Asia is essential for the identification, justification and prioritizing of the environmental remediation needs. It is also a crucial tool to identify the financial needs and means to ensure proper implementation of the planned activities;

- The engagement and involvement of the local population and the local government in the decision-making processes of an Environment Impact Assessment and in the development of the FS is also essential to obtain acceptance of the work by those that will benefit from the remediation activities. Experience elsewhere has shown that such an approach is essential to avoid unnecessary delays and thus higher costs in carrying out remediation works;

- Special attention needs to be paid to capacity building at local level to ensure that local entities will be able to carry out the necessary work in conformity with high safety standards and in an independent manner. This will require training and transfer of know-how in cooperation with EU-funded consultants/contractors and local beneficiaries.

2.3.  Complementary actions

The project is complementary to the regional approach that is followed under project REG4.01/10 towards the establishment of a legislative and regulatory framework for the remediation of uranium mining legacy sites in Central Asia, the establishment of a regional watershed monitoring system and capacity building in analytical techniques, training and education and information exchange. Particular consideration will be given to the interaction with site specific projects UZ4.01/10, KG4.01/11, TJ4.01/11, TJ4.02/11 and KG4.01/12 that are performing Environment Impact Assessments and Feasibility Studies in high priority uranium legacy sites.

2.4.  Donor coordination

The EU has been actively involved in the initial regional initiative on the remediation of legacy of uranium mines and tailings that was launched by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and which has also been supported by the IAEA, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), the World Bank, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). The baseline technical document1 of a team of high-level EU experts, appointed to review and classify the available information on uranium mines, tailings and mills in the region, to recommend remedial actions and prioritisation criteria and then to propose projects accordingly has been the basis for planning future related activities among the above donors, under the technical lead of the IAEA.

The EU is providing technical assistance on uranium remediation activities in Central Asia in the framework of the on-going project MC1.01/10 with the IAEA and its member states, where the technical coordination of uranium remediation projects funded by different donors and the appropriate contacts with the partner countries in Central Asia are being addressed.

At a recently organised IAEA coordination meeting[2], the creation of a new Coordination Group for Uranium Legacy Sites (CGULS) was agreed among the concerned states in Central Asia and main national/international organizations involved in the management, remediation or regulatory oversight of uranium legacy sites. The CGULS secretariat will be under the technical lead of the IAEA and the coordination group will be providing an important forum for information exchange, provision of technical advice and coordinating of the actions of members to maximize synergies and avoid duplication of effort. The European Commission supports the objectives and the scope of the CGULS. It will use this platform to coordinate with donors on activities in the field of environmental remediation.

3.  Detailed Description

3.1.  Objectives

The general long-term objective of the project is to improve safety of uranium legacy sites in Central Asia through justified remediation actions.

The specific objectives are:

- To improve the protection against radiation exposure for the population of Taboshar;

- To improve stakeholder involvement in remediation activities in Central Asia.

3.2.  Expected results and main activities

The project is planned to be implemented through the following four tasks:

- Establishing a water treatment facility at Taboshar;

- Improvement of stakeholder involvement for uranium legacy remediation in Central Asia including knowledge about the remediated sites and monitoring.

A)  Establishing a water treatment facility at Taboshar

The main activities of this task are:

- The design and engineering of a water treatment facility needed for the cleaning of the contaminated waters from the Taboshar legacy site;

- The supply and installation of the water treatment facility at Taboshar.

The result will be the establishment of a system adequate to clean the water at Taboshar from its high pollution with uranium thus allowing its use for irrigation of crops, for cattle and eventually as drinking water by the local population.

B)  Improvement of stakeholder engagement for uranium legacy remediation in Central Asia

There is a need to engage stakeholders in remediation efforts to obtain their support for the remediation works because of the significant impact of the abandoned uranium legacy sites upon the surrounding communities, as well as the highly technical nature of this work. The main activities under this task will be to focus on the involvement and information of stakeholders concerning uranium legacy sites remediation in order to clearly demonstrate the benefits for the population involved as well as to inform about the positive impact on public health and the environment. This will be done for all legacy sites in the Central Asian countries for which INSC funded EIA and FS projects are on-going or envisaged.

