WRITTEN QUESTION No. 310/99 by David BOWE Radioactive waste
Date: 1999-02-19
Institutions: BOWE, European Parliament
Subjects: export of waste, illicit trade, metal waste, radioactive pollution, radioactive waste

29.11.1999

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 341/89

(1999/C 341/126)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-0310/99

by David Bowe (PSE) to the Commission

(19 February 1999)

Subject: Radioactive waste

At present, where orphan radioactive sources are discovered, the scrapyard at which it was found is often held
responsible for its removal to a place of safety. Given the expense of these operations, does the Commission
agree that responsibility for the removal of such sources should lie with the competent authorities and not in
the scrapyard at which the contaminated waste was found?

Joint answer
to Written Questions E-0306/99, E-0307/99, E-0308/99, E-0309/99 and E-0310/99
given by Mrs Bjerregaard on behalf of the Commission

(19 March 1999)

The Commission has taken a series of initiatives to tackle the problem of illegally consigned radioactive
sources and radioactive metal scrap. In particular, it has set up special training courses for customs officers
from Member States and will continue this action for customs officers from candidate countries. It has
established a list of measurement equipment for performing radiation detection measurements on a wide
range of shipments. Furthermore, the Commission has provided financial support to Central and Eastern
European countries for purchasing such special equipment and has offered the expertise of its joint research
centre at Karlsruhe to assist national authorities combating illicit activities. These actions will continue but
have already contributed significantly to improving the efficiency of national border controls and increasing
the cases of illicit nuclear traffic detected.

In addition to direct support, the Commission has initiated a constructive dialogue with national authorities
from the radiation protection field, with relevant industrial interests (including the transport sector) and with
border control authorities, in order to identify all aspects which require co-ordination. Existing European legal
instruments, such as Council Directive 80/836/Euratom of 15 July 1980 amending the directives laying down
the basic safety standards for the health protection of the general public and workers against the dangers of
ionizing radiation (1), Council Directive 96/29/Euratom of 13 May 1996 laying down basic safety standards
for the protection of the health of workers and the general public against the dangers arising from ionizing
radiation (2), Council Directive 92/3/Euratom of 3 February 1992 on the supervision and control of shipments
of radioactive waste between Member States and into and out of the Community (3) providing for systems of
prior notification, authorisation and control of practices involving radioactive substances, and Council
Regulation (Euratom) no 1493/93 of 8 June 1993 on shipments of radioactive substances between Member
States (4) have provided a basis for efficient control and supervision of radioactive sources and waste at
national level.

The Commission will maintain its dialogue with all involved in order to co-ordinate and support initiatives to
improve further systems of prevention, detection and response to illegal activities involving nuclear materials
and radioactive substances. The Commission is also working towards economically and ecologically
acceptable solutions for the final disposal of radioactive wastes and redundant sources both within the
Member States and in Central and Eastern European countries. This will help to reduce the number of cases in
which holders of radioactive wastes or sources are tempted to dispose of them illegally. Any Community-wide
system of control and surveillance of each individual radioactive source will, in view of the large number of
sources involved (more than 100 000 within the Community), be complicated and hence difficult to operate
but the possibilities are also being examined by the Commission. Internationally discussions are taking place
on the questions of property, ownership and possession of lost and found sources which are addressed
differently by national civil law structures.

Finally, in this and other relevant matters, the Commission cooperates closely with the International atomic
energy agency (IAEA) which has led to the organisation of several joint actions seeking to evaluate the
possibilities of improvements in the safety and security of radioactive sources and other radioactive substances.
Thus the Commission actively supports the databank on cases of nuclear trafficking operated by the IAEA
which is being continuously adapted to accommodate newly emerging forms of illicit nuclear trafficking.