REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL AND THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE on Member States implementation of the Council Directive 2006/117/EURATOM on the supervision and control of shipments of radioactive waste and spent fuel Fourth Report
Date: 2023-02-16
Institutions: Directorate-General for Energy, European Commission
Subjects: EU Member State, application of EU law, cross-border transport, export of waste, nuclear fuel, nuclear safety, radioactive waste, transport of dangerous goods

EN 

  EN 

   EUROPEAN COMMISSION  Brussels, 16.2.2023  COM(2023) 77 final  REPORT FROM THE COMMISSION TO THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, THE COUNCIL AND THE EUROPEAN ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL COMMITTEE on Member States implementation of the Council Directive 2006/117/EURATOM on the supervision and control of shipments of radioactive waste and spent fuel          Fourth Report {SWD(2023) 43 final}  
 
 
Contents 

1. 

Introduction ................................................................................................................... 1 

1.1. 

Context .......................................................................................................................... 1 

2. 

2.1. 

2.2. 

2.3. 

3. 

Legal framework and its implementation ..................................................................... 1 

Implementation of the Directive ................................................................................... 1 

Opinion of the Advisory Committee ............................................................................ 1 

Competent authorities ................................................................................................... 1 

Observations ................................................................................................................. 1 

3.1. 

Statistics (2018-2020) ................................................................................................... 1 

4. 

5. 

Follow-up and continuous improvement ...................................................................... 1 

Conclusions ................................................................................................................... 1 

1 

 
 
 
1. 

INTRODUCTION 

Council Directive 2006/117/Euratom1 (hereinafter referred to as “the Directive”) lays 
down a Community system of supervision and control of transboundary shipments of 
radioactive  waste  and  spent  fuel,  so  as  to  guarantee  an  adequate  protection  of  the 
population. It ensures that concerned Member States are informed about shipments of 
radioactive  waste  and  spent  fuel  to  or  via  their  territory,  with  the  obligation  to  give 
either their consent or reasoned refusal to the shipments. 

All  Member  States  transposed  the  Directive  and  have  been  reporting  to  the 
Commission  about  its  implementation  every  third  year  as  of  25  December  2011,  in 
accordance  with  Article  20.  In  the  most  recent  reporting  cycle,  Member  States 
submitted their latest national reports covering the period 2018-20202. In accordance 
with Article 20 and on the basis of these reports, the Commission has established this 
summary  report3  for  the  European  Parliament,  the  Council  and  the  European 
Economic  and  Social  Committee,  taking  into  account  the  opinion  of  an  Advisory 
Committee4  paying  particular  attention  to  reshipment  related  to  non-authorised 
shipments and undeclared radioactive waste5. 

The report follows up the third report6 of the Commission, covering the period 2015-
2017,  and  provides  an  overview  of  authorisations  and  shipments  of  spent  fuel  and 
radioactive waste in the Community. Detailed data and information, upon which the 
conclusions  of the  present  report  are based,  are  provided in  the  accompanying  Staff 
Working Document. 

1.1. 

Context 

All Member States in the EU produce radioactive waste, generated either by facilities, 
such  as  nuclear  power  plants  and  research  reactors,  or  by  activities,  such  as 
radioisotope applications in medicine, industry, agriculture, research and education.  

1  

2  

3  

4  
5  
6  

Council  Directive  2006/117/Euratom  of  20  November  2006  on  the  supervision  and  control  of 
shipments of radioactive waste and spent fuel, OJ L 337, 5.12.2006, pp. 21 – 32. 
More  precisely,  the  reports  cover  the  period  from  26.12.2017  to  25.12.2020  (authorisations). 
This was the fourth reporting cycle for all Member States but Croatia, while it was the third one 
for Croatia as they joined the EU on 1 July 2013. This will be the last reporting cycle including 
a report from the United Kingdom. 
Article  20(2)  of  the  Directive  requires  the  Commission  to  establish  a  summary  report  in 
accordance with the procedure laid down in Article 21 of the Directive. 
The Advisory Committee was established in 2007 as required by Article 21 of the Directive. 
Article 4 of the Directive. 
COM(2019)  633  final,  Report  from  the  Commission  to  the  European  Parliament,  the  Council 
and  the  European  Economic  and  Social  Committee  on  Member  States  implementation  of 
Council Directive 2006/117 Euratom on the supervision and control of shipments of radioactive 
waste and spent fuel, Third Report, 17.12.2019 and SWD(2019) 437 final. 

