Brussels, 24/05/2011 (Agence Europe) - The EU has still not reached agreement on the criteria of the stress tests that member states will have to apply to their reactors before the end of the year. Energy Commissioner Günther Oettinger, who wants all possible risks, including terrorist attack, cyber-attack and plane crashes, to be included in the tests, would not seem prepared to give way in the trial of strength with member states.
The Commission and the European Nuclear Safety Regulators' Group (ENSREG) have yet to confirm the compromise of 13 April which separates assessment of the safety of reactors against natural hazards, such as earthquakes and flooding, technical problems, such as the loss of the plant's safety systems, and accidents, such as damage to the fuel in the reactor, or problems with cooling spent fuel in the cooling ponds, and assessment of safety against man-made threats. The deliberately vague compromise made provision for tests to be carried out against natural hazards, and against all types of accident, whether man-made or natural in origin. Since national authorities have no powers on issues relating to security against terrorism, the compromise suggested that a working group, comprising national and Commission experts, be set up to look at the problem.
In addition to his intransigence on inclusion in the criteria for the stress tests of man-made risks or risks caused by human error, Oettinger stands accused of blocking the compromise put forward by the majority of national safety authorities by demanding that he be in charge of setting up the expert group on safety. Member states see this as overstepping his powers. The commissioner would seem to be isolated, all the more so as Germany and Austria, which blocked the ENSREG compromise reached by the United Kingdom, France, Finland and the Czech Republic, arguing for tougher stress tests which assess the resistance of reactors to terrorist attack and demanding that the tests be conducted by experts independent of the nuclear industry, seem better disposed to the compromise, a Community source has said.
The Commission confirmed on Monday that negotiations were continuing with the aim of starting the pan-European stress tests on 1st June. Despite attempts at coordination at Community level, Finland, France and the United Kingdom have already begun their own tests. (E.H./transl.rt)