Brussels, 03/04/2014 (Agence Europe) - The European Parliament, which was consulted for its opinion on the matter, supports the approach of the Commission underlying the draft directive on nuclear safety revising the 2009 version, to take account of the lessons learned from Fukushima. The Greens have criticised the shortcomings of this new framework.
By 438 votes in favour, 154 against and 37 abstentions, the MEPs on Wednesday 2 April adopted a resolution based on the report by Romana Jordan (ADLE, Slovenia) on the proposed directive of the Council modifying directive 2009/71/Euratom establishing a Community framework for the safety of nuclear plants. The Parliament, which has no co-decision powers on nuclear issues by virtue of the Euratom Treaty, broadly lent its support to the draft text, one of the main aims of which is a peer assessment obligation into the safety of the plants every six years, along the lines of the stress tests required by the European Council following the accident at Fukushima (see EUROPE 10866).
Regarding the text as a whole, the Greens/EFA had harsh words for the “unparalleled complacency of the Parliament towards the nuclear industry”. Aside from their failure to get the legal basis changed to give them greater powers, French MEP Michèle Rivasi lamented the fact that the MEPs had watered down a text which was already “scarcely binding”. “The nuclear safety authorities [known by their French acronym, ASN] will not have the necessary competence to stop operators from taking unnecessary risks”, she argues, criticising a purely functional separation between the ASNs and the entities promoting nuclear or producing nuclear electricity, as well as the lack of any powers for the ASNs to issue sanctions (our translation). (EH)