WRITTEN QUESTION E-0310/99

by David Bowe (PSE) to the Commission

(19 February 1999)

Subject: Radioactive waste

At present, where orphan radioactive sources are discovered, the scrapyard at which it was found is often held responsible for its removal to a place of safety. Given the expense of these operations, does the Commission agree that responsibility for the removal of such sources should lie with the competent authorities and not in the scrapyard at which the contaminated waste was found?

Joint answer

to Written Questions E-0306/99, E-0307/99, E-0308/99, E-0309/99 and E-0310/99 given by Mrs Bjerregaard on behalf of the Commission

(19 March 1999)

The Commission has taken a series of initiatives to tackle the problem of illegally consigned radioactive sources and radioactive metal scrap. In particular, it has set up special training courses for customs officers from Member States and will continue this action for customs officers from candidate countries. It has established a list of measurement equipment for performing radiation detection measurements on a wide range of shipments. Furthermore, the Commission has provided financial support to Central and Eastern European countries for purchasing such special equipment and has offered the expertise of its joint research centre at Karlsruhe to assist national authorities combating illicit activities. These actions will continue but have already contributed significantly to improving the efficiency of national border controls and increasing the cases of illicit nuclear traffic detected.

In addition to direct support, the Commission has initiated a constructive dialogue with national authorities from the radiation protection field, with relevant industrial interests (including the transport sector) and with border control authorities, in order to identify all aspects which require co-ordination. Existing European legal instruments, such as Council Directive 80/836/Euratom of 15 July 1980 amending the directives laying down the basic safety standards for the health protection of the general public and workers against the dangers of ionizing radiation(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 ionizing radiation(2), 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(3) providing for systems of prior notification, authorisation and control of practices involving radioactive substances, and Council Regulation (Euratom) no 1493/93 of 8 June 1993 on shipments of radioactive substances between Member States(4) have provided a basis for efficient control and supervision of radioactive sources and waste at national level.

The Commission will maintain its dialogue with all involved in order to co-ordinate and support initiatives to improve further systems of prevention, detection and response to illegal activities involving nuclear materials and radioactive substances. The Commission is also working towards economically and ecologically acceptable solutions for the final disposal of radioactive wastes and redundant sources both within the Member States and in Central and Eastern European countries. This will help to reduce the number of cases in which holders of radioactive wastes or sources are tempted to dispose of them illegally. Any Community-wide system of control and surveillance of each individual radioactive source will, in view of the large number of sources involved (more than 100 000 within the Community), be complicated and hence difficult to operate but the possibilities are also being examined by the Commission. Internationally discussions are taking place on the questions of property, ownership and possession of lost and found sources which are addressed differently by national civil law structures.

Finally, in this and other relevant matters, the Commission cooperates closely with the International atomic energy agency (IAEA) which has led to the organisation of several joint actions seeking to evaluate the possibilities of improvements in the safety and security of radioactive sources and other radioactive substances. Thus the Commission actively supports the databank on cases of nuclear trafficking operated by the IAEA which is being continuously adapted to accommodate newly emerging forms of illicit nuclear trafficking. Additionally, it is working with the IAEA to extend the system of classification and rapid information distribution related to the international nuclear events scale, operated by the IAEA, in order to include illicit trafficking events in that system.

(1) OJ L 246, 17.9.1980.

(2) OJ L 159, 29.6.1996.

(3) OJ L 35, 12.2.1992.

(4) OJ L 148, 19.6.1993.