WRITTEN QUESTION E-1910/03 by Margrietus van den Berg (PSE) to the Commission. Underground storage of nuclear waste.
Date: 2003-06-12
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Netherlands, nuclear safety, radioactive waste, soil type, underground storage of waste

27.3.2004

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 78 E/55

(2004/C 78 E/0053)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-1910/03

by Margrietus van den Berg (PSE) to the Commission

(12 June 2003)

Subject: Underground storage of nuclear waste

On 6 November 2002 the Commission published a communication to Parliament and the Council entitled
‘Nuclear safety in the European Union’ (1). In it the Commission says that underground storage of nuclear
waste is the safest solution. The Member States are required to have identified underground storage
locations by 2008 and to have brought them into operation by 2018.

The Commission also says that storage must take place in geologically stable rock formations but the
nuclear waste must be retrievable. In the case of underground storage in salt domes in Groningen and
Drenthe in the Netherlands this is impossible because the clay and salt deposits in the Netherlands are not
in geologically stable rock formations as referred to the communication.

On 12 May 2003 State-Secretary Van Geel gave a reaction to these proposals, on behalf of the Netherlands
Cabinet, in a letter to the Second Chamber saying that there was no question of underground storage in
the Netherlands over the next hundred years. He also said that the deadlines for implementing the
proposals were unrealistic.

What is the Commission’s reaction to the various points raised in State-Secretary Van Geel’s letter,
including the statement that there is no question of underground storage in the Netherlands in the next
100 years?

Can the Commission indicate how it intends to deal with salt and clay formations that do not have the
geological structure referred to in the communication, such as the salt domes in Groningen and Drenthe?

Is the Commission prepared to revise its proposals?

(1) COM(2002) 605 final.

Answer given by Mrs de Palacio on behalf of the Commission

(23 July 2003)

The PAGIS study conducted within the Community Research Framework Programme showed the
widespread distribution of suitable host rock formations throughout the Union. These are specifically
clay, salt and crystalline rocks. The PAGIS study specifically mentioned the existence of potentially suitable
salt formations in the Netherlands.

Concerning retrievability, as geological disposal is based on the ‘concentrate and contain’ strategy, the
packages containing the radioactive waste could, under normal conditions, be retrievable for many years
after emplacement of the waste in repositories in geological formations.

The Commission considers that the current proposal for a Council Directive (Euratom) on the management
of spent nuclear fuel and radioactive waste (1) already offer significant flexibility to allow for differences
between Member States. The Commission has made it clear that it is ready to continue the discussions on
its proposals with the Member States in the Council to see if such flexibility might be further enhanced.

(1) COM(2003) 32 final.