2 

 
 
                                                 
Operations of nuclear reactors also generate spent fuel, i.e. nuclear fuel that has been 
irradiated in and permanently removed from a reactor core. It may either be kept as a 
resource subject to reprocessing or be discarded as radioactive waste for final disposal 
with no further use foreseen.  

In  2020  (end  of  the  reporting  period),  nuclear  energy  accounted  for  24.6%  of  the 
production7 of electricity in the 27 EU Member States, with thirteen Member States8 
operating just over hundred nuclear power reactors. 

When spent  fuel  and radioactive waste are  generated, they are  safely  stored prior to 
possible (re)processing and disposal. Safe management of such materials may require 
their  movement,  also  referred  to  as  shipment,  from  the  sites  where  they  were 
generated  or  managed.  These  are  practices  that  occur  in  the  majority  of  Member 
States, regardless of the scale of their nuclear programmes. Shipments are mainly by 
road, rail or sea and in limited cases by air. 

Import,  export  and  transit  of  radioactive  waste  and  spent  fuel  through  Member 
State(s) are regular practices in the EU.  

2. 

LEGAL FRAMEWORK AND ITS IMPLEMENTATION 

Safe and responsible management of radioactive waste and spent fuel, including safe 
shipment of these materials in and outside the territories of Member States, is a legal 
requirement stemming from both international and EU law. 

At international level, the main reference in this field is the Joint Convention on the 
Safety  of  Spent  Fuel  Management  and  on  the  Safety  of  Radioactive  Waste 
Management (hereinafter “the Joint Convention”)9. Among other provisions, the Joint 
Convention  imposes  obligations  on  contracting  parties  in  relation  to  the  safety  of 
transboundary  movements  (import,  export  and  transit)  of  spent  fuel  and  radioactive 
waste. It requires each contracting party involved in transboundary movements to take 
the  appropriate  steps  to  ensure  that  such  movement  is  undertaken  in  a  manner 
consistent  with  the  provisions  of  the  Joint  Convention  and  relevant  binding 
international  instruments.  All  27  EU  Member  States  as  well  as  the  Euratom 

7  
8  

9  

Nuclear Energy Statistics. Eurostat. February, 2021. ISSN 2443-8219. 
Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, the Netherlands, Romania, 
Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, and Sweden. 
The Joint Convention entered into force on 18 June 2001. It applies to spent fuel and radioactive 
waste resulting from civilian nuclear reactors and applications and to spent fuel and radioactive 
waste  from  military  or  defence  programmes  if  and  when  such  materials  are  transferred 
permanently to and managed within exclusively civilian programmes, or when declared as spent 
fuel  or  radioactive  waste  for  the  purpose  of  the  Convention  by  the  Contracting  Party.  The 
Convention  also  applies  to  planned  and  controlled  releases  into  the  environment  of  liquid  or 
gaseous radioactive materials from regulated nuclear facilities. 

3 

 
 
                                                 
Community  are  contracting  parties  to  the  Joint  Convention10,  which  demonstrates 
their  commitment  to  ensuring  a  high  level  of  safety  of  spent  fuel  and  radioactive 
waste – from generation to disposal. 

At  EU  level,  a  comprehensive  legal  framework  ensures  protection  of  the  health  of 
workers  and  the  general  public  from  the  risks  arising  from  ionizing  radiation, 
including  during  shipments  of  spent  fuel  and  radioactive  waste.  The  framework 
currently  consists  of  the  Directive,  and  Council  Directives  2013/59/Euratom11 
(hereinafter  “the  Basic  Safety  Standards”)  and  2011/70/Euratom12  (hereinafter  “the 
Radioactive Waste Directive”) which have an effect on the scope of the Directive. 

Within  the  EU  nuclear  and  radiation  safety  framework,  the  Directive  specifically 
addresses  regulatory  authorisations  and  procedural  aspects  of 
transboundary 
shipments  of  radioactive  waste  and  spent  fuel  generated  from  civilian  facilities  and 
activities. The overall objective is to enhance the protection from dangers arising from 
exposure to ionizing radiation, through supervision and control of shipments of spent 
fuel and radioactive waste. The Directive applies whenever: 

  The country of origin,  the country of destination or any  country of transit of 

the spent fuel or radioactive waste is an EU Member State;  

  The  quantities  and  concentration  of  the  spent  fuel  or  radioactive  waste  for 
shipment (referred to as consignment) exceed the levels laid down in the Basic 
Safety Standards.  

