These funds will contribute to the continuation of safe decommissioning of the nuclear power plants Kozloduy, Ignalina and Bohunice.

The Union assistance for decommissioning of nuclear power plants aims at reaching an irreversible state in the decommissioning process and eliminating the major source of radiological hazard.

The Community contribution to the programme under this Regulation shall be granted for the purpose of providing financial support for measures connected with the decommissioning of the Bohunice V1 nuclear power plant, measures for environmental upgrading in line with the acquis and for modernising conventional production capacity to replace the production capacity of the two reactors at the Bohunice V1 power plant and other measures which stem from the decision to close and decommission this plant and which contribute to the necessary restructuring, upgrading of the environment and modernisation of the energy production, transmission and ...[+++] distribution sectors in Slovakia as well as to enhancing security of supply and energy efficiency in Slovakia.

Nuclear liabilities arise primarily from the need to reprocess or store and ultimately dispose of spent nuclear fuel (back-end liabilities) and from the need to decommission nuclear power stations at the end of their commercial lives (decommissioning liabilities).

Third, as to decommissioning of the nuclear power plants of Ignalina in Lithuania and Bohunice V1 in Slovakia, the results of the negotiations foresee the need to create a specific decommissioning facility in order to finance Community support for such activities at least up to the year 2006.

The auditor general has repeatedly criticized this crown corporation for poor accounting practices because it does not include in its balance sheet the cost of nuclear waste disposal and decommissioning of nuclear power plants.