Brussels, 06/05/2011 (Agence Europe) - The European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) has called on the EU to establish a common framework for the safe management of radioactive waste and spent fuel. It argues, too, that the public must be positively engaged in proposals to determine the long-term future of these materials.
In an opinion to the EESC May plenary session, on the basis of the Council directive of 3 November 2010 on the management of spent fuel and radioactive waste, Richard Adams (United Kingdom, Various Interests Group) insisted that each member state needed to make its own choice about radioactive waste management but within the framework of International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) guidelines and subject to a transparent approach and international peer review.
Adams pointed out that dealing with the issues of radioactive waste is not the same as expressing support or disagreement with the use of nuclear power. “The reality is that tens of thousands of tonnes of nuclear waste is stored in different ways at many sites across Europe, all the intermediate and high level waste is held in what is regarded as temporary storage. Europe urgently needs a publicly debated and accepted management plan”, he added.
The EESC opinion also recommends that the directive should make specific reference to being complementary to the directive on hazardous waste and should strongly affirm that the producer of the radioactive waste pays for its disposal, and also welcomes the opportunity for member states to develop, by agreement, shared facilities. The EESC also stated that it would be sensible in the medium term to work towards forms of energy generation that did not involve the production of substances that posed a threat to human life for many centuries. (E.H./transl.rt)