WRITTEN QUESTION No. 3244/97 by Alfonso NOVO BELENGUER to the Commission. Radioactive waste
30. 4. 98 EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 134/123 Under Directive 93/11/EEC concerning the release of N-nitrosamines and N-nitrosatable substances from elastomer or rubber teats and soothers (2), Member States must prohibit the marketing and use of teats and soothers which release a certain amount of N-nitrosamines and nitrosatable substances. Using the powers vested in it, the Commission will ensure that all the Member States comply with this obligation in order to protect the safety of European consumers. (1) OJ L 228, 11. 8. 1992. (2) OJ L 93, 17. 4. 1993. (98/C 134/161) WRITTEN QUESTION E-3244/97 by Alfonso Novo Belenguer (ARE) to the Commission (20 October 1997) Subject: Radioactive waste It has emerged that at the plutonium reprocessing plants of La Hague in France and Sellafield in Britain radioactive waste has been disposed of in the sea. It is estimated that 200 000 cubic metres of plutonium, a dangerous substance which remains active for 250 000 years, is dumped in the sea annually. The situation is so alarming that the French Government even banned bathing and fishing in the sea near the plant last June, in view of the threat to public health. Does the Commission know about the dumping of plutonium in the sea at La Hague and Sellafield? Has the Commission carried out any detailed study about the dumping to ascertain its legality and the environmental impact? Answer given by Mrs Bjerregaard on behalf of the Commission (19 November 1997) Both France and the United Kingdom have undertaken to respect the ban on the dumping of radioactive substances at sea as outlined in the 1992 Oslo-Paris (OSPAR) convention for the protection of the marine environment of the north-east Atlantic, which is in the process of replacing the two earlier conventions of Oslo and Paris respectively. That ban, however, concerns the dumping of wastes at sea and does not refer to the discharge of low-level liquid wastes from land-based installations which is controlled within strict authorisations issued by national authorities. In July 1996, under the terms of Article 35 of the Euratom Treaty, the Commission verified the environmental monitoring facilities established at and around the La Hague site. It was concluded that suitable arrangements were in place for monitoring levels of radioactivity in the environment. In respect of restrictions on access around the La Hague site, the Commission understands that legal restrictions on public access to a zone around the pipe outlet and within a corridor along the pipeline have been in place for many years. Earlier this year, those restrictions were extended briefly while the French government commissioned studies into levels of radioactivity around the La Hague nuclear reprocessing site. The report of those studies concludes that levels of activity discharged were within the limits set by the national authorities. Furthermore, it confirmed that levels of radioactivity in the environment led to doses to the most exposed members of the public which were well below the limits specified in the Community basic safety standards