WRITTEN QUESTION No. 1117/96 by Undine-Uta BLOCH von BLOTTNITZ to the Commission. Disposal of nuclear waste - Kola Peninsular in Russia - EU involvement
Date: 1996-05-13
Institutions: BLOCH VON BLOTTNITZ, European Parliament
Subjects: EU financing, database, nuclear safety, radioactive waste, research programme, storage of waste, waste disposal













EUR-Lex - 91996E1117 - EN






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91996E1117

WRITTEN QUESTION No. 1117/96 by Undine-Uta BLOCH von BLOTTNITZ to the Commission. Disposal of nuclear waste - Kola Peninsular in Russia - EU involvement  


Official Journal C 297 , 08/10/1996 P. 0087 





WRITTEN QUESTION E-1117/96 by Undine-Uta Bloch von Blottnitz (V) to the Commission (13 May 1996)Subject: Disposal of nuclear waste - Kola Peninsular in Russia - EU involvementAccording to the managing director of DBE - which has been commissioned by the Federal Republic of Germany to plan and build a nuclear-waste repository - the company is also carrying out projects on the Kola Peninsula in Russia. Those projects too are connected with the disposal of nuclear waste. The European Union is providing assistance for the projects.1. What precisely is the purpose of the above-mentioned projects on the Kola Peninsula in Russia, and what progress has been made with them so far?2. What nuclear waste will be stored there and what countries will it come from?3. What form does EU involvement take and from which budgets is it funded?4. Is the European Union involved in any other research or pilot projects for the purposes of the disposal of nuclear waste on the territory of the former Soviet Union? If so, which ones and how is the EU involved?Answer given by Mr Van den Broek on behalf of the Commission (20 June 1996)Improvements in safe storage and the preparation of the disposal of radioactive waste are necessary in the north west region of Russia, as elsewhere in the former Soviet Union.1. The Commission cooperates with safety authorities and operators of installations in this region in the framework of an action on the 'safety of radioactive waste management and the conceptual design of repositories at the Murmansk and Arkangelsk regions of north west Russia'. In a first phase, the consortium of Community radioactive waste management agencies named Cassiopee, with the 'Deutsche gesellschaft zum Bau und Betrieb von Endlagern für Abfälle' (DBE) as the lead agency, has established an inventory of radioactive waste in storage in the region and has provided a computerised data base to the local safety authorities.2. The Russian authorities decide on type, volume and origin of radioactive waste to be stored in north west Russia. To the best of the Commission's knowledge, only radioactive waste currently stored and generated in the region will be stored in the future. Spent nuclear fuel is not included. The present Russian policy is to send spent fuel assemblies to the Mayak plants in the Urals.3. The first phase of the above study has been financed through the budget line 'Cooperation on nuclear safety with the Commonwealth of independent states' (CIS). The continuation of this work is part of the Tacis nuclear assistance programme.4. The Commission also supports, through its cooperation programmes, work on radiological consequences from earlier disposal practices in the Russian Federation (release of liquid radioactive waste in surface water systems, injection of liquid waste in deep geological layers, dumping of radioactive waste in the Northern Seas).