REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL AND THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE on the implementation by the Member States of Council Directive 2006/117 EURATOM on the supervision and control of shipments of radioactive waste and spent fuels
Date: 2013-04-25
Institutions: European Commission
Subjects: cross-border transport, national implementing measure, nuclear fuel, nuclear safety, radioactive waste, transport of dangerous goods

EUROPEAN 
COMMISSION 

Brussels, 25.4.2013  
COM(2013) 240 final 

REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, THE 
COUNCIL AND THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE 

on the implementation by the Member States of Council Directive 2006/117 EURATOM 
on the supervision and control of shipments of radioactive waste and spent fuels  

{SWD(2013) 150 final} 

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REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, THE 
COUNCIL AND THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE 

on the implementation by the Member States of Council Directive 2006/117 EURATOM 
on the supervision and control of shipments of radioactive waste and spent fuels  

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TABLE OF CONTENTS 

1. 

1.1. 

1.2. 

1.3. 

2. 

2.1. 

2.2. 

2.3. 

2.4. 

2.5. 

2.6. 

3. 

3.1. 

3.2. 

4. 

Introduction .................................................................................................................. 4 

Background .................................................................................................................. 4 

Legal framework .......................................................................................................... 5 

General principles for supervision and control of shipments....................................... 6 

Implementation of the general provisions.................................................................... 6 

Transposition of the Directive...................................................................................... 6 

Standard document for the supervision and control of shipments ............................... 7 

Competent authorities .................................................................................................. 7 

Transmission ................................................................................................................ 7 

Advisory committee ..................................................................................................... 8 

Regular reports ............................................................................................................. 8 

Reporting from Member States.................................................................................... 9 

Shipments..................................................................................................................... 9 

Exports out of the Community..................................................................................... 9 

Conclusions ................................................................................................................ 10 

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INTRODUCTION 

1. 
Council  Directive  2006/117/Euratom1  lays  down  a  Community  system  of  supervision  and 
control  of  transboundary  shipments  of  radioactive  waste  and  spent  nuclear  fuel,  so  as  to 
guarantee  an  adequate  protection  of  the  population.  This  Directive  applies  to  transboundary 
shipments  whenever  the  country  of  origin  or  the  country  of  destination  or  any  country  of 
transit  is  a  Member  State  of  the  Community.  It  ensures  that  Member  States  concerned  are 
informed about shipments of radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel to or via their territory 
with the obligation to give either their consent or reasoned refusal to the shipments. 

The Directive foresees periodical reporting from Member States to the Commission and from 
the  Commission  to  the  European  Parliament,  to  the  Council  and  to  the  European  Economic 
and  Social  Committee.  The  purpose  of  the  reporting  is  to  provide  a  useful  overview  of 
authorisations  given  Community-wide  and  to  allow  identification  of  practical  difficulties 
encountered  by  the  Member  States  in  implementing  the  provisions  of  the  Directive  and  the 
solutions applied. 

This  is  the  first  report  from  the  Commission  on  the  implementation  of  Council  Directive 
2006/117/Euratom. Following the introduction, this report will provide: 

– 

– 

Feedback  on  the  implementation  of  the  general  provisions  (Chapter  4)  of  the 
Directive; 

A  summary  overview  of  the  information  from  the  Member  States  reporting  to  the 
Commission  on  the  implementation  of  the  Directive.  This  information  has  been 
established  in  consultation  with  the  individual  Member  States.  Details  on  the 
implementation  of  the  Directive  by  the  Member  States  are  presented  in  the 
Commission Staff Working Document SWD(2013)150. 

The  conclusion  of  this  report  will  give  an  outlook  on  the  challenges  that  require  further 
attention and that will be addressed in close cooperation with the advisory committee and the 
Member States. 

1.1. 

Background 

All EU Member States produce radioactive waste, generated by numerous activities, such as 
electricity  production  in  nuclear  power  plants  and  radioisotope  applications  in  medicine, 
industry, agriculture, research and education. The operation of nuclear reactors also generates 
spent fuel. Spent fuel means nuclear fuel that has been irradiated in and permanently removed 
from a reactor core. When spent fuel is unloaded from a reactor core, it is stored in dedicated 
ponds adjacent to the reactor to allow the initial heat and radiation levels to decrease. From 
the reactor site, spent fuel is transported by road, rail or sea to either an interim storage site or 
a reprocessing plant where it will be reprocessed. 