Where  a  shipment  cannot  be  completed  or  if  the  conditions  for  shipment  are  not 
complied  with  in  accordance  with  the  Directive,  the  competent  authorities  of  the 
Member State of origin must ensure that the concerned material is taken back by the 
holder13,  unless  an  alternative  safe  arrangement  can  be  made.  The  competent 
authorities must ensure that the person responsible for the shipment takes corrective 
safety measures where necessary. In such case the holder is liable for costs arising in 
cases where the shipment cannot or may not be completed14. 

Any  refusal  of  authorisation  for  shipment  of  spent  fuel  and  radioactive  waste  (i) 

10  

11  

12  

13  

14  

89/618/Euratom, 

The  United  Kingdom  is  a  contracting  party  too.  As  of  11  February  2022  there  are  88 
Contracting Parties.  
(https://www-legacy.iaea.org/Publications/Documents/Conventions/jointconv_status.pdf). 
Council Directive 2013/59/Euratom of 5 December 2013 laying down basic safety standards for 
protection  against  the  dangers  arising  from  exposure  to  ionising  radiation,  and  repealing 
and 
Directives 
2003/122/Euratom, OJ L 13, 17.1.2014, p. 1–73. 
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. 
48–56. 
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. (Article 5(9) of the Directive). 
Article 12 of the Directive. 

90/641/Euratom, 

96/29/Euratom, 

97/43/Euratom 

4 

 
 
                                                 
needs to be justified on the basis of the criteria set out in the Directive; (ii) should not 
be  arbitrary;  and  (iii)  should  be  founded  on  relevant  national,  Community  or 
international law. Member States’ decisions for consents or refusals must be in line 
with the provisions set out in the Joint Convention and the Directive15 which prohibit 
export of radioactive waste or spent fuel to a destination south of latitude 60° south, 
to African, Caribbean or Pacific countries or to a third country which does not have 
the resources to manage the radioactive waste or spent fuel safely. 

In  addition  to  the  three-yearly  reporting  to  the  Commission,  Member  States  are 
obliged to notify16 on a yearly basis the Commission and the Advisory Committee of 
any unauthorised shipments to a third country, and forward17 to the Commission the 
contact  details  of the competent  authority(ies) and all the necessary information for 
rapid communication.  

2.1. 

Implementation of the Directive 

For  all  shipments  (including  imports,  exports  and  transits  between  Member  States 
and from/to outside the Community) within the scope of the Directive, the Directive 
requires  the  use  of  a  standard  document18,  which  was  established  by  Commission 
Decision in 200819 as amended in 201120. The standard document includes forms for 
the following purposes: 

  Application for authorisation for shipment of spent fuel or radioactive waste; 

  Acknowledgement of receipt of application – request for missing information 

for spent fuel and radioactive waste; 

  Consent  or  refusal  of  radioactive  waste  or  spent  fuel  shipment  by  the 

competent authorities concerned; 

  Authorisation of shipment of spent fuel and radioactive waste; 

  Description of radioactive waste consignment and list of packages; 

  Acknowledgement of receipt of radioactive waste and spent fuel. 

15  
16  
17  
18  
19  

20 

Article 16 of the Directive. 
Article 16(1)(c) of the Directive. 
Article 18 of the Directive. 
According to Article 17 of the Directive. 
Commission Decision 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, (notified under document number C(2008) 793), (2008/312/Euratom),  OJ L 
107, 17.4.2008, pp. 32 – 59. 
Corrigendum  to  Commission  Decision  2008/312/Euratom  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, OJ L 343, 23.12.2011, p. 149. 

5 

 
 
                                                 
When  such  materials  are  intended  to  be  shipped  to  third  countries  for  disposal, 
Member  States  are  also  required,  pursuant  to  Article  4(4)  of  the  Radioactive  Waste 
Directive  to  apply  the  criteria  for  shipment  established  by  the  Commission  in 
accordance  with  Article  16(2)  of  the  Directive  and  the  applicable  Commission 
Recommendation21.  

2.2. 

Opinion of the Advisory Committee  

The XII. Advisory Committee meeting was held on 7 November 2022 in Luxembourg 
to discuss the draft of this report and its accompanying staff working document. The 
Advisory Committee gave a positive opinion. 

2.3. 

Competent authorities 

As  of  July  2022,  all  Member  States  have  provided  information  on  their  competent 
authorities under Article 5(13)22 of the Directive. 

