WRITTEN QUESTION E-0009/98 by Patricia McKenna (V) to the Commission (29 January 1998)

Subject: Nuclear reprocessing and radioactive waste

Britain's Radioactive Waste Management Advisory Committee (RWMAC) recently published its 17th annual report.

Among other things, the report recommends that spent nuclear fuel due to be reprocessed should be classified as radioactive waste if the plutonium and uranium recovered from reprocessing will not be reused.

Britain's plutonium inventory is continuously getting bigger as all British spent fuel is reprocessed at Sellafield. None of the plutonium is reused in Britain.

Numerous studies have been done on the threat of plutonium being siphoned off to subversive groups, who could manufacture crude nuclear weapons with rudimentary technology.

Would the Commission agree that the best way to avoid further rises in Britain's plutonium inventory is to encourage Britain to end is reprocessing activities? Can the Commission give a guarantee that it will do everything possible to ensure that no EU grants or loans are given to help nuclear reprocessing either in the EU or in third countries?

Answer given by Mrs Bjerregaard on behalf of the Commission (31 March 1998)

It is generally agreed that spent nuclear fuel should be regarded as radioactive waste if no further use is foreseen for it. Usually, when it is sent for reprocessing it is with the objective of recovering the uranium and plutonium for further use (recycling) and minimizing the volume of what must be treated as high-level waste. If a decision is taken before sending the spent fuel to reprocessing that none of the products will be used, then regarding the fuel as waste and its reprocessing as a step in the waste management process would be in line with the new joint convention on the safety of spent fuel management and the safety of radioactive waste management.

The inventory of separated plutonium in the United Kingdom is growing, though it should be noted that not all this plutonium belongs to the United Kingdom but to the companies having their fuel reprocessed there. Furthermore, not all of the spent fuel from reactors in the United Kingdom is scheduled for reprocessing. Plutonium at Sellafield, irrespective of ownership, is stored safely and securely. In addition, a new mixed oxide (Mox) fuel fabrication facility has been built which will use the plutonium from the reprocessing operations and return it to customers in the form of new fuel.

In some Member States the policy is to treat all spent nuclear fuel as waste and to dispose of it directly without reprocessing. However, in other Member States the policy is to reprocess the spent fuel with a view to recycling the recovered plutonium and uranium. Continuing use of reprocessing facilities, such as those at Sellafield (United Kingdom) and La Hague (France), will be needed by those choosing to follow the latter management option.

The reprocessing option results in an initial increase in inventories of separated plutonium until the demand for Mox fuel grows to the level that more plutonium is being used in its fabrication than results from the reprocessing operations or until a decision is taken to dispose of plutonium stocks. Concerning the latter, the route for plutonium disposal presently favoured by many of those holding stocks which have resulted from weapons programmes, is to fabricate it into Mox fuel for burning in reactors followed by eventual disposal of the resulting spent fuel, through the possibility of further recycling has not been excluded.

The Commission would like to recall that it has taken the necessary measures, in the framework of its obligations under Chapter VII of the Euratom Treaty, to ensure that plutonium as well as Mox fuel, produced by and stored at the Sellafield plants, are not diverted to unintended use. Concerning Community grants and loans, their attribution is subject to the specific rules associated with each of them and to their ability to contribute to the achievement of Community objectives, including those established in the Euratom Treaty.