Fourteen  out  of  twenty  seven  Member  States  have  nuclear  power  reactors  in  operation,  and 
further  two  Member  States  have  nuclear  power  reactors  which  are  being  decommissioned2. 
Most Member States have research reactors. 

Each  Member  State  is  fully  responsible  for  the  choice  of  its  national  policy  on  the 
management of the radioactive waste and spent fuel. Spent fuel may either be considered as a 
usable resource that can be reprocessed or be destined for disposal if regarded as radioactive 

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OJ L 337, 5.12.2006, p. 21. 
The 14 Member States which have nuclear power reactors in operation are Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech 
Republic,  Finland,  France,  Germany,  Hungary,  the  Netherlands,  Romania,  Slovakia,  Slovenia,  Spain, 
Sweden and the UK; Italy and Lithuania only have nuclear power reactors under decommissioning. 

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waste. Spent fuel requires therefore particular attention. Regardless of the choice made by the 
Member  States  for  the  management  of  their  radioactive  waste  and  spent  fuel,  transport 
operations of those materials are necessary and occur between Member States and into, and 
out of the Community. 

1.2. 

Legal framework 

Operations involved in shipments of radioactive waste or spent fuel are subject to a number of 
requirements  under  Community3  legislation  and  international  legally  binding  Conventions4 
regarding  in  particular  the  safe  transport  of  radioactive  material  and  the  conditions  under 
which radioactive waste or spent fuel is disposed of or stored in the country of destination. 

The  Community  legislation  for  the  health  protection  of  workers  and  the  general  public 
requires  that  shipments  of  radioactive  waste  or  spent  fuel  between  Member  States  and  into 
and  out  of  the  Community  be  subject  to  a  compulsory  and  common  system  of  prior 
authorisation.  This  system  of  prior  authorisation  for  shipments,  established  in  19925,  was 
modified  significantly  in  2006  with  the  adoption  of  the  Directive  on  the  supervision  and 
control of shipments of radioactive waste and spent fuel, hereinafter "Shipments Directive"6. 
The  provisions  of  the  1992  Directive  needed  to  be  amended  in  the  light  of  experience;  to 
clarify  and  add  concepts  and  definitions,  to  address  situations  that  had  been  omitted  in  the 
past  and  to  simplify  the  existing  procedure  for  the  shipment  of  radioactive  waste  between 
Member  States.  Modifications  were  also  necessary  in  order  to  guarantee  consistency  with 
other Community and international provisions, and in particular with the Joint Convention on 
the Safety of Spent Fuel Management and on the Safety of Radioactive Waste Management, 
to which the Community acceded on 2 January 2006. 

The obligations under the Shipments Directive are without prejudice to the right of Member 
States  to  export  their  spent  fuel  for  reprocessing.  Nothing  in  the  Directive  implies  that  a 
Member State of destination has to accept shipments of radioactive waste and spent fuel for 
final treatment or disposal except in the case of reshipment (return to the country of origin). 
Any  refusal  of  such  shipments  is  to  be  justified  on  the  basis  of  the  criteria  set  out  in  the 
Directive. Furthermore, the Shipments Directive prohibits the export of radioactive waste or 
spent fuel to African, Caribbean or Pacific (ACP) countries or to a third country which does 
not have the resources to manage the radioactive waste or spent fuel safely. 
The  recently  adopted  Council  Directive  2011/70/Euratom7,  hereinafter  "Waste  Directive", 
introduces additional binding conditions in case of shipment of radioactive  waste,  including 
spent fuel considered as waste in case of disposal. The general principle under Article 4(4) of 
the Waste Directive foresees that radioactive waste shall be disposed of in the Member State 
in which it was generated, unless at the time of shipment an agreement has entered into force 
between the Member States concerned and another Member State or a third country to use a 
disposal  facility  in  one  of  them.  However  such  an  agreement  is  also  subject  to  criteria 
established by the Commission in accordance with Article 16(2) of the Shipments Directive 

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7 

In  particular,  Council  Directive  of  13  May  1996  laying  down  basic  safety  standards  for  the  health 
protection  of  the  general  public  and  workers  against  the  dangers  of  ionizing  radiation.  OJ  L  159, 
29.6.1996, p. 1. 
In particular the IAEA Joint Convention on the Safety of Spent fuel Management and on the Safety of 
Radioactive Waste Management. 
Council Directive 92/3/Euratom of 3 February 1992; OJ L 35, 12.2.1992, p. 24. 
Council  directive  2006/117  EURATOM  of  20  November  2006  on  the  supervision  and  control  of 
shipments of radioactive waste and spent fuel. 
Council  Directive  2011/70/Euratom  of  19  July  2011  establishing  a  Community  framework  for  the 
responsible and safe management of spent fuel and radioactive waste. OJ L 199, 2.8.2011, p. 48. 

