WRITTEN QUESTION No. 3243/97 by Alfonso NOVO BELENGUER to the Commission. Transport of plutonium by sea
Date: 1997-10-20
Institutions: European Parliament, NOVO BELENGUER
Subjects: Canary Islands, EU control, International Maritime Organisation, Spain, application of EU law, maritime transport, plutonium, pollution from ships, transport of dangerous goods, transport safety

8. 6. 98

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 174/27

According  to  the  complainant,  the  contracting  authority  had  infringed  the  principle  of  non-discrimination
provided  for  in  Article  3(2)  of  Directive  92/50/EEC  because  it  had  rejected  certain  tenders,  including  the
complainant(cid:146)s, on the grounds of failure to comply with the administrative formalities while, at the same time,
accepting other tenders which also had presentational shortcomings.

The information provided by the complainant does not reveal any infringement of Directive 92/50/EEC. The
complaint  concerns  purely  procedural  aspects  ›  compliance  of  tenders  with  internal  administrative  formali-
ties › which applied to all applicants. The complainant does not provide any evidence of discrimination against
certain consultancy firms, such as acceptance by the contracting authority of tenders with shortcomings which
resulted  in  other  applicants  being  excluded,  a  practice  which  could  undermine  Directive  92/50/EEC  and  the
principle of non-discrimination.

(98/C 174/62)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3243/97

by Alfonso Novo Belenguer (ARE) to the Commission

(20 October 1997)

Subject: Transport of plutonium by sea

From  December  1997  onwards  France  will  increase  its  shipments  of  plutonium  transported  by  sea  from  the
French reprocessing plant of La Hague to Japan. In order to make the journey, the ships have to pass close to the
Spanish coastline of Galicia and the Canary islands, with the danger which such hazardous waste entails.

Does the Commission know what route will be taken regularly by these ships on their way to Japan?

Has the Commission taken any steps to ensure that such dangerous radioactive cargo does not pass close to the
coast?

Answer given by Mr Kinnock on behalf of the Commission

(15 December 1997)

According  to  Directive  93/75/EEC  concerning  minimum  requirements  for  vessels  bound  for  or  leaving
Community ports and carrying dangerous or polluting goods (1), all operators of vessels carrying dangerous or
polluting goods, including nuclear materials, leaving a port of a Member State, or leaving a port outside the
Community and bound for a port of a Member State, have to notify to the authority certain information, notably
the intended route of the vessel.

The objective of the law is to improve information to national authorities in case of a maritime accident involving
dangerous substances carried on board a vessel. Since, in this situation, other Member States involved should
also be informed, the Commission does not need to be directly involved in the notification process, which serves
an  operational  purpose.  The  Commission  would  only  intervene  in  the  event  of  failure  to  comply  with  this
Directive.

Taking into account in particular the present level of protection for transporting packages used for the transport
of plutonium shipped which conforms to the International maritime goods (IMDG) code and the code for the safe
carriage of irradiated nuclear fuel, plutonium and high-level radioactive wastes in flasks on board ships (INF) of
the International maritime organisation (IMO), the Commission does not currently envisage proposing further
initiatives at Community level addressing routing of ships carrying plutonium or other radioactive materials.

(1)  OJ L 247, 5.10.1993. This Directive is being amended in order to incorporate the radioactive materials covered by the INF code.