The  list  of  competent  authorities  in  the  Member  States  is  annexed  to  the 
accompanying staff working document. 

3. 

OBSERVATIONS 

The Commission has observed that no failures involving transboundary movements of 
radioactive  waste  or  spent  fuel  were  reported  by  Member  States  in  this  reporting 
cycle. 

The  Member  States  did  not  report  any  issues  that  could  fall  under  Article  4 
"Reshipment  related  to  non-authorised  shipments  of  undeclared  radioactive  waste"; 
Article 12 "Shipment failure" nor Article 16(1)(c) "Prohibited exports". Thus, based 
on  the  reported  information,  no  unauthorised  shipment  was  carried  out  on  the  EU 
territory during the reporting period. 

In the reporting period there were four cases of refusal to grant consent: 

  One Member State refused to consent to two applications due to a temporary 

inaccessibility of the final treatment facilities. 

  One  Member  State  refused  to  consent  to  two  applications  for  the  transit  of 
contaminated scrap metal, considering the application out of the scope of the 

21  

22  

Commission  Recommendation  of  4  December  2008  on  criteria  for  the  export  of  radioactive 
waste  and  spent  fuel  to  third  countries  (notified  under  document  number  C(2008)7570) 
(2008/956/Euratom). 
Article 5(13) of the Directive defines "competent authorities" as "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". 

6 

 
 
                                                 
Directive23.  These  transits  were,  however,  regularly  carried  out  under  the 
applicable local legislation. 

Three Member States (Croatia, Cyprus, and Malta) have not reported any authorised 
shipments on their territory since the reporting obligations were imposed on them by 
the Directive.  

A detailed presentation of the transboundary shipments of radioactive waste and spent 
fuel  in  the  EU  during  the  current  reporting  period  is  provided  in  the  accompanying 
staff working document.  

3.1. 

Statistics (2018-2020) 

This section provides a statistical overview of authorisations and shipments.  

Figure 1.   Number of authorisations 

The  195  authorisations  reported  by  21  Member  States  in  the  period  2018-2020 
correspond  to  1770  authorised  shipments.  An  authorisation  pertains  in  general  to 
several shipments, and may exceed the period of time covered by the present report.  

23  

There  are  different  views  between  Member  States  whether  transboundary  shipments  of 
contaminated  scrap  metal,  that  is  treated  and  recycled,  is  within  the  scope  of  the  Directive  or 
not.  Member  States  that  do  not  consider  contaminated  scrap  metal  that  will  be  recycled  to  be 
waste, do not grant consent to the corresponding shipment authorisation (refusal).  

7 

11915711817537423221200501001502002009 - 20112012 - 20142015 - 20172018 - 2020Number of authorisations per periodradioactive wastematerialsspent fuel 
 
 
                                                 
Figure 2.   Number of shipments 

In terms of authorised shipments, 98% (1,732 shipments) related to radiactive waste 
and 2% (38 shipments) related to spent fuel. 

Most of the authorisations and shipments pertained to intra-Community movements. 
Overall, 92.6% of shipments were intra-Community (MM category), while 2.7% was 
for exports (ME category) and 4.7% for imports (IM category). 

Statistics  show  that  for  79%  of  all  intra-Community  shipments  the  radioactive  waste 
originated in the nuclear industry, while 21% originated from non-nuclear activities (e.g. 
medicine, reasearch). 

Processing  of  radioactive  waste  (such  as  treatment  for  volume  reduction,  or 
conditioning)  in  dedicated  facilities  was  the  main  purpose  of  shipments,  as  well  as 
returns of processed radioactive waste or spent fuel to the country of origin. Sweden 
and Germany were the countries issuing the highest number of authorisations, both as 
country of origin and country of destination.  

Movements of spent fuel were either due to  reprocessing or return to the country of 
origin.  

8 

17911732433804008001200160020002015 - 20172018 - 2020Number of shipments per periodradioactive wastespent fuel 
 
 
 
Figure 3.  Shipments of radioactive waste, intra-Community (MM), 

exports (ME), imports (IM) 

Figure 4.  Shipments of spent fuel, intra-Community (MM), exports (ME), 

imports (IM) 

9 

MM1618ME44IM70MM21ME4IM13 
 
 
 
4. 

FOLLOW-UP AND CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT 

The Third Commission Report on the implementation of the Directive identified two 
needs:  to  enhance  the  harmonization  of  the  standard  document  with  the  reporting 
template  requirements;  and  to  follow  the  effects  of  the  Basic  Safety  Standards  over 
the implementation of the supervision and control of transbondary shipments. 

