WRITTEN QUESTION No. 2050/96 by Nuala AHERN to the Council. The importance of transparency in the management of highly enriched uranium and plutonium
Date: 1996-07-22
Institutions: AHERN, European Parliament
Subjects: access to information, confidentiality, fuel reprocessing, nuclear safety, plutonium, transparency in decision-making, uranium, waste management













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91996E2050

WRITTEN QUESTION No. 2050/96 by Nuala AHERN to the Council. The importance of transparency in the management of highly enriched uranium and plutonium  


Official Journal C 091 , 20/03/1997 P. 0002 





WRITTEN QUESTION E-2050/96 by Nuala Ahern (V) to the Council (22 July 1996)Subject: The importance of transparency in the management of highly enriched uranium and plutoniumThe declaration of the Moscow Nuclear Safety and Security Summit of 20 April 1996 states at paragraph 30 that the parties to the agreement recognise the importance of ensuring transparency in the management of highly enriched uranium and plutonium.As the conclusions of the Presidency at the Florence Council in June specifically called on the Irish Presidency to bring the Union closer to its citizens by, inter alia, providing transparency and openness in the Union's work, what steps does the Council intend to take to ensure that the nuclear materials management decisions at the Sellafield - and La Hague - reprocessing plants are made openly and communicated to the public in timely fashion, rather than taken secretly as has hitherto happened?Joint answer to Written Questions E-2050/96 and 2051/96 (30 January 1997)1. The Council shares the concern for institutional transparency expressed at various European Councils and referred to by the Honourable Member. It would stress in this context that paragraph 30 of the Declaration made at the Moscow Nuclear Safety and Security Summit of 20 April 1996 ("we recognize the the importance of ensuring transparency in the management of highly enriched uranium and plutonium designated as no longer required for defence purposes") bears witness to the political will in this area.2. The Council would point out that the objective of reducing the large stocks of fissile materials resulting from the dismantling of nuclear weapons is an issue of major importance for non-proliferation. All options in this area must be carefully considered on their respective merits, taking into account their consequences for safety and security issues.3. The Council would point out that the reprocessing plants situated in the territory of the Member States of the European Union are subject to current Community legislation on security controls, which provides for the Commission to be kept informed of movements and inventories of nuclear materials.It should however be noted that Article 194 of the Euratom Treaty governing the confidentiality of such data, particularly in relation to the public, specifies that the classification and secrecy of such information is a matter for the Member States.4. As regards the question concerning MOX, the Council would point out to the Honourable Member that conversion into MOX fuel is only one of the options envisaged in paragraph 29 of the Moscow Summit Declaration, and was amongst those considered by the international experts meeting in Paris last October under the aegis of the G7 + Russia.The Counci wishes to point out that control and safeguards measures on the manufacture of MOX and at reprocessing facilities are applied at national, Community and international level.