WRITTEN QUESTION No. 3934/98 by Carlos ROBLES PIQUER to the Commission. Use of nuclear energy for the desalination of sea water in arid countries
21. 7. 1999 EN Official Journal of the European Communities C 207/147 (1999/C 207/203) WRITTEN QUESTION E-3934/98 by Carlos Robles Piquer (PPE) to the Commission (4 January 1999) Subject: Use of nuclear energy for the desalination of sea water in arid countries At its last conference the International Atomic Energy Agency, a United Nations body, proposed the urgent development of programmes for the desalination of sea water using small nuclear reactors. At its last assembly in September it asked its Director to give priority to this option and to promote international cooperation in this field. Can the Commission say what the European Union’s position is on this subject, in particular the possibilities of cheap nuclear desalination in North Africa (Maghreb and Mashreq countries) in accordance with the study on the subject carried out by the IAEA? Answer given by Mr Papoutsis on behalf of the Commission (3 February 1999) For very many years the Commission has been monitoring the work carried out by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) on the possible use of nuclear reactors for the desalination of sea water. The Commission considers, moreover, that the use of the nuclear option requires high levels of expertise, experience and safety. It also demands high-level non-proliferation assurances and the existence of strong and independent safety authorities. Currently, these conditions do not all appear to have been met in the region referred to by the Honourable Member. (1999/C 207/204) WRITTEN QUESTION E-3937/98 by Carlos Robles Piquer (PPE) to the Council (4 January 1999) Subject: Immediate prospects for the long-term nuclear fusion project The US Department of Energy’s decision to withdraw its researchers from foreign centres involved in the current ITER project presents the other partners 6 the EU, Japan and Russia 6 with difficult decisions. According to information published recently, Europe has decided to continue for a few years without increasing its funding. Furthermore, the loss of confidence in the long-term viability of the tokamak option (ITER) is renewing interest in other options such as stellarator-type reactors. Can the Council say what its intentions are in this area and what the Japanese and Russian positions are? Also, can it examine the EU’s budget line earmarked for this purpose for the duration of the Fifth Framework Programme? Finally, does it consider that the justification for this line can remain unchanged following the US decision? Reply (9 March 1999) On 30 June 1998, the European Atomic Energy Community approved the extension of the ITER-EDA (1) 1. agreement for three years (22 July 1998 to 21 July 2001) (2). The three-year extension was also approved by two of its partners to the agreement, Russia (on 16 June 1998) and Japan (on 14 July 1998)