Explanatory Memorandum to COM(2010)618 - Management of spent fuel and radioactive waste - Main contents
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This page contains a limited version of this dossier in the EU Monitor.
| dossier | COM(2010)618 - Management of spent fuel and radioactive waste. |
|---|---|
| source | COM(2010)618  |
| date | 03-11-2010 |
Following the successful adoption of the Nuclear Safety Directive, the elaboration of a revised proposal for legislation on the management of spent fuel and radioactive waste is included in the Commission's work programme 2010 (item 2010/ENER/021).
The proposed Directive sets out an EU legal framework for spent fuel and radioactive waste management. It revises the Commission proposal for a Council (Euratom) Directive on the management of spent fuel and radioactive waste i.
All Member States have radioactive waste. It is generated by many beneficial activities, such as electricity production in nuclear power plants and a range of radioisotope applications in medicine, industry, agriculture, research and education.
The operation of nuclear reactors also generates spent fuel. There are currently two options for managing the spent (i.e. irradiated) fuel: reprocessing to recover plutonium and uranium for possible re-use, or interim storage and eventual direct disposal if the spent fuel is considered as waste as part of national policy. However, even if spent fuel is reprocessed i, there is still ultimate waste, i.e. the separated vitrified residues containing the unrecycled fraction, that also needs to be disposed of. More than half of Member States operate nuclear power plants. There are nuclear reactors under construction and being decommissioned, as well as plans for new builds in a number of Member States.
Depending on the characteristics of the waste (i.e. radionuclide content) specific arrangements are required to protect humans and the environment against dangers arising from ionizing radiation. The basic principle of radioactive waste management is containment and isolation from humans and the biosphere for as long as the waste represents a radiological hazard. This hazard diminishes over time as a result of radioactive decay. Isolation is ensured by a series of engineered barriers and, in the case of longer-lived waste, also by the properties of the host rock.
Radioactive wastes are classified into low-, intermediate-, and high-level waste depending on their level of activity. A distinction can also be drawn between short-lived and long-lived radioactive wastes i. Short lived Low and Intermediate Level Waste (LILW) is typically disposed in near surface disposal facilities. For High Level Waste (HLW), by contrast, there is a world-wide scientific and technical consensus that deep geological disposal represents the safest and most sustainable option i.
In the EU, more than 85% of the generated volume of radioactive waste constitutes short lived LILW, about 5% long lived LILW and less than 10% HLW, which includes both vitrified waste from reprocessing and spent fuel considered as waste. i
Whatever the future of nuclear power and non-power applications, the implementation of disposal as the end point in the management of existing and future radioactive waste is needed in order to assure safety in the long term.
Temporary storage is an important stage in the overall management of radioactive waste, in particular for spent fuel and HLW, allowing effective cooling and radiation levels to decrease thereby making handling safer. However, there is also a broad consensus that storage of spent fuel and radioactive waste, including long-term storage, is only an interim solution requiring active and permanent institutional controls. In the longer term, only disposal with its inherent passive safety characteristics can guarantee protection against all potential hazards.
Ultimate responsibility for the management of spent fuel and radioactive waste rests with the States. Furthermore, it is an accepted ethical principle that the society should avoid imposing undue burdens on future generations, and this places the onus on the current generation, who has benefited from nuclear electricity or medical interventions, to manage appropriately all existing waste.
Despite these considerations, most countries have yet to take key decisions regarding the management of spent fuel and radioactive waste. This is particularly true for spent fuel and HLW; only a handful of Member States have well established programmes to implement disposal. The consequences of the delay are that burdens will be passed on to future generations, both to implement disposal as well as maintaining interim storage options. The associated risks are evident – unavailability of financing, lack of expertise, disruption as a result of unforeseen societal upheaval, terrorist threats, etc.
Safe management of radioactive waste and spent fuel, at all stages from generation to disposal, requires a national framework that guarantees political commitments, a clear allocation of responsibilities, and ensuring that sufficient scientific, technical and financial resources are available when needed. Given the highly sensitive nature of the issue, public information and participation in the decision-making processes has also to be ensured.
The general objective of this proposal is therefore to set up an EU legal framework for the management of spent fuel and radioactive waste as an integral part of the safe use of nuclear energy for electricity production and of the ionizing radiation in medicine, industry, agriculture, research and education.
