- Status
- Closed
Background
At the time of this contract the European Commission was supporting the improvement of the nuclear safety in North-West Russia by implementing several different technical assistance programmes. Most of these programmes were directly dealing with the improvement of the safety of nuclear reactor systems or of their operations.
One of these programmes was focusing on the improvement of the nuclear safety aspects connected with storage and transport of spent fuel in the regions of Murmansk and Arkhangelsk and with storage, treatment and disposal of radioactive waste in these regions. Several technical assistance projects had been initiated as part of these programmes.
In addition to the technical assistance financed by the European Commission, significant technical assistance was also being provided on a bilateral basis to the same regions in Russia by other countries, such as Norway, France and the USA.
At the time, other countries, such as the UK, Germany and the Netherlands were also interested in starting to provide technical assistance to address the same problems in these regions, again on a bilateral basis.
Considering the results from the first assistance projects in North-West Russia, the European Commission was considering the possibilities of developing this assistance programme more in-depth.
Taking into account the increasing interests in the provision of technical assistance by other donor countries, coordination between the different donors and programmes was becoming more and more important. This was required in order to avoid overlaps in the work and also in seeking optimum cooperation in order to realize more significant improvement steps.
In order to prepare conceptual lines for such assistance and to develop specific proposals (scope, detailed project indications, financial aspects, constraints), the European Commission considered it necessary to consult with all key countries and organizations, both in Russia and in the EU and even beyond. For this consultation the Commission was seeking independent Expert assistance.
Objectives
The contracted Expert was expected to perform the tasks listed below in close coordination with the Commission. More in particular he/she was required to brief and de-brief the Commission on meetings and achievements, assist the Commission in setting out a policy for this activity and take this policy through.
Task 1 Consultation
The Expert was required to consult key representatives from the countries involved in the activities in North-West Russia, in particular those in Russia (representatives from the 'Liaison Group' as well as the Murmansk Shipping Company), the European Commission (DG I and DG XI), Norway, USA as well as representatives from Contractors already working on technical assistance projects in North-West Russia. This included representatives from companies in France, Belgium and UK.
The Expert was also expected to consult key representatives from countries that were considering bilateral assistance to address the same or similar problems in these regions in the near future.
The consultations with these stakeholders was required to focus on their objectives and targets, programmes, results already achieved, experiences in implementing assistance, assessment of needs, priority schemes, possibilities to contribute and willingness to cooperate.
Task 2 Drafting conceptual policy lines
Based on the input from Task 1, the Expert had to develop, in close cooperation with the Commission, draft conceptual policy lines for future technical assistance for North-West Russia, indicating specific projects.
In this draft concept attention was given to:
- Cooperation potential with other donor countries
- Implementation aspects
- Specific constraints, which might affect implementability of certain projects (military objects, non-proliferation, nuclear liability issues)
Task 3. Reporting
The Expert was required to report in the following way:
Mission reports for every mission in the form of a brief visit report or minutes of meeting, summarizing the key people and the key issues discussed as well as the results of the meeting.
A draft Conceptual plan for discussion with the Commission and a final conceptual plan taking into account the considerations of the Commission.