91998E1823

WRITTEN QUESTION P-1823/98

by Alex Smith (PSE) to the Council

(8 June 1998)

Subject: Nuclear safety

Given that the THORP reprocessing plant at Sellafield had its reprocessing operations shut down by the nuclear safety authorities towards the end of May following the discovery of radioactive waste from its discharge pipes, will the Presidency now initiate negotiations between Member States such as Ireland and Sweden which have expressed ongoing concern over the safety at Sellafield, in advance of the OSPAR Convention meeting in July, to assess the ways in which Sellafield can convert its operations from reprocessing to safe waste management.

Reply

(19 October 1998)

The Council welcomes the outcome of the ministerial conference of the OSPAR Convention held in July 1998, at which the Parties agreed to take steps for discharges, emissions and losses of radioactive substances to be reduced by 2020 to levels such that, by comparison with historic levels, additional concentrations in the marine environment resulting from such discharges, emissions and losses are close to zero.

The Council would also remind the Honourable Member that the Community's basic standards for the protection of the health of workers and the general public against the dangers arising from ionizing radiation, as laid down in Council Directive 96/29/Euratom(1), apply.

The Council would draw attention to the fact that the Member State in which nuclear installations are situated is responsible for the safety of the design, construction and operation of those installations. The choice of fuel cycle is also a matter for each Member State.

(1) OJ L 159, 29.6.1996, p. 1.