WRITTEN QUESTION No. 1032/97 by Hiltrud BREYER to the Commission. Risk to the health of the public and employees as a result of underestimating neutron radiation during transport of highly radioactive waste
Date: 1997-03-19
Institutions: BREYER, European Parliament
Subjects: EU Member State, health legislation, ionising radiation, occupational health, occupational safety, public health, radiation protection, radioactive waste, safety standard, transport of dangerous goods

22. 1. 98

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 21/29

For products of this kind, why could the Commission not make any involvement on its part conditional on the
free  distribution  of  a  certain  number  of  copies  of  the  product  to  public  institutions  such  as  universities,
Commission offices in different EU countries, etc.?

Answer given by Mrs Wulf-Mathies on behalf of the Commisison

(26 May 1997)

The Commisison has no knowledge of the CD-Rom and did not contribute to its production. It is collecting more
details and will take any appropriate steps required.

(98/C 21/100)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1032/97

by Hiltrud Breyer (V) to the Commission

(19 March 1997)

Subject: Risk to the health of the public and employees as a result of underestimating neutron radiation during

transport of highly radioactive waste

The biological radiation impact of dense ionising radiation, such as neutrons, is greater than the same physical
dose of loose ionising radiation, such as gamma rays. In order to take account of this danger, a physical dose of
neutrons is converted into an equivalent dose, by multiplying it by a quality factor Q. According to a scientific
consensus which has prevailed for more than ten years, the quality factors for radiation protection do not reflect
current  scientific  knowledge.  As  far  back  as  1990,  the  International  Commission  on  Radiological  Protection
(ICRP) adopted enhanced factors (ICRP 60 1991). The recommended values depend, like the previous factors, on
the energy of the neutrons.

1. What is the Commission(cid:146)s position vis-a‘-vis the guidelines laid down in ICRP 60 1991?

2. What conclusions has it drawn as regards radiation protection in the EU Member States?

Answer given by Mrs Bjerregaard on behalf of the Commission

(12 May 1997)

As a result of increasing scientific knowledge on the biological effects of ionising radiation, the International
commission  on  radiological  protection  (ICRP)  produced  publication  60  in  which  it  recommended  certain
changes to the concepts used in dosimetry and radiation protection. Pursuant to Article 31 of the Euratom Treaty,
the  Commission  took  the  opportunity  which  this  provided  to  revise  the  basic  safety  standards  in  radiation
protection and drew up a draft directive after obtaining the opinion of the group of experts set up for this purpose.

As regards the assessment of neutron radiation, the Commission followed the ICRP(cid:146)s recommendations in its
draft. The experts from the Member States and the institutions that were consulted accepted the new method of
assessing neutron radiation. In addition, the opinion on the draft directive adopted by the Parliament at its plenary
sitting on 20 April 1994 contained no request for an amendment in this regard (1).

The Commission therefore thought it proper to incorporate in the draft directive the methods for assessing the
biological  effects  of  neutron  radiation  proposed  in  ICRP  publication  60.  The  Council  unanimously  adopted
Directive 96/26/Euratom on basic safety standards on 13 May 1996 (2) and the Member States are required to
implement it by 13 May 2000.

(1)  OJ C 128, 9.5.1994.
(2)  OJ L 159, 29.6.1996.