WRITTEN QUESTION E-2353/03 by Hiltrud Breyer (Verts/ALE) to the Commission. Paks Nuclear Power Plant in Hungary.
Date: 2003-07-16
Institutions: European Parliament, Provisional data
Subjects: Hungary, International Atomic Energy Agency, degradation of the environment, nuclear accident, nuclear safety, radioactive effluent, radioactivity

C 58 E/160

Official Journal of the European Union

EN

6.3.2004

With regard to the Nile crocodile, farming is focused on the production of leather and meat as well as for
exhibition as is the case in other parts of the world.

For all three species it is also foreseen to cover demands for educational and research purposes. The project
increase current knowledge on the biology of these species, embryology, nutrition, reproduction,
will
pathology in particular parasitic diseases etc. …

Overall, farming of these species can contribute to restore and maintain threatened species and to reduce
the illegally caught animals either locally or in third countries.

In addition, if economical viable, it could be an alternative for rural development in particular in more
deprived areas of the Union and developing countries as it has been the case for other species (ostriches,
frogs, fish, crustaceans, molluscs, etc.).

The Commission understands the concerns of the Honourable Member with regard to trade. The trade of
these species and their products is subject to national, Community and international
in
particular the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), which is implemented
through Council Regulation (EC) No 338/97 of 9 December 1997 on the protection of species of wild
fauna and flora by regulating trade therein (1) and Commission Regulation (EC) No 1808/2001 of
30 August 2001 laying down detailed rules concerning the implementation of Council Regulation (EC)
No 338/97 on the protection of species of wild fauna and flora by regulating trade therein (2). This
legislation includes detailed provisions regarding captive-bred specimens in order to prevent fraudulent
trade in wild-collected animals.

legislation,

More information on the project could be found on the website: (http://www.unex.es/biomed/ric).

(1) OJ L 61, 3.3.1997.
(2) OJ L 250, 19.9.2001.

(2004/C 58 E/173)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2353/03

by Hiltrud Breyer (Verts/ALE) to the Commission

(16 July 2003)

Subject: Paks Nuclear Power Plant in Hungary

The accident at the Paks Nuclear Power Plant (Hungary) occurred on 10 April 2003 and has been rated
Level 3 (cid:1) a serious incident (cid:1) by the International Nuclear Event Scale (INES). The event caused the
release of radioactivity into the environment. According to Hungarian sources, the situation is not better
now (cid:1) 7 weeks after the incident (cid:1) since the position of the damaged fuel assemblies and the uranium
pellets which have fallen to the bottom of the cleaning container is still not known. (There were 3,5 tonnes
of fuel being cleaned at the time of the incident.) It seems that the validity of the inspections undertaken
by the Paks NPP itself and followed by the Hungarian Atomic Energy Agency (HAEA) are doubtful.

On 22 May the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) announced that an independent evaluation of
the event would be undertaken. According to the communications of the IAEA and the Hungarian
Government, the IAEA will only oversee the already existing (cid:1) above mentioned (cid:1) documents, and will
base their findings on those instead of starting a new investigation of the whole problem.

In the light of this:

(cid:1) Will representatives of the European Commission be part of the delegation reviewing the accident and

its consequences?

(cid:1) Will the Commission report back to the Parliament on the outcome of the IAEA’s mission?

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Official Journal of the European Union

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(cid:1) Has the Commission assessed or will it assess what lessons can be learned from the accident on the
role of the regulator and its relationship with the nuclear industry? Did the Commission make any
recommendations for a clear division of
tasks in terms of nuclear safety, civil protection and
independence of the regulator during the nuclear part of the negotiations?

(cid:1) The accident occurred during the cleaning of 30 uranium fuel assemblies using equipment supplied by
Framatome ANP. Has the Commission requested information from Framatome as to what lessons it
has learned from the accident and its impact on similar procedures in Member States?

(cid:1) Has the Commission requested any independent monitoring of the environmental

impact of the

release of radioactive material during the accident?

Answer given by Mrs de Palacio on behalf of the Commission

(9 September 2003)

The International Atomic Energy Agency (AIEA) undertook an expert review mission to investigate the
10 April 2003 fuel-cleaning incident at the Paks nuclear power plant. The team was composed of nuclear
and radiation safety experts from the IAEA, three Member States (Austria, Finland, United Kingdom),
Canada, Slovakia and the United States of America. The mission started on 10 June 2003 and was
completed by 25 June 2003. The Commission was not part of the mission.

The draft of the findings of the mission and their recommendations has been given to the Hungarian
Atomic Energy Authority inviting factual comments. The final report by the mission was due to be handed
to the Hungarian Government. The Hungarian Government intends to make the final report available to
the public.

On the basis of the current acquis, the Commission is not formally called upon to assess lessons learned
from such incidents in nuclear plants (cid:1) either inside or outside the Union. However, once the report of
the IAEA mission is available it will be carefully examined by the Commission to assess what lessons could
be learned from the incident and the roles of the different parties involved. If it would be useful to hold
bilateral discussions on the subject with any of the parties, the Commission will seek to do so.

Concerning release of radioactive material, in its report on nuclear safety to the Council, the Hungarian
Government gave details of the airborne radioactivity on the day of the incident and for the following 16
days. In its Press Release on its mission, the IAEA noted that, concerning radiation protection, they agreed
with the Paks and Hungarian regulatory authority’s assessment that the annual dose limits for the general
public had not been exceeded as a result of these releases.

(2004/C 58 E/174)

WRITTEN QUESTION E-2355/03

by Proinsias De Rossa (PSE) to the Commission

Subject: Public awareness of natural and man-made hazards

(16 July 2003)

On 5 February 2003, the Commission issued a working document, ‘Improvement of public awareness and
safety in the face of natural and man-made hazards’, for a meeting of interested stakeholders in this issue
on 28 February 2003.

On 7 May 2003, the Commission issued a list of contributions it had received from Member States,
regional and local authorities, accession countries, NGOs and other institutions by the end of April 2003
in response to its working document.