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and the provisions of the Waste Directive requesting among others such a disposal facility to 
be already safely in operation at the time of shipment. 

The  Waste  Directive  does  not  affect  the  freedom  of  Member  States  to  accept  spent  fuel  or 
waste  for  processing  or  reprocessing  from  third  countries  and  send  it  back  to  its  country  of 
origin. Similarly, Member States remain free to ship their radioactive waste or spent fuel for 
processing or reprocessing to another Member State or to a third country. In both cases, the 
ultimate responsibility for the safe and responsible disposal of those materials, including any 
waste  as  a  by-product,  remains  with  the  Member  State  or  third  country  from  which  the 
radioactive material was shipped. 

General principles for supervision and control of shipments 

1.3. 
A holder8 who plans to carry out an intra-Community shipment of radioactive waste or spent 
fuel  or  to  arrange  for  such  a  shipment  to  be  carried  out  must  submit  a  duly  completed 
application to the competent authorities of the Member State of origin. A single application 
may cover several shipments if these share the same characteristics and if the route (countries 
and borders crossed) and the competent authorities are the same. 

Where radioactive waste or spent fuel is to be imported into the Community, the consignee 
must submit this application to the competent authorities of the Member State of destination. 
Where a shipment is made from a Member State to a third country, the competent authorities 
in  the  Member  State  of  origin  must  contact  the  relevant  authorities  in  the  country  of 
destination. 

The shipment cannot be made until the competent authorities of the country of destination and 
of  any  country  of  transit  have  notified  the  competent  authorities  of  the  country  of  origin  of 
their approval. The Shipments Directive stipulates a period of two months after receipt of the 
application for notification of approval or refusal. Refusal from a Member State of destination 
or transit must be justified with regard to the legislation on the shipment and management of 
radioactive  waste  or  spent  fuel  or  on  the  grounds  of  relevant  national,  Community  or 
international legislation applicable to the transport of radioactive material. 

The  competent  authorities  in  Member  States  of  transit  or  destination  may  add  conditions  to 
the  shipment.  Nevertheless,  for  shipments  within  the  Community,  it  is  not  possible  to  lay 
down  conditions  which  are  more  stringent  than  those  laid  down  by  the  national  law  of  a 
Member State on the shipment of radioactive waste on its own territory. 

Finally,  if  the  conditions  applying  to  the  shipment  are  not  complied  with  or  the  shipment 
cannot  be  completed,  the  competent  authorities  of  the  Member  State  of  origin  must  ensure 
that the radioactive waste or the spent fuel in question is taken back by the holder unless an 
alternative safe arrangement can be made. 

2. 

IMPLEMENTATION OF THE GENERAL PROVISIONS 

2.1. 

Transposition of the Directive 

The  Shipments  Directive  required  that  the  Member  States  had  to  bring  into  force  before  25 
December 2008 the laws, regulations and administrative provisions necessary to comply with 
the Directive. 

8 

Holder means any natural or legal person who, before carrying out a shipment of radioactive waste or 
spent fuel is responsible under the applicable national law for such materials and plans to carry out a 
shipment to a consignee; 

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Although most Member States met this deadline, a few Member States did not transpose the 
Directive  in  time  and  the  Commission  opened  infringement  proceedings  against  them.  The 
Member  States  in  question  subsequently  communicated  their  measures  to  transpose  the 
Directive and the Commission was able to close these cases during the second half of 2009, 
with  the  exception  of  Greece,  whose  transposition  measures  were  communicated  in 
September 2010. 

Since the end of 2010 the transposition of Council Directive 2006/117/Euratom is completed 
and it can be considered as being implemented in all EU Member States. 

2.2. 

