WRITTEN QUESTION No. 1032/97 by Hiltrud BREYER to the Commission. Risk to the health of the public and employees as a result of underestimating neutron radiation during transport of highly radioactive waste
22. 1. 98 EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 21/29 For products of this kind, why could the Commission not make any involvement on its part conditional on the free distribution of a certain number of copies of the product to public institutions such as universities, Commission offices in different EU countries, etc. ? Answer given by Mrs Wulf-Mathies on behalf of the Commisison (26 May 1997) The Commisison has no knowledge of the CD-Rom and did not contribute to its production. It is collecting more details and will take any appropriate steps required. (98/C 21/100) WRITTEN QUESTION E-1032/97 by Hiltrud Breyer (V) to the Commission (19 March 1997) Subject: Risk to the health of the public and employees as a result of underestimating neutron radiation during transport of highly radioactive waste The biological radiation impact of dense ionising radiation, such as neutrons, is greater than the same physical dose of loose ionising radiation, such as gamma rays. In order to take account of this danger, a physical dose of neutrons is converted into an equivalent dose, by multiplying it by a quality factor Q. According to a scientific consensus which has prevailed for more than ten years, the quality factors for radiation protection do not reflect current scientific knowledge. As far back as 1990, the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) adopted enhanced factors (ICRP 60 1991). The recommended values depend, like the previous factors, on the energy of the neutrons. 1. What is the Commissionís position vis-a‘-vis the guidelines laid down in ICRP 60 1991? 2. What conclusions has it drawn as regards radiation protection in the EU Member States? Answer given by Mrs Bjerregaard on behalf of the Commission (12 May 1997) As a result of increasing scientific knowledge on the biological effects of ionising radiation, the International commission on radiological protection (ICRP) produced publication 60 in which it recommended certain changes to the concepts used in dosimetry and radiation protection. Pursuant to Article 31 of the Euratom Treaty, the Commission took the opportunity which this provided to revise the basic safety standards in radiation protection and drew up a draft directive after obtaining the opinion of the group of experts set up for this purpose. As regards the assessment of neutron radiation, the Commission followed the ICRPís recommendations in its draft. The experts from the Member States and the institutions that were consulted accepted the new method of assessing neutron radiation. In addition, the opinion on the draft directive adopted by the Parliament at its plenary sitting on 20 April 1994 contained no request for an amendment in this regard (1). The Commission therefore thought it proper to incorporate in the draft directive the methods for assessing the biological effects of neutron radiation proposed in ICRP publication 60. The Council unanimously adopted Directive 96/26/Euratom on basic safety standards on 13 May 1996 (2) and the Member States are required to implement it by 13 May 2000. (1) OJ C 128, 9. 5. 1994. (2) OJ L 159, 29. 6. 1996