WRITTEN QUESTION No. 790/98 by Nuala AHERN to the Council. High-activity radioactive waste at the Dounreay plant in Caithness, Scotland
Date: 1998-03-16
Institutions: AHERN, European Parliament
Subjects: Scotland, application of EU law, environmental monitoring, health risk, nuclear power station, nuclear safety, radioactive waste, storage of waste

C 304/158

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

2. 10. 98

Answer

(28 May 1998)

Under  the  Treaties  it  is  for  the  Commission  to  make  proposals  to  the  Council,  in  accordance  with  the

1.
procedures laid down therein.

At this stage the Council has not received any proposal from the Commission in the area referred to by the

2.
Honourable Member.

It should be noted that cultural events organized to mark Europe Day on 9 May are eligible for financial support
under the Kaleidoscope programme (1) if they are organized jointly by persons active in the cultural field from at
least three Member States;

In addition, on 20 November 1995, in view of the symbolic importance of the year 2000, the Ministers of
3.
the  Member  States  meeting  within  the  Council  agreed  that  the  following  nine  cities  should  be  designated
European  Cities  of  Culture  for  that  year:  Avignon  (France),  Bergen  (Norway),  Bologna  (Italy),  Brussels
(Belgium), Krakow (Poland), Helsinki (Finland), Prague (Czech Republic), Reykjavik (Iceland) and Santiago de
Compostela (Spain).

These cities have been invited to coordinate their programmes and to define a common theme for the event: they
will thus be able to participate jointly in the organization of a European cultural area for the year 2000.

(1)  Decision 719/96/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council establishing a programme to support artistic and cultural activities

having a European dimension (OJ L 99, 20.4.1996)

(98/C 304/241)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0790/98

by Nuala Ahern (V) to the Council

(16 March 1998)

Subject: High-activity radioactive waste at the Dounreay plant in Caithness, Scotland

In  the  light  of  the  revelation  in  (cid:145)The  Guardian(cid:146)  newspaper  on  2 February  1998  that  there  is  a  second  secret
disposal shaft containing more than 700 000 kilogrammes of high-activity radioactive waste at the Dounreay
plant  in  Caithness,  Scotland,  will  the  UK  Presidency  take  up  the  commitment  of  the  Irish  presidency  to
Parliament  on  13 November  1996  that  there  should  be  an  environmental  audit  conducted  at  the  plant  by  the
European Union authorities?

Answer

(28 May 1998)

Since the accession of the United Kingdom to the European Atomic Energy Community all plants such as that
referred to by the Honourable Member are covered by current Community law and in particular the provisions of
Chapters 3 (Health and safety) and 7 (Safeguards) of the EAEC Treaty.

The Council would point out that the Commission is responsible for ensuring compliance with that law and in
this context has access in particular, under Article 35 of the EAEC Treaty, to all the facilities necessary to carry
out continuous monitoring of the level of radioactivity in the air, water and soil and to ensure compliance with the
basic standards laid down in Directive 96/29/Euratom (1). Moreover, under Article 81 of the EAEC Treaty, the
Commission may send inspectors into the territories of the Member States to monitor safeguards.

The Council considers that the current legal provisions enable the Commission, in conjunction with the Member
State concerned, to guarantee optimum conditions for protecting public health.

(1)  OJ L 159, 29.06.96, p. 1.