Standard document for the supervision and control of shipments 

The Shipments Directive foresees the use of a standard document for all shipments within the 
scope  of  the  Directive.  Taking  into  account  past  experience  a  new  Commission  Decision 
establishing the standard document for the supervision and control of shipments of radioactive 
waste  and  spent  fuel  was  published  in  the  Official  Journal  of  the  European  Union  in  April 
20089. 

For  the  shipments  of  radioactive  waste  and  of  spent  fuel  (including  spent  fuel  destined  for 
final disposal and as such categorised as waste) the standard document provides in its annex 
the forms for: the application of authorisation; the acknowledgement of receipt of application; 
the  authorisation  or  refusal  of  shipment;  the  description  of  consignment/list  of  packages  as 
well as the acknowledgement of receipt of shipment. The standard document also includes a 
list of minimum requirements of a duly completed application. 

inconsistency  between  Council  Directive  2006/117/Euratom  and 

Following  an 
the 
explanatory  notes  to  Commission  Decision  C(2008)793  of  5  March  2008  establishing  the 
standard  document  for  the  supervision  and  control  of  shipments  of  radioactive  waste  and 
spent  fuel  referred  to  in  Council  Directive  2006/117/Euratom  (2008/312/Euratom),  a 
corrigendum was published in the OJ10 to modify the wording accordingly. 

Member  States  have  also  reported  some  difficulties  in  the  use  of  the  standard  document. 
Details  about  this  inconsistency  and  the  difficulties  encountered  are  provided  in  the 
Commission Staff Working Document SWD(2013)150. These difficulties will be followed up 
by the advisory committee. 

2.3. 

Competent authorities 

Competent authorities are any authority which, under the law or regulations of the countries 
of origin, transit or destination, are empowered to implement the system of supervision and 
control of shipments of radioactive waste or spent fuel. In order to facilitate communication 
with  the  Commission  all  Member  States  must  provide  the  Commission  with  the  necessary 
information and contact details of their competent authority or authorities. 

The list of competent authorities  in the Member States can also be accessed via the Europa 
web site of the European Commission under the following link: 

http://ec.europa.eu/energy/nuclear/transport/shipment_directive_en.htm. 

2.4. 

Transmission 

the  Commission  shall  establish 
Under  Article  19  of 
recommendations  for  a  secure  and  effective  system  of  transmission  of  the  documents  and 
information  relating  to  the  provisions  of  the  Directive. The Commission shall  also establish 
and  maintain  an  electronic  communication  platform  for  providing  the  contact  details  of  the 

the  Shipments  Directive 

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OJ L 107, 17.4.2008, p. 32 
OJEU L 343, 23 December 2011, pp. 149. 

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competent  authorities  in  the  Member  States,  the  languages  acceptable  to  the  competent 
authorities as well as all general conditions and additional requirements, if any, required for 
the authorisation of shipments. 

The  Commission  Recommendation  for  a  secure  and  effective  system  of  transmission  of 
documents and information was published in the Official Journal of the European Union in 
July 200911. 

Regarding the electronic platform, the Commission established a website (see the above cited 
link) containing all relevant information related to the Shipments Directive. The data provided 
is, where appropriate, updated following information transmitted to the Commission by each 
Member State as foreseen under Article 18(2) of the Directive. 

2.5. 

Advisory committee 

In  performing  the  tasks  laid  down  by  the  Directive,  the  Commission  is  assisted  by  a 
Committee of an advisory nature composed of representatives of the Member States. The first 
meeting  was  convened  in  May  2007  with  the  adoption  of  the  advisory  committee  terms  of 
reference  and  work  programme  for  the  following  years.  The  Committee  held  nine  meetings 
organised and chaired by a representative of the Commission. 

The advisory committee delivered its opinion: 

– 

– 

– 

on the establishment and use of the standard document; 

on  the  Commission  Recommendation  establishing  criteria  for  the  export  of 
radioactive waste and spent fuel to third countries; 

on  the  Commission  Recommendation  for  a  secure  and  effective  system  of 
transmission of documents. 

The opinions of the Committee have been recorded in the minutes. 

The experience to date shows that the advisory committee is a good and useful tool to allow 
representatives of Member States to share their experience with the Commission and between 
themselves. 

2.6. 

Regular reports 

Member States have the obligation to report to the Commission for the first time by the end of 
2011  and  then  every  three  years  on  the  implementation  of  the  Shipments  Directive.  On  the 
basis of the Member States' reports, the Commission has established this first summary report 
for the European Parliament, the Council and the European Economic and Social Committee 
in order to provide a useful overview of authorisations given Community-wide and to inform 
about practical difficulties encountered by the Member States and the solutions applied. 