The expected results will be:

•  An assessment of the stakeholder risk perceptions and capacities;

•  An increased public awareness and outreach that will facilitate transparency, uptake and well-informed decision-making about planned remediation activities;

•  Increased national and local capacities to ensure sustainable stakeholder involvement.

3.3.  Risks and assumptions

The proposed activities are part of a wider long-term international programme on the support of management and remediation of uranium legacy sites in Central Asia. It is developed and implemented by the EU and several other international donors and national authorities in the partner countries. Close coordination with other international donors (e.g. through CGULS) will have to be established and maintained. There is a considerable risk that national and local authorities are not convinced of the effectiveness of the actions to be carried out. These risks will be mitigated with extensive consultation procedures with the relevant authorities in the countries concerned.

Capacity building at local level is crucial to minimize the risk of weak implementation of the project.

3.4.  Cross-cutting issues

The project tasks will contribute to the overall improvement of the living conditions of the population concerned, and to environmental sustainability. It will reduce the current public health and environmental risks resulting from the present state of the uranium legacy sites in Central Asia. In particular, remediation of the most urgent problems of the legacy sites in Central Asia will benefit the citizens of the concerned region by substantially reducing the exposure of the public to sources of ionising radiation.

3.5.  Stakeholders

The main stakeholders of the project are the people and the Governments of Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.

4.  Implementation Issues

4.1.  Financing agreement

In order to implement this action, it is foreseen to conclude a financing agreement for Task A with the partner country, referred to in Article 184(2)(b) of the Financial Regulation.

4.2.  Indicative operational implementation period

The indicative operational implementation period of this action, during which the activities described in sections 3.2. and 4.3. will be carried out, is 48 months, subject to modifications to be agreed by the responsible authorising officer in the relevant agreements.

4.3.  Implementation components and modules

4.3.1.  Procurement (direct centralised management)

Subject in generic terms, if possible / Type (works, supplies, services) / Indicative number of contracts / Indicative trimester of launch of the procedure
Task A / Services/supplies / 2 / 2/2015

4.3.2.  Joint management with an international organisation

Task B of this action with the objective of engaging local stakeholders in relation with remediation of uranium legacy sites in Central Asia will be implemented in joint management with UNDP for an amount of EUR 0.5 million. This implementation is justified because UNDP and the partner organisations in the ENVSEC[3] interagency consortium have a strong presence and experience in dealing with the local stakeholders in the affected uranium legacy sites in Central Asia. Joint management with this international organisation in accordance with Article 53d of Financial Regulation 1605/2002 is possible because the organisation is bound by a long-term framework agreement (FAFA). The international organisation will implement together with the ENVSEC consortium partners a stakeholder engagement project for the uranium legacy sites in Central Asia.

The change of method of implementation constitutes a substantial change except where the Commission "re-centralises" or reduces the level of budget-implementation tasks previously entrusted to the international organisation.

4.4.  Scope of geographical eligibility for procurement in direct centralised and decentralised management

Subject to the following, the geographical eligibility in terms of place of establishment for participating in procurement procedures and in terms of origin of supplies and materials purchased as established in the basic act shall apply.

The responsible authorising officer may extend the geographical eligibility in accordance with Article 14(7) of the basic act on the basis of the unavailability of products and services in the markets of the countries concerned, for reasons of extreme urgency, or if the eligibility rules would make the realisation of this action impossible or exceedingly difficult.

4.5.  Indicative budget

Module / Amount in EUR thousands / Third party contribution
4.3.3. – Procurement (direct centralised) / 2450 / N.A.
4.7. – Evaluation and audit (indicative) / 30 / N.A.
4.8. – Communication and visibility (indicative) / 20 / N.A.
Contingencies / 0 / N.A.
4.3.2. – Joint management with UNDP / 500 / N.A.
Totals / 3.000 / N.A.

4.6.  Performance monitoring

The project will be subject to Results Oriented Monitoring providing valuable insights for each specific project but also on the performance of the contractor on the global tasks. Next to Result Oriented Monitoring the project will be monitored internally using traditional project management Key Performance Indicators, such as: