Freeze on cold war reactors

and

are set to receive £2.2 million of

money to help decommission their reactors and reduce the risk of nuclear proliferation Energy Minister Malcolm Wicks announced today.

The money, made available under DTI’s nuclear legacy programme for the former Soviet Union, will fund two projects including £330,000 to decommission a fast breeder reactor in Aktau, Kazakhstan, effectively guaranteeing that the reactor cannot be restarted to produce weapon’s grade plutonium.

The second project is to enhance physical security at the Karpov Institute, a Russian research institute south of Moscow that holds significant quantities of nuclear and radioactive material.

The UK, working in close collaboration with the Russian authorities, has agreed to carry out a range of improvements valued up to £1.9 million to bring site security up to acceptable standards.