WRITTEN QUESTION No. 2747/97 by Patricia McKENNA to the Commission. Incident at the Sellafield nuclear complex, Cumbria, Britain
Date: 1997-09-01
Institutions: European Parliament, MCKENNA
Subjects: International Atomic Energy Agency, North East (England), nuclear accident, nuclear reactor, nuclear safety, report

3. 4. 98

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 102/109

(98/C 102/157)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2747/97

by Patricia McKenna (V) to the Commission

(1 September 1997)

Subject: Incident at the Sellafield nuclear complex, Cumbria, Britain

On  June  19  1997  last  an  incident  occurred  in  one  of  the  ageing  Magnox  reactors  at  Calder  Hall,  Sellafield,
Britain.

According to the company which runs Sellafield, British Nuclear Fuels Ltd (BNFL), a control rod was lowered
further  than  required  into  the  reactor  core  during  (cid:145)switching  operations(cid:146).  Reactor  power  then  dropped  below
15 MW and, BNFL said, the reactor was automatically switched off.

Have BNFL and/or the British authorities informed the Commission of this incident? If so, what information did
they provide the Commission with? What action has the Commission taken and/or what action does it propose to
take?

Answer given by Mrs Bjerregaard on behalf of the Commission

(23 September 1997)

The Commission has not received any official information related to the event at Calder Hall from organisations
in  the  United  Kingdom.  The  British  safety  authorities  are  responsible  for  the  licensing  of  nuclear  power
installations and they guarantee the respect of the safety and practices in the United Kingdom.

However, enquiries have shown that the event has been rated as (cid:145)level O(cid:146) on the International nuclear event scale
(INES)  established  at  the  International  atomic  energy  agency  (IAEA)  and  hence  is  judged  to  have  no  safety
significance.

(98/C 102/158)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2750/97

by Kyo¤sti Virrankoski (ELDR) to the Commission

(1 September 1997)

Subject: Farm inspections

Commission representatives carry out inspections on farms where, together with the national authorities, they
check whether the areas in receipt of EU agricultural support have been correctly notified.

The behaviour of these inspectors prompts, however, a number of questions. Is it right for inspectors to descend
on  a  farm  on  the  farmer(cid:146)s  50th  birthday  as  has,  for  example,  happened  in  Finland?  It  is  also  claimed  that
inspectors have banned press photographers from taking pictures of them.

Do the normal rules of politeness and courtesy apply to farm inspectors or are they displaying the features of a
totalitarian state when carrying out their work?

Answer given by Mr Fischler on behalf of the Commission

(23 September 1997)

In the absence of more precise details, it is not possible to reply specifically to the points raised. However, the
general issues raised can be addressed.

Commission representatives inspect farms in conjunction with the national control authorities in order to observe
and evaluate national control procedures. Farms to be visited by the Commission are often selected at random
and  normally  inspections  would  be  curtailed  only  in  the  event  of  unforeseen  circumstances  likely  to  cause
particular hardship to the farmer or his animals. Likewise, inspections should be carried out as announced but
some flexibility (i.e. postponement by a day or two) may be permissible if the farmer justifiably claims that the
timing of the inspection is inconvenient.