According  to  Article  20  and  the  procedures  laid  down  in  Article  21  of  the  Directive,  the 
advisory committee was consulted on the draft report and the associated working document. 
No major comments were received from the members of the advisory committee. Comments 
mainly concerned updates of contact details. 

The reporting should pay particular attention to cases of reshipment related to non-authorised 
shipments  and  undeclared  radioactive  waste  (Art.  4  of  the  Directive).  In  the  context  of  this 
first report, the Commission has not been informed about any shipments that would fall under 
the provisions of Article 4.  

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OJ L 177, 8.7.2009, p. 5 

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3. 

REPORTING FROM MEMBER STATES 

In order to streamline the reporting process the Commission provided all Member States with 
a reporting template in two parts: the first part on information on the implementation of the 
Directive, the second part on information on shipments. All Member States have reported to 
the  Commission.  The  information  provided  was  analysed  by  the  Commission  and,  where 
necessary, some issues that required further clarification were addressed bilaterally with the 
Member  States  concerned.  The  main  elements  from  the  Member  States  reports  are 
summarised  in  this  report.  Further  details  can  be  found  in  the  accompanying  Commission 
Staff Working Document. 

In  general,  no  major  problems  in  the  implementation  of  the  Directive  were  reported  by  the 
Member  States.  Nevertheless,  some  Member  States  reported  particular  concerns  about  the 
following two issues: 

– 

– 

The  fact  that  there  is  no  harmonisation  of  clearance  levels  for  radioactive  waste  in 
the EU can lead to the possibility that materials containing radioactive substances are 
released  in  one  Member  State  but  could  still  be  considered  as  radioactive  waste  in 
another Member State. 

Transboundary shipments of some wastes containing naturally occurring radioactive 
materials  (NORM12  waste)  and  which  are  not  arising  from  authorized  practices  as 
currently  defined  under  the  Basic  Safety  Standards.  These  kinds  of  wastes  are 
excluded  from  the  scope  of  this  Directive  but  also  from  the  Directive13  on  the 
management of waste from extractive industries. 

Both issues will be further investigated and addressed within the advisory committee.  

3.1. 

Shipments 

The Shipments Directive requests that shipments of radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel 
between  Member  States  take  place  only  with  the  prior  informed  consent  of  the  competent 
authorities of all the Member States involved. 

From the 27 Member States, 14 Member States authorised shipments within the scope of the 
Directive.  The  number  of  authorisations  is  relatively  small.  In  the  period  covered  by  the 
present report 2008 -2011, Member States reported the delivery of 161 authorisations14 within 
the  scope  of  the  Directive.  74%  of  the  authorisations  are  related  to  shipment  of  wastes,  the 
remaining 26 % are shipments of spent nuclear fuels. 

Most  of  the  shipments  are  shipments  between  Member  States.  Detailed  information  is 
provided in the Commission Staff Working Document. 

3.2. 

Exports out of the Community 

Without prejudice to the right of each Member State to define its own spent fuel cycle policy 
and  as  already  mentioned,  the  Shipments  Directive  shall  not  affect  the  right  of  a  Member 
State  to  export  spent  fuel  for  reprocessing,  taking  into  account  the  principles  of  the  nuclear 
common  market,  in  particular  the  free  movement  of  goods  within  the  EU.  However  article 
16(1)  of  the  Directive  clearly  indicates  under  which  conditions  export  shipments  are 
prohibited. Particularly important is that the competent authority of Member States shall not 
authorise shipments to a third country which does not have the administrative and technical 

12 
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14 

Naturally Occurring Radioactive Materials (NORM)  
Directive 2006/21/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of 15 March 2006. 
It has to be noted that some authorisations are given for several shipments to be carried out over a time 
period that may exceed the current reporting period. 

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capacity  and  regulatory  structure  to  manage  the  radioactive  waste  or  spent  fuels  safely,  as 
stated also in the Joint Convention. 

Hereto, and with the involvement of the advisory committee in accordance with the procedure 
laid down in Article 21, the Commission has established criteria in line with the Article 16.2, 
taking due account of, inter alia, relevant safety standards of the International Atomic Energy 
Agency (IAEA), facilitating Member States to evaluate whether requirements for exports are 
met.  Those  criteria  have  been  published  as  a  Commission  Recommendation  in  the  Official 
Journal of the European Union in December 200815. 