In order to achieve the general policy objective, it is necessary:
– to ensure that workers and the general public are protected against dangers arising from ionizing radiation now, in the future and beyond national borders;
– to implement the highest safety standards for radioactive waste and spent fuel management;
– to avoid imposing undue burdens on future generations;
– to achieve sustained political commitment to the management of spent fuel and radioactive waste in the long term;
– to ensure transposition of the political decisions into clear provisions for the implementation of all steps on radioactive waste and spent fuel management from generation to disposal;
– to achieve and maintain continuing improvement of the management system, based on stepwise decision-taking and social acceptance;
– to ensure adequate and transparently managed financial resources, available when needed, in accordance with the polluter-pays principle.
1.2. Existing legal instruments affecting the management of radioactive waste and spent fuel; subsidiarity
Community competences regarding spent fuel and radioactive waste arising from civil nuclear activities fall under the framework of the Euratom Treaty. Article 2(b) of the Euratom Treaty provides for uniform safety standards to be set to protect the health of workers and of the general public. Article 30 provides for basic standards within the Community to be set to protect workers and the general public against the dangers arising from ionizing radiations, and Article 37 requires Member States to provide the Commission with general data on any plan for the disposal of radioactive waste.
As recognised by the Court of Justice of the European Union in its case-law, the provisions of Chapter 3 of the Euratom Treaty, on health and safety, form a coherent whole conferring upon the Commission powers of some considerable scope in order to protect the population and the environment against risks of nuclear contamination i. Based on the Court's landmark ruling C-29/99, the existing basic safety standards aiming mainly at the protection of the health of workers and the general public against the dangers arising from ionizing radiations can be supplemented within the meaning of the Euratom Treaty with safety requirements governing the safe management of radioactive waste and spent fuel.
The issue of spent fuel and radioactive waste management is clearly an area where national legislation has to be supplemented by legislation at EU level owing to the cross-border aspect of safety. At the same time the internal market requires the Commission to ensure a level-playing field to avoid distortion of competition.
However, existing European legislation does not cover all activities and facilities relating to the management of spent fuel and radioactive waste. Aspects such as national policies and their implementation, and public information and participation in the decision-making process are not included.
The recently adopted Council Directive establishing a Community framework for the nuclear safety of nuclear installations (Nuclear Safety Directive) i only covers spent fuel storage facilities and other storage facilities for radioactive waste that are on the same site as and are directly related to nuclear installations. However, it states that it is also important to ensure the safe management of spent fuel and radioactive waste, including at storage and disposal facilities. Thus, the proposed Directive on the management of spent fuel and radioactive waste is a logical next step after the Nuclear Safety Directive.
Other EU legal instruments relevant to the management of spent fuel and radioactive waste are Community arrangements for the early exchange of information in the event of a radiological emergency i, the control of high-activity sealed radioactive sources and orphan sources i, including disused sources, the management of waste from extractive industries i (not covering aspects related to radioactivity), and the supervision and control of shipments of radioactive waste and spent fuel i, i. There is also a Commission Recommendation on the management of financial resources for the decommissioning of nuclear installations, spent fuel and radioactive waste i.
At the international level, there are safety standards developed in collaboration with other organisations by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) that are not legally binding and for which incorporation into national legislation is voluntary. All EU Member States are members of the IAEA and participate in the adoption of these standards.
The Joint Convention on the Safety of Spent Fuel Management and on the Safety of Radioactive Waste Management, concluded under the auspices of the IAEA, is the most significant international agreement in its field. However, there are no sanctions for non-compliance. Therefore, even though all EU Member States (except Malta) and the Euratom Community are contracting parties, the internationally accepted principles and requirements laid down in the Joint Convention and related IAEA safety standards do not guarantee a uniform approach at EU level.
To ensure the implementation of internationally endorsed principles and requirements for spent fuel and radioactive waste management, the proposed Directive makes them legally binding and enforceable. It therefore lays down specific requirements for the scope, contents and review of national programmes for spent fuel and radioactive waste management.
The basic approach is similar to that followed for the Nuclear Safety Directive, i.e. it is anchored in the competence of the national regulatory authorities and in the internationally endorsed principles and requirements of the IAEA Safety Standards and the Joint Convention, thus minimising any additional burden on the Member States' authorities.
The proposed Directive will implement the highest safety standards for spent fuel and radioactive waste management in a comprehensive manner and will thus form a model and benchmark for third countries and regions. It will ensure the implementation of radioactive waste disposal without undue delay.
