WRITTEN QUESTION E-2514/97 by Undine-Uta Bloch von Blottnitz (V) to the Commission (22 July 1997)

Subject: Radioactive discharges into the Channel from the La Hague reprocessing plant

Recent studies by the environmental protection organization Greenpeace have shown that Cogéma, operators of the French reprocessing plant at La Hague, are pumping some 230 million litres a year of radioactive-contaminated liquids through a pipeline into the Channel. Dose levels of more than 145 000 bq cobalt-60 have been measured in sediment, sand and even mussels. The beta-ray activity at the pipe exit is 18 million times that of normal sea water. Other recently published studies show that the risk of leukaemia in the area around the reprocessing plant is increased threefold.

1. Is the Commission aware of the Greenpeace data?

(a) If so, what is its assessment of the results of the studies?

(b) If not, will it endeavour to obtain the data, check it, and if necessary initiate legal measures against France and/or Cogéma?

2. Is the Commission aware that the tests by the French authorities on the radioactive discharges are carried out at a distance of more than one kilometre from the point of discharge?

(a) If so, what is its view of this procedure and its effects on the results of the measurements?

(b) If not, will it review the French inspectors' methods of measurement and if necessary call for changes?

3. What is the Commission's view of Cogéma's radioactive discharges against the background of international conventions banning the dumping of radioactive substances at sea?

4. What is the Commission's view of the latest scientific studies showing an increased risk of leukaemia in the area around the La Hague reprocessing plant?

Answer given by Mrs Bjerregaard on behalf of the Commission (30 September 1997)

The Commission is aware of the Greenpeace data to which the Honourable Member refers.

The Greenpeace results are not surprising for samples taken at the undersea outlet of the pipeline for the discharge of radioactive waste to sea. Indeed, the results do not differ significantly from those obtained by the French authority, l'Office de protection contre les rayonnements ionisants (OPRI). Because of extreme tidal conditions in the area, levels of radioactivity decrease very rapidly with distance from the outlet. Moreover, according to the information available to the Commission, marine conditions around the outlet are not such as to invite public access even in the absence of existing, long-standing legal restrictions on such access. Consequently, for the protection of the public, it is not the level of radioactivity at the outlet which is representative of the situation, rather, it is the level of radioactivity in the general marine environment around the site. It is for that reason that environmental monitoring is done at locations away from the pipeline. In July 1996, under the terms of Article 35 of the Euratom Treaty, the Commission carried out a verification of the environmental monitoring facilities at and around the La Hague site. The verification indicated that the present environmental monitoring programme covers adequately all significant routes of potential exposure of the public in order to ensure compliance with the basic safety standards.

International conventions under which the dumping of radioactive substances at sea is banned concern the dumping of packaged wastes and do not refer to the discharge of low-level wastes controlled within strict authorisations issued by national authorities.

The Commission is interested in all scientific studies concerning possible health effects from radioactivity in the environment and has recently received a copy of the latest study on the possible increase in the number of cases of leukaemia in the area around the La Hague reprocessing plant. The study, commissioned by the French authorities, was undertaken by a group of eminent independent experts, including one from the United Kingdom and one from Sweden. The study does not support a link between an excess of leukaemia and levels of environmental radioactivity.