WRITTEN QUESTION E-1455/03 by Hiltrud Breyer (Verts/ALE) to the Commission. Euratom/Type of projects.
Date: 2003-04-29
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: EAEC Treaty, EU programme, Euratom loan, eligibility criteria, legal basis, nuclear safety, project evaluation, third country

C 51 E/94

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

26.2.2004

(2004/C 51 E/106)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1455/03

by Hiltrud Breyer (Verts/ALE) to the Commission

(29 April 2003)

Subject: Euratom/Type of projects

Can the scope of the loan facility be changed to exclude lending to certain designs of reactors, e.g.

1.
RBMKs? If not, what is the legal base for such a restriction?

Can the scope of the loan facility be changed to allow lending only to nuclear facilities that are

2.
operational or awaiting decommissioning? If not, what is the legal base for such a restriction?

Can the scope of the loan facility be changed to allow lending only to nuclear facilities outside

3.
Member States? If not, what is the legal base for such a restriction?

Given that

4.
anticipated that loans used for decommissioning will be repaid?

the decommissioning of nuclear facilities does not generate a revenue, how is it

If approved, will decommissioning be used to undertake stage I and II decommissioning, or is it

5.
envisaged that the loans will also be used for the creation of a ‘greenfield’ site (Stage III)?

6.

Fuel and Material Testing Reactors:

(a) Would non-member States be eligible to apply for loans for the construction of new FMTRs?

(b) Will there be any restriction of use placed upon the FMTR e.g. action against use for development of

plutonium fuels etc?

(c) What economic analysis will be required to assess the economic viability of these facilities?

In the past the Commission has proposed that Euratom loans be used to gain agreements on closure

7.
of ‘high risk’ reactors. Has this conditionality on lending now been dropped?

Answer given by Mr Solbes Mira on behalf of the Commission

(19 June 2003)

1.
The Euratom loan facility cannot be used to finance any reactor that is not considered to be safe.
The nuclear safety requirements for eligibility of projects do not need to be changed for this purpose.
The proposed Guidelines of the Council clearly indicate that ‘at technical level, the Commission will (with
the support of experts from the Member States in the case of projects in the eligible non-member
countries) examine the extent to which the project provides a solution to the safety problem which exists.
[…] The Commission’s examination will refer to the studies on nuclear safety carried out by the
International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and World Association of Nuclear
international bodies,
Operators (WANO), and under the PHARE and TACIS programmes, and will, with the support of experts
from the Member States, assess the project in comparison with measures implemented in the Member
States to solve similar types of problem, taking account of the recommendations made by the international
bodies’.

2.
The Commission considers that completion at an acceptable safety level of plants under construction
(which otherwise would be finished at a lower safety level) results in a substantial improvement of the
nuclear safety and therefore such projects should remain eligible for the Euratom loan facility. The legal
basis for the respective Council Decision is the Euratom Treaty.

26.2.2004

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 51 E/95

The Commission considers that, given the importance of ensuring an adequate nuclear safety level
3.
within the Union, and the substantial financial burden that may be necessary for certain candidate
countries to achieve that objective, their access to the Euratom loan facility should continue under the
same conditions they have today once they become Member States. In order to ensure that, in practice, the
funds are used to grant loans for safety and efficiency purposes, the Commission inserted in its proposal a
recital and a paragraph in the Guidelines stating that ‘priority shall be given to projects related to safety
and efficiency of installations.’

4.
Decommissioning projects are not generating revenues by themselves but they should be financed
during the whole life of the plant by accumulating provisions as recently proposed by the Commission in
its proposal for a Council Directive setting out basic obligations and general principles on the safety of
nuclear installations. However, for future Member States and other non-Member States such provisions do
not exist or have not been in place long enough to reach the necessary level.
the
decommissioning projects would be examined on a case by case basis to evaluate their economic
conditions.

In this case,

5.

6.

Euratom loans could be used for projects at any stage of decommissioning.

(a) Council Decision 94/179/Euratom (1) does not allow involvement in the construction of new
nuclear power plants in non-Member States.

(b) Projects concerning new installations of this kind shall, pursuant to Chapter IV of the Euratom Treaty
relating to investment, be communicated to the Commission, which shall discuss with the persons or
undertakings all aspects related to the objectives of the Treaty. All nuclear facilities in the Union are
subject to Euratom nuclear material safeguards as laid down in chapter VII of the Euratom Treaty.
The operator has to declare the basic technical characteristics of the installation and has to maintain a
nuclear materials accountancy system. Whereas there are no direct restrictions regarding the use of the
facility, the Commission has to satisfy itself that the nuclear materials are not diverted from their
intended uses and that there is compliance with the provisions relating to supply and any other
safeguarding obligations assumed by the Community under an agreement concluded with a third State
or an international organisation.

(c) The economic analysis would be based on the communication to the Commission referred to in 6(b)

above.

It is not a requirement of the Euratom loan facility that there be closure conditions attached.
7.
However, as it is a financial tool to support the Community policy on nuclear matters, and so as to be
coherent, the Commission has included such conditions in the Euratom loan contracts where a previous
agreement had been reached. This is the case for Bulgaria (closure agreements for Kozloduy units 1 to 4
reached in the framework of
the Union enlargement exercise are reflected in the Euratom Loan
Agreements for units 5 & 6), and for Ukraine (closure of Chernobyl as agreed in the 1994 G7/EC/Ukraine
Memorandum of Understanding is included in the draft Euratom Loan Agreements for K2R4). Where
possible, when the Commission reaches a closure agreement, it would be included in any related Euratom
loan. This then becomes a powerful enforcement instrument.

(1) Council Decision 94/179/Euratom of 21 March 1994 amending Decision 77/270/Euratom,

to authorise the
Commission to contract Euratom borrowings in order to contribute to the financing required for improving the
degree of safety and efficiency of nuclear power stations in certain non-member countries, OJ L 84, 29.3.1994.

(2004/C 51 E/107)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1470/03

by Herman Schmid (GUE/NGL) to the Council

(30 April 2003)

Subject: Prisoners at Guantanamo Bay

The prisoners at Guantanamo Bay in Cuba are in a legal vacuum. They are being deprived of the human
right to be defended in court. The US Administration has refused to designate them as prisoners of war, a