WRITTEN QUESTION No. 1764/96 by Ria OOMEN-RUIJTEN to the Commission. Storage of radioactive material in Ahaus in North Rhine- Westphalia
Date: 1996-07-03
Institutions: European Parliament, OOMEN-RUIJTEN
Subjects: North Rhine-Westphalia, environmental protection, frontier region, health risk, public health, radioactive waste, storage of waste













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91996E1764

WRITTEN QUESTION No. 1764/96 by Ria OOMEN-RUIJTEN to the Commission. Storage of radioactive material in Ahaus in North Rhine- Westphalia  


Official Journal C 365 , 04/12/1996 P. 0032 





WRITTEN QUESTION E-1764/96 by Ria Oomen-Ruijten (PPE) to the Commission (3 July 1996)Subject: Storage of radioactive material in Ahaus in North Rhine-WestphaliaThe temporary storage facility in Ahaus in North Rhine-Westphalia has a licence to store radioactive material until 2027. According to statements by the North Rhine-Westphalia Government, there are no plans to turn Ahaus into a permanent facility. A new application has now been made for a licence which will effectively mean a 10-year extension.Does the Commission share the view that any approval of the new application, if granted, must take into account the pending amendment of the Directive on the assessment of the effects of certain public and private projects on the environment (COM(93)0575 and COM(95)0720)? If not, does the Commission consider it reasonable for the Directive on environmental impact assessment to be amended in such a way as to give adjacent natural and legal persons in the neighbouring Member State more effective means of making objections?Joint answer to Written Questions E-1762/96, E-1763/96 and E-1764/96 given by Mrs Bjerregaard on behalf of the Commission (16 September 1996)All Member States operate interim storage facilities for radioactive waste, pending availability of final disposal facilities for certain categories or all types of waste. Member States are responsible for licensing and control of these installations, but protection of the population in the Member State and the Member States has to be in line with the provisions of the Basic radiation protection safety standards (Council Directives 80/836 and 84/467 Euratom). Permissible doses have been lowered in the recently adopted standards (Council Directive 96/29/Euratom) which has to be implemented in national regulations before 13 May 2000.Article 37 of the Euratom Treaty requires that each Member State provides the Commission with data relating to any plan of disposal of radioactive waste when implementation may lead to contamination of the water, soil or airspace of another Member State. In its recommendation of 7 December 1990 (91/4/Euratom) on the application of Article 37, the Commission proposes to include storage facilities in this procedure.The proposed revision to Council Directive 85/337/EEC on the assessment of the effects of certain public and private projects on the environment ((OJ L 175, 5.7.1985. )) not only includes interim storage facilities but also incorporates more detailed procedural requirements on transboundary consultations where a project proposed in one Member State is likely to have a significant effect on the environment of another Member State. If adopted in their present form by the Council, however, these new provisions will still only apply to applications for development consent submitted to a competent authority on or after the date for transposition by Member States set out in the revised directive.