WRITTEN QUESTION P-1819/98

by W.G. van Velzen (PPE) to the Commission

(29 May 1998)

Subject: The Commission's response to checks on the transport of nuclear waste in Germany and France

Last week it emerged that containers for transporting German radioactive waste to repositories in Ahaus and Gorleben, and to reprocessing plants in La Hague (France) and Sellafield (Great Britain) were not radiation-free. It appears that the special Castor containers, which have been in use since the 1980s, sometimes allow radiation through, and that the legally permitted radiation limit is exceeded several hundred times on the surface of the containers.

1. Has the Commission been informed by the national authorities of the seriousness and the extent of this problem?

2. What is the Commission's response to this?

3. One of the repositories where German radioactive waste is stored is in Ahaus, just over the Netherlands border. There is therefore an immediate cross-border health risk. What is the Commission going to do to ensure that the lorries and rail freight wagons used for transport undergo continuous radiation testing, and to check that transport by road is radiation-free?

Answer given by Mrs Bjerregaard on behalf of the Commission

(9 July 1998)

There are several types of container used for transporting radioactive waste and irradiated nuclear fuel. The types used for transporting such fuel to Cap de la Hague and Sellafield respectively differ from each other and are themselves distinct from the Castor container which is only used for the transport and storage of such materials within Germany. Recent events were triggered by the information that the type of container used for the transport of irradiated nuclear fuel to Cap de la Hague had been found in a significant number of cases to be contaminated with traces of radioactive material on its external surface exceeding the permissible levels. Further information is given in the reply the Commission gave to written question P-1723/98 by Mrs Bloch von Blottnitz(1). As a result of the contamination on the Cap de la Hague containers, the Member States involved have been undertaking a review of possible similar occurrences as regards other types of container including, in the case of Germany, the Castor container.

1. and 2. Member States are in fact directly responsible for the application of the relevant Community legislation and have no specific obligation to inform the Commission of matters such as the above. However, the Commission, in its role of guardian of the Treaties, has been in contact with these Member States, seeking relevant information.

3. Any risk to individuals arising from the radioactive contamination on the container surfaces would arise only as a result of these individuals being in direct contact with or in very close proximity to such surfaces. The situation of Ahaus close to the Dutch frontier does not, therefore, imply a potential transfrontier problem.

Moreover, the extensive information available to date indicates there has been no overexposure of any individual. As regards future arrangements for monitoring of such contamination, therefore, the Commission does not propose any specific action in its role of guardian of the Treaties.

(1) OJ C 402, 22.12.1998, p. 156.