WRITTEN QUESTION E-0983/00

by Gerhard Schmid (PSE) to the Commission

(31 March 2000)

Subject: Safety monitoring by Euratom

As long ago as 1988, in a joint resolution on the findings of the Committee of Inquiry on the handling and transport of nuclear material(1), Parliament called for measures to increase the credibility and effectiveness of the safeguards. It called for the Safeguards Directorate to be hived off from Directorate-General XVII (currently part of the TREN DG), responsible for the promotion of nuclear energy, and for an increase in the number of inspectors.

In view of the drastic increase in the volume of plutonium handled, in particular in the large reprocessing and MOX fuel element production plants in France and Great Britain, once again it is imperative to know whether Euratom safety monitoring can be carried out at the level required.

1. In the light of Parliament's resolution in 1988, has the Commission taken steps to safeguard the organisational independence of the Euratom Safeguards Directorate? If so, what steps? If not, why not?

2. What action has the Commission taken to give the Safeguards Directorate sufficient financial and human resources to enable it to cope with the increase in nuclear material that is handled?

3. What other action has the Commission taken to implement Paragraph 7 of the resolution in question?

4. What action is the Commission planning to take in this area in the near future?

(1) OJ C 235, 12.9.1988, p. 70.

Answer given by Mrs de Palacio on behalf of the Commission

(5 June 2000)

1. The Commission would inform the Honourable Member that the Euratom Safeguards Directorate was transformed in 1999 into an office which now reports directly to the Vice President of the Commission responsible for Energy and Transport. Administratively, however, the Euratom Safeguards Office continues to be attached to the Directorate general for Energy and Transport. The issue is under review and the Commission is expected to consider a proposal on the matter by mid-2000.

2. The complexity of nuclear installations and the civil nuclear material quantities handled in the Community have increased by a factor of more than two (240 %) since the resolution of the Parliament mentioned by the Honourable Member. The Commission informed the Council already in 1989 that significant additional inspection resources would be needed. The staff was augmented from 234 to 274 posts (May 2000). The Commission also performed strict rationalisation including the use of automated safeguards systems.

3. The Commission has acted on the majority of the issues addressed in Article 7 of the resolution. Unannounced inspections were carried out wherever feasible and economical, the protection of data is secured by the physical separation of the Euratom databases from the network of the Commission, and a policy has been developed and implemented for the safeguarding of nuclear waste material.

4. The Commission is in the process of undertaking a comprehensive review of all the activities of its services pursuant to the Euratom Treaty. The placement of the Euratom Safeguards Office, the way it conducts its activities and the priorities assigned to it are an integral part of the review. After its completion the Commission will draw the necessary conclusions.