WRITTEN QUESTION P-1986/02

by Heidi Hautala (Verts/ALE) to the Commission

(1 July 2002)

Subject: Export of spent nuclear fuel to Russia

In summer 2001 the Russian President Vladimir Putin approved new legislation allowing the import of foreign spent nuclear fuel to Russia.

1. Under Council Directive 92/3/Euratom(1) of 3 February 1992 on the supervision and control of shipments of radioactive waste between Member States, into and out of the Community, Member States are prohibited from exporting shipments of radioactive waste to third countries that do not have the technical, legal or administrative resources to manage it safely. The assessment of whether this condition is met is conducted by the relevant authorities in Member States.

How does the Commission plan to prevent conflicting interpretations by the Member States in regard to technical, legal or administrative resources to manage spent nuclear fuel safely in Russia?

Most of the Member States are committed to similar rules concerning any shipment of spent nuclear fuel under the Joint Convention on the Safety of Spent Fuel Management and Radioactive Waste, which entered into force on 18 June 2001.

2. Prior to the EU-Russia Summit at the end of May 2002 in Moscow, the Russian Minister for Nuclear Energy, Alexander Rumyantchev, had indicated his intention to discuss with Commissioner Loyala de Palacio Russia's possibilities to import spent nuclear fuel from the EU, and in particular from Spain. Was this topic brought up and did it lead to any follow-up measures?

(1) OJ L 35, 12.2.1992, p. 24.

Answer given by Mrs de Palacio on behalf of the Commission

(29 July 2002)

The assessment of the technical, legal and administrative resources for the safe management of radioactive wastes in a State of destination of a shipment of radioactive waste is undertaken by the competent authorities in the State of origin. This would normally be done by comparing the level of the resources in the State of destination with those in force in the State of origin.

Concerning Council Directive 92/3/Euratom, of 3 February 1992 on the supervision and control of shipments of radioactive waste between Member States and into and out of the Community radioactive waste is defined as being waste for any material which contains or is contaminated by radionuclides and for which no use is foreseen. Considering this definition, only those shipments of spent fuel for disposal would fall within the scope of the Directive. In the past, there have been no shipments of spent fuel to third countries for disposal.

The Commission is not aware of any conflicting interpretation about the assessment of the resources by the Member States when authorising shipments of radioactive waste. In the event that different interpretations appeared possible, the Commission would establish the criteria referred to in Article 11 of Council Directive 92/3/Euratom for these assessments with the assistance of an advisory Committee composed of representatives from Member States (Articles 19 and 20 of Directive 92/3/Euratom).

There will be a similar assessment carried out by Contracting Parties to the Joint Convention on the safety of spent fuel management and the safely radioactive waste management before any spent fuel shipments are made. However, under the Joint Convention both the State of origin and the State of destination must undertake the assessment before authorising a shipment.

The issue of the import of spent nuclear fuel from the Community to the Russian Federation was not raised by Nuclear Energy Minister Rumyantctev during his recent meeting with the Vice-President of the Commission responsible for Transport and Energy.