Overview

European Nuclear Energy Forum

Public consultations

Nuclear Safety

European Governance in nuclear issues

Radioactive Waste

Decommissioning of Nuclear Installations

Radiation Protection

Transport of Radioactive Material

Nuclear Safeguards

EURATOM Supply Agency

Publications and Reports

Legislation

Activities in the Candidate Countries and New Independent States

Outside the Community, the Commission has, since the early 1990s, been involved in activities to alleviate the problems associated with the management of radioactive waste in the former communist countries of Central and Eastern Europe (later to become EU Candidate Countries - see report EUR19154 and update in EUR20653) and in the New Independent States (NIS). This involvement stemmed partly from the Council Resolution of 1992 (OJ C 158 25/06/92 p.3), which stated "it is important to develop co-operation between the Community and third countries, in particular those of central and eastern Europe including the republics of the former Soviet Union, in the field of the management and storage of radioactive waste ...". In very general terms, these activities had the overall objective of raising the level of safety of radioactive waste management in these regions towards the level in the EU. In the NIS, owing to the extent of the problems and the limited resources, activities were restricted to identifying and describing the problems and possibly pointing the way towards a solution. Nonetheless, the Commission's services in DG-Environment played an important role in publicising and raising the political profile of problems in a number of areas - especially in North-west Russia and around Chernobyl and Mayak. Occasionally, these activities paved the way for much bigger TACIS projects in the radioactive waste field. Following the re-organisation of the Commission's nuclear safety activities towards the end of 2000, these activities are now under the responsibility of DG External Relations (DG-RELEX, see their nuclear safety Web site which also presents details of the PHARE nuclear safety programme in the 1990s - see below).

In the Candidate Countries, though the radioactive waste problems are not of the same magnitude as in the NIS, the level of safety is generally still below that in the EU. The activities in this region aim to build up further the safety culture, to establish the necessary contacts and generally to improve the radioactive waste management infrastructure, all in preparation for the accession of these countries to the EU. The Commission, through the PHARE programme, has already been active in radioactive waste management issues in these countries, and this was built upon to a large extent by the activities of DG-Environment. Many important studies and projects have been financed through the DG-Environment programme, which was taken over by DG-Enlargement at the end of 2000 - refer to the reports and publications page. Important recent reports include surveys of the management of spent sealed sources in Cz, Es, Hu, Po & Se, in Bu, Lv, Lt, Ro & Sk and in the Russian Federation. PHARE assistance to the candidate countries within the field of nuclear safety is the responsibility principally of DG Enlargement.

Officials from DG Environment (and now DG-TREN) have acted as advisors and technical experts to both TACIS and PHARE on radioactive waste management projects. Notably, this has included acting as advisors to TACIS in the Chernobyl Shelter Implementation Plan negotiations and in the radioactive waste project in North-west Russia. There was also heavy involvement in the Lepse Project and the Contact Expert Group (CEG) on radioactive waste management with the Russian Federation, though these activities are now being pursued by DG-RELEX in co-operation with EuropeAID Co-operation Office.

Concerning international activities in general in this field, Commission officials also contribute actively in the work of the IAEA and the OECD/NEA through participation in the various groups and committees.