EN Official Journal of the European Union CE 84/802

(2004/C 84 E/0898)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0508/04

by José Ribeiro e Castro (UEN) to the Commission

(24 February 2004)

Subject: Portugal — nuclear waste

According to media reports a number of locations identified as nuclear-waste dumps were detected in summer 2003 by the French science ship Iledesein in the area in which the undersea cable linking mainland Portugal, the Azores and Madeira is being laid.

The nuclear-waste dumping areas which were discovered in the course of the scientific expedition (duly authorised by the Portuguese authorities) are 200 km away from Madeira (within the island's Exclusive Economic Zone) and to the east of the island of Santa Maria (outside the Azores EEZ), in the area in which the mainland/Azores/Madeira underwater cable is being laid.

The waste, which could have been dumped by the United Kingdom between 1949 and 1961, is located at a depth of 4 000 metres.

The French ship, which was surveying the area at the request of Alcatel Submarine Networks (the company to which the project has been entrusted) notified the discovery to the Azores underwater-cable station at the end of last year but the outcome of the operation was not notified to the Portuguese army.

An army source insists that it did not receive any information from the French ship but it confirms that the scientific expedition took place and that there exist within Portugal's EEZ a number of areas in which nuclear waste has already been dumped.

In view of the above, would the Commission answer the following questions:

— Is the Commission aware of the above facts? How serious are they? Could they have significant environmental implications? What view does it take of the way in which the various parties involved in the survey operation acted?

— What action has it taken (or does it intend to take) with a view to reducing the risk posed by the waste (which may have been dumped at the time when a national and international legal void existed in the case of such practices) and to helping the countries affected by such deposits of radioactive material? Can it confirm that such waste was dumped by the United Kingdom between 1949 and 1961?

— Does it not consider that, despite the fact that effective legal protection probably did not exist at the time when the waste was dumped, those responsible for the waste could in some way be made responsible for having dumped it, or could be required to contribute in some way to disposing of the waste?

Answer given by Mrs de Palacio on behalf of the Commission

(13 April 2004)

Although the Commission has not been involved in the issue in question, dumping at sea of waste including nuclear material had been carried out for several years by a number of countries. International rules to prevent marine pollution from this practice entered into force in 1974 and 1975 by means of the Oslo Convention for the North-East Atlantic and the London Convention for marine waters worldwide other than the internal waters of States.

In particular, while the dumping of high-level radioactive wastes has never been allowed under the London Convention, a moratorium on the dumping of low-level radioactive wastes has been in place since 1983 and Parties to the Convention agreed in 1993 to amend the relevant annexes in order to ban the dumping of all radioactive wastes. This legally binding prohibition entered into force on 20 February 1994.

Furthermore, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) has compiled an inventory of all such dumping reported and it contains events dating back to 1943 and includes locations in the Atlantic Ocean used by the United Kingdom between 1955 and 1961.

The present case relates to events that took place during a period when neither the United Kingdom nor Portugal were a member of the Community and that cannot be examined in the light of the relevant Community legislation.

However, compliance with the Community Radiation Protection provisions (1), as they are applicable today to the legacy from these events, falls, in the first instance, within the competence of that Member State with jurisdiction over the location where they took place.

The question of clearing responsibilities on the management of such dumped waste is not covered by the Euratom legislation. However, in its role as a Guardian of the Treaties, the Commission will follow-up this issue, and if necessary, will request the necessary information from the Member States concerned in order to decide whether further Community action is required.

(1) Council Directive 96/29/Euratom of 13 May 1996, laying down basic safety standards for the protection of the health of workers and the general public against the dangers arising from ionising radiation, OJ L 159, 29.6.1996, Articles 35 and 36 Euratom.