WRITTEN QUESTION P-3055/00 by Avril Doyle (PPE-DE) to the Commission. Nuclear safety at Sellafield.
Date: 2000-09-22
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: EU control, European Commission, Ireland, United Kingdom, action for failure to fulfil an obligation, infringement procedure (EU), nuclear reactor, nuclear safety, radioactive waste, waste management

18.4.2001

EN

Official Journal of the European Communities

C 113 E/235

(2001/C 113 E/257)

WRITTEN QUESTION P-3055/00

by Avril Doyle (PPE-DE) to the Commission

(22 September 2000)

Subject: Nuclear safety at Sellafield

Bearing in mind that the Commission is currently suing Britain over plans to dismantle Windscale No 1
pile reactor at Sellafield Nuclear Reprocessing Plant, given the callous disregard shown for Irish citizens(cid:146)
safety by British Nuclear Fuels at Sellafield, as outlined in secret memos leaked from the BNFL Public
Relations Office this week, in the light of the appalling history of safety and security breaches at the
plant (1), and in the light of BNFL(cid:146)s plans to introduce changes to its nuclear waste handling procedures,
which include a series of unmanned radioactive dumps and plans to scale back on the protective cladding
for decommissioned reactors which would ultimately weaken the protection of the reactor cores, would
the Commission outline its concerns regarding these three issues and the action it feels should be taken at
all levels of authority against the Sellafield nuclear plant?

(1)

(cid:145)The Guardian(cid:146), 11 September 2000 The Guardian, Special Report on Britain(cid:146)s Nuclear Industry.

Answer given by Mrs Wallstr(cid:246)m on behalf of the Commission

(13 October 2000)

The Commission considered that the United Kingdom had failed to fulfil its obligations under Article 37 of
the Euratom Treaty, because it had not submitted the general data related to the dismantling of the
Windscale Pile I nuclear reactor. The Commission therefore decided in July 2000 to pursue an infringe-
ment case against the United Kingdom. The case related to a difference in interpretation of the Treaty, the
United Kingdom arguing that the Euratom Treaty (and in this case Article 37) does not apply to the use of
nuclear energy for military purposes. The Commission believes that Chapter III of the Euratom Treaty
applies to protection from ionising radiation from all sources. The United Kingdom authorities have since
indicated that there is currently no plan to dismantle the pile, and that when a feasible design concept is
identified, general data will be submitted according to Article 37, as they consider the proposed operations
to dispose of the waste to no longer be related to the defence programme.

The Commission is not in a position to confirm, or otherwise, the validity of references to British Nuclear
Fuels Limited (BNFL) internal documents made in the Guardian article of 11 September 2000.

The Commission has as yet no information as regards plans for unmanned waste dumps nor details of
planned dismantling operations such as those to which the Honourable Member refers. This information
would be part of the general data submitted by the United Kingdom for any such plan for any location.

The Commission takes all appropriate measures to ensure that Community legislation, relating to common
basic safety standards for the protection of workers and the public from the effects of ionising radiation, is
applied within Member States.

(2001/C 113 E/258)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-3064/00

by Francesco Rutelli (ELDR) to the Commission

(2 October 2000)

Subject: Death penalty

A commitment to end the use of the death penalty has for some time been a priority for Parliament and
for the European Union(cid:146)s foreign policy. In 1999, with a view to actively helping to affirm the principle of
the inviolability of human life, Parliament adopted several amendments to enable budget headings B7-702,