When drafting the revised proposal, the Commission consulted widely through different EU-wide initiatives, in response to a request from the Council i.
The consultation involved governments, national regulators, radioactive waste management organisations, radioactive waste producers and others in the Member States, together with the various European Institutions, non-governmental organisations and other partners. A detailed contribution from the European Nuclear Safety Regulators Group (ENSREG) was taken into account. This was of key importance given the specific competence of ENSREG, which represents national nuclear regulatory or safety authorities in all Member States, nuclear and non-nuclear alike.
Special attention was given to the societal dimension through a variety of public consultations, including dedicated Eurobarometer polls i and an open public consultation i. Radioactive waste is a major concern of EU citizens in the context of continued use of nuclear energy. Furthermore, a large majority is in favour of legislation at European level.
A thorough impact assessment concluded that the lack of binding EU legislation is likely to lead to postponement of taking key decisions, with potentially adverse environmental, economic and social impacts, including undue burdens on future generations and possibly distortion of competition in the electricity market.
In contrast, binding EU legislation would result in a uniformly high level of safety of spent fuel and radioactive waste management EU-wide in the long term, without imposing undue burdens on future generations or compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.
Contents
The Directive's objective as stated in its Article 1 is the establishment of a Community framework for responsible management of spent fuel and radioactive waste, ensuring that Member States make appropriate national arrangements for a high level of safety and maintain and promote public information and participation;
Its scope (Article 2) covers all stages of the management of civilian spent fuel and radioactive waste from generation to disposal, but not the management of specific types of waste, such as authorised releases and waste from extractive industries which may be radioactive, as already covered by existing European legislation i, i;
Special attention was paid to ensuring the Directive is consistent with existing European legislation while making internationally accepted principles and requirements, laid down in the IAEA Safety Standards and the Joint Convention, legally binding and enforceable in the EU. Hence the set of definitions given in Article 3 is consistent with the definitions given in both the existing European legislation and the IAEA Safety Glossary (Joint Convention) i.
General principles governing the safe and sustainable management of spent fuel and radioactive waste are laid down in Article 4;
Special attention has also been paid to ensure the proposed Directive is consistent with the Nuclear Safety Directive, so that all facilities for spent fuel and radioactive waste management have the same level of safety. To this end, the structures of the proposed Directive and the Nuclear Safety Directive are similar, particularly in Articles 5 to 7, 9, 12 and 16 to 18.
Obligations associated with the application of the general principles include:
– a national framework for spent fuel and radioactive waste management in the long term (Article 5);
– a competent regulatory authority in the field of safety of spent fuel and radioactive waste management (Article 6);
– license holders having the prime responsibility for safety (Article 7);
– education and training to obtain the expertise and skills required (Article 9);
– transparency in decision-making on spent fuel and radioactive waste management (Article 12).
Owing to the specificity of radioactive waste management, specific obligations are also introduced:
– Article 8 sets out the approach to safety, including requirements for a safety case and a supporting safety assessment of facilities and activities relating to the management of spent fuel and radioactive waste;
– Article 10 addresses the need to ensure that sufficient financial resources are available for spent fuel and radioactive waste management when needed, in accordance with the polluter-pays-principle;
– Article 11 seeks to ensure an appropriate quality of the safety.
A conditional set of requirements in respect of the national programmes for radioactive waste and spent fuel management, needed to fulfil objectives and satisfy requirements, are included:
– Article 13 introduces the basic requirements for national programmes;
– Article 14 introduces the content of a national programme;
– Article 15 requires the notification of the national programmes to the Commission.
Some final provisions are specified in:
– Article 16 lays down reporting requirements consistent with the reporting mechanism for the Nuclear Safety Directive. Member States will report to the Commission on the implementation of the proposed Directive, taking advantage of the reporting cycles under the Joint Convention. On the basis of the Member States′ reports, the Commission will submit a progress report to the Council and the European Parliament. Member States will invite international peer review of their national frameworks and national programmes with the aim of achieving the required high standards in the management of spent fuel and radioactive waste. The outcomes of any peer review will be reported to the Member States and the Commission.
– Article 17 lays down requirements for transposing of the proposed directive into national legislation.
– Articles 18 and 19 state the date of entry into force of the proposed directive and the addressees.
There are no implications for the EU budget.