The number of authorisations as reported by the Member States for export to third countries 
remains rather low (17 % out of the total number of reported authorisations). 9 Member States 
reported a total of 28 authorisations for export outside the EU to Russia, China, Switzerland, 
Japan  and  USA.  16  of  those  authorisations  concerned  the  shipment  of  spent  fuel  for 
reprocessing (6 authorisations for spent fuel from nuclear power plants) or reprocessing and 
storage  (10  authorisations  for  spent  fuel  from  research  reactors).  The  remaining  12 
authorisations  were  for  radioactive  waste  being  returned  to  the  country  of  origin  (i.e. 
radioactive waste arising from the treatment of contaminated material in one of the Member 
States). 

Member  States  reported  that  shipments  and  exports  are  supervised  and  controlled  in 
accordance  with  the  procedures  and  provisions  laid  down  in  the  Shipments  Directive. 
However,  with  the  information  provided,  the  Commission  is  not  in  a  position  to  verify 
whether  all  the  export  criteria  according  to  the  Commission  Recommendation  are  fully 
complied  with;  in  particular  whether  the  spent  fuel  facilities  in  the  third  countries  are 
effectively submitted to an IAEA safeguards agreement, in connection with the signature and 
ratification  of  the  Non-Proliferation  Treaty,  and  related  additional  protocols  or  whether  the 
requirements for a high level of safety are met as required under the Waste Directive. 

In the reporting from the Member States, the Commission also notes an overall consistency 
and complementarity with the National Reports under the Joint Convention on the Safety of 
Spent fuel Management and on the Safety of Radioactive Waste Management as those reports 
describe mainly the legal framework and responsibilities. 

4. 

CONCLUSIONS 

The  Shipments  Directive  has  been  successfully  transposed  in  all  EU  Member  States.  The 
general  provisions  under  the  Directive  have  been  implemented  through  the  adoption  and 
publication of the relevant Commission Decision and Recommendations and the creation of 
the Advisory Committee. 

After having assessed the information provided by the Member States in their first reporting 
exercise,  the  Commission  notes  that  the  Directive  is  now  being  fully  implemented  so  as  to 
guarantee  an  adequate  protection  of  the  population.  It  provides  a  well-structured  and 
operational  framework  for  the  supervision  and  control  of  shipments  in  all  Member  States, 
ensuring that transboundary shipments of radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel take place 
only  with  the  prior  informed  consent  of  the  competent  authorities  of  all  the  Member  States 
involved. 

The implementation of the Shipments Directive has not given rise to any major problems. The 
issue of NORM waste and clearance levels in the context of the shipment of radioactive waste 

15 

OJ L 338, 17.12.2008, p. 69 

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has  been  identified  and  will  be  further  followed-up  by  the  advisory  committee  established 
under this Directive. 

As regards the shipments of radioactive wastes and spent fuel, the Commission notes that the 
existing  national  provisions,  notably  those  implementing  the  Directive  laying  down  basic 
safety standards for the protection of the health of workers and the general public against the 
dangers arising from ionising radiation allow the national competent authorities to monitor the 
movements of these shipments on their territory. 

This  report  provides  a  first  summary  overview  of  authorisations  given  in  the  Community 
under the Shipment Directive. The number of authorisations of shipments is relatively small 
and  there  is  a  clear  picture  on  exports  outside  the  EU.  Although  the  Commissions  export 
criteria  are  only  published  as  a  Recommendation  with  no  legally  binding  character,  the 
alignment of Member State practices with all the criteria will remain an issue that will also be 
further addressed in close cooperation with the advisory committee. 

In implementing the Waste Directive, Member States are requested to take concrete decisions 
for  the  safe  management  of  their  radioactive  waste  and  spent  fuel.  This  will  also  certainly 
have  an  impact  on  the  shipments  within,  into  and  out  of  the  EU.  Future  reporting  will  then 
provide information on the evolution of shipments of radioactive waste and spent fuel. 

Finally,  no  accidents  leading  to  a  release  of  radioactive  substances  to  the  environment  and 
involving  national  or  transboundary  movements  of  radioactive  waste  or  spent  fuel  were 
reported for the three years covered by this report.  

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