WRITTEN QUESTION No. 1282/98 by Alexandros ALAVANOS to the Commission. Radioactive waste in the River Nestos
Date: 1998-04-29
Institutions: ALAVANOS, European Parliament
Subjects: Bulgaria, export of waste, irradiated fuel, pollution of waterways, radioactive materials, radioactive waste, storage of waste, uranium, waste disposal, waste management

22.2.1999

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 50/21

Answer given by Mr Flynn on behalf of the Commission

(3 July 1998)

The Commission is aware of the use of the job tests in the workplace. This might imply the disclosure of personal
data with far-reaching implications for the employee(cid:146)s future.

The Commission is currently analysing, in the framework of the protection of privacy of employee data, Member
State legislation on this matter. In the light of this analysis, the Commission will decide upon the appropriate
course of action in the area of data protection for employees.

(1999/C 50/029)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1282/98

by Alexandros Alavanos (GUE/NGL) to the Commission

(29 April 1998)

Subject: Radioactive waste in the River Nestos

Bulgarian research centres have found concentrations of uranium and radium 2,5 times above permitted limits in
the Bulgarian waters of the River Nestos at the site of a former uranium mine.

1. What information can the Commission obtain from the Bulgarians about storage of waste in the area?

2. What measures will the Commission take to eliminate the risks to Bulgaria and Greece, through which the
river flows?

Can the Commission gather information about the storage of radioactive waste from reactors in Bulgaria

3.
which was previously sent to Russia?

Answer given by Mrs Bjerregaard on behalf of the Commission

(10 July 1998)

The PHARE project (cid:145)remediation concepts for the uranium mining operations in CEECs(cid:146) aims to compile a data
base on all the countries covered, including Bulgaria, and to implement appropriate pilot projects for uranium
remediation. By summer 1997 it had compiled a complete data base on all the (cid:145)uranium liabilities(cid:146) in the
countries. As a result, the environmental problems related to more than 450 waste rock and ore dumps which
resulted from uranium mining in Bulgaria are well known but, unfortunately, are still far from being solved. At
the moment, the Commission can do little about the contamination of the river Nestos other than bring the matter
to the attention of the Bulgarian authorities.

The shipment of spent fuel to the former Union of Soviet socialist republics (USSR) was terminated unilaterally
by the Russians in 1989. The contractual conditions for reprocessing the fuels are under discussion. However, an
international four party agreement was recently signed with Russia, Ukraine and Moldavia for the shipment of the
VVER-440 spent fuel back from Kozloduy to Russia. The high level wastes resulting from the reprocessing in
Russia should be returned to Bulgaria at a later stage. The VVER-1000 spent fuel will be kept in Bulgaria. The
spent fuel pools at the Kozloduy nuclear power plant are nearly full, but spent fuel is now stored in the away-
from-reactor (AFR) interim wet storage facility of the plant. The capacity of this facility should be sufficient to
store spent fuel arising for at least the next five years. A new dry storage facility could be constructed at the plant
after 2000, once additional reracking measures have been taken in the current storage pools.