In  its  follow-up  on  the  former  point,  the  Commission  has  proposed,  based  on  a 
proposal  from  a  Member  State,  a  revision  of  the  standard  document  in  line  with 
Articles  17(2)  and  21  of  the  Directive,  with  the  aim  to  include  information  on  the 
initial  shipments  in  the  amended  standard  document.  Thus,  in  case  of  return 
shipments,  involved  Member  States  will  be  able  to  track  shipments.  In  addition,  as 
suggested  by  two  Member  States,  the  Commission  has  presented  a  digital  standard 
document. 

Regarding possible effects of the Basic Safety Standards on the implementation of the 
Directive,  the  Commission  did  not  observe  any  major  issue.  However,  the  reported 
case of two refusals to consent to transit of radioactive waste through a Member State 
raised an important question about the application of the Directive. There were indeed 
different  views  between  Member  States  whether  or  not  transboundary  shipments  of 
contaminated  scrap  metal,  that  is  treated  and  recycled,  is  within  the  scope  of  the 
Directive  or  not,  as  a  Member  State  regulatory  body  may  classify  that  material  as 
radioactive waste. As per the definition of radioactive waste24, if the regulatory bodies 
under  the  legislative  and  regulatory  framework  of  the  countries  of  origin  and 
destination control the radioactive material as radioactive waste for which no further 
use is foreseen by either the countries of origin or destination, that material qualifies 
as  radioactive  waste  under  the  Directive.  Accordingly,  the  Commission  would 
consider that a  consent  is due in  such cases,  notwithstanding the transit country  not 
having qualified such material as radioactive waste. 

In  addition,  one  Member  State  indicated  their  preference  to  have  NORM25  waste 
shipments  always  within  the  scope  of  Council  Directive  2006/117/Euratom.  In  this 
respect the Commission recalls26 that from a legal point of view all waste containing 
NORM  which  requires  regulatory  control  and  is  categorised  as  radioactive  waste  
falls under the scope of the Directive. 

During its XII. Meeting the Advisory Committee invited the Commission to consider 
an update of the standard document, specifically including information on the origin 
of the waste, i.e. reference to initial shipments. 

24  

25  
26  

Article  5(1)  of  the  Directive  reads:  ‘radioactive  waste’  means  radioactive  material  in  gaseous, 
liquid  or  solid  form  for  which  no  further  use  is  foreseen  by  the  countries  of  origin  and 
destination, or by a natural or legal person whose decision is accepted by these countries, and 
which  is  controlled  as  radioactive  waste  by  a  regulatory  body  under  the  legislative  and 
regulatory framework of the countries of origin and destination. 
Naturally Occurring Radioactive Material. 
As pointed out in the Third Commission Report to the European Parliament, the Council and the 
European Economic and Social Committee on the implementation of the Directive. 

10 

 
 
                                                 
5. 

CONCLUSIONS 

The  implementation  of  the  Directive  ensured  that  all  transboundary  movements  of 
radioactive  waste  and  spent  fuel  within  the  Community  took  place  with  the  prior 
informed  consent  of  the  competent  authorities  of  all  involved  Member  States 
(including  transit  countries),  through  the  use  of  the  standard  document.  The 
information  related  to  all  authorised  shipments  within  a  defined  reporting  period 
(three  years)  was  regularly  transmitted  by  all  Member  States  to  the  Commission. 
Supervision and control of shipments of radioactive waste and spent nuclear fuel was 
thus guaranteed, throughout the Community. For that purpose, the use of the provided 
"reporting template" although not mandatory, is still highly encouraged as it enabled 
straightforward data retrieval and mitigated risks of misinterpretation of information.  

Overall,  the  Commission  concludes  that  the  current  Euratom  legal  framework 
consisting  of  the  Directive,  the  Basic  Safety  Standards  and  the  Radioactive  Waste 
Directive  ensured  the  highest  safety  levels  with  respect  to  the  risks  of  ionizing 
radiation  in  the  territory  of  the  EU  in  the  context  of  transboundary  shipments. 
Nonetheless,  the  Commission  notes  that  possible  differentiations  between  Member 
States  in  defining  radioactive  waste  may  lead  to  some  issues  in  information  and 
consent  process.  This  is  a  matter  for  improvement,  exploring  options  for  further 
harmonisation in this field in agreement with the Member States.  

11