"Energy" Framework Programme (1998-2002)

ALTENER

SAVE

Local and regional energy management agencies 

SYNERGY

CARNOT

ETAP

SURE

SURE

Introduction

Transport of Radioactive Materials: Problems of safety, health protection and nuclear safety technologies.

The program aims in this field to:

• help to raise safety standards and facilitate the functioning of the internal market by identifying those harmonisation measures which are called for,
• help to improve legislation further by developing experimentation and know-how,
• evaluate technical aspects of incidents which have occurred during transport and learn the lessons for the future,
• make emergency procedures relating to transport more consistent and give those involved more training,
• enhance an efficient system of reporting in the event of an incident,
• cooperate with countries participating in the TACIS programme to help them improve transport safety in these countries,
• help to improve cooperation and the exchange of information between the relevant bodies in the Community and in the countries participating in the SURE programme,
• improve public information, comprehension and awareness in this area;

Industrial cooperation with the countries participating in the TACIS programme:

It aims here to:

• analyse the industrial, administrative, legal and financial context specific to each of them,
• encourage industrial cooperation measures capable of transferring European nuclear safety technology and cooperation among regulatory bodies,
• facilitate the cooperation of partners from the Community and countries participating in the TACIS programme in order to promote safety in nuclear installations, inter alia, in the development of joint industrial projects.

Safeguards in countries participating in the TACIS programme, relate to:

• training, familiarisation, adding to experience, retraining and technological updating of experts from those countries in the matter of nuclear safeguards,
• cooperation on the implementation of accounting and control systems for nuclear materials,
• installation of modern logistical, evaluation and control equipment and the training relating thereto.

Legal Basis and programme of action of the European Commission:

The legal basis for the actions of the European Commission in the field of transport of nuclear materials has its origin in the EC Treaty specific Title V on the common transport policy and in the EURATOM Treaty Chapter III, which provides the legal framework for setting the Basic Standards on radiation protection.

While the regulations on the transport of radioactive materials are drawn up by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) in Vienna and transposed into the national legislation of each country, the European Community must ensure that these provisions are in conformity with the Council Directives on radiation protection (based on Articles 31 and 32 of the Euratom Treaty) and that they facilitate the functioning of the internal market. Title V of the EC Treaty on the common transport policy also gives the Community certain responsibilities in the transport of dangerous goods. Council framework Directives 94/55/CE and 96/49/CE provide for the approximation of the laws of the Member States on the transport of class 7 dangerous goods.

In order to support these activities the Commission in 1982, at the request of the European Parliament, set up a Standing Working Group (SWG) of national experts with specific competence in the field of safe transport of radioactive materials. The SWG organises exchanges of information on the application of the regulations on the international transport of radioactive materials (TRM) between Member States and both within and outside the European Union. It makes proposals for Commission action in the field of TRM designed to furnish the basic knowledge required to develop the international regulations.

The Commission has also been asked to keep the European Parliament and the Council abreast of any new developments in the transport of radioactive materials and to inform them of the SWG's recommendations.

The most recent report by the SWG is annexed to a Communication to the Council and the European Parliament adopted by the Commission on 8 April 1998.

The report identifies several areas for priority actions that form the basis for the Commission ‘s activities in the transport of radioactive materials for the next five years starting in 1998:

1. Functioning of the single market and the need for harmonisation.
2. Assessment of the implementations of the regulations
3. Revision of transport regulations.
4. Investigation of transport events.
5. Transport emergency arrangements.
6. Assistance to Candidate and NIS countries.
7. Information and Communication with the public:

The Council Decision of 14 December 1998 approved a multiannual programme
(1998-2002) –entitled SURE– of actions in the nuclear sector, relating to the safe transport of radioactive materials and industrial cooperation to promote certain aspects of the safety of nuclear installations in the countries currently participating in the TACIS programme and training activities to support safeguards in those countries. This programme enables the priority actions on the transport of radioactive material proposed by the SWG and mentioned above to be implemented and financed on the general budget of the European Communities.

Work accomplished:

The Commission has provided financing for 24 studies totalling 2.7 million EUROS for 1996 and 1997.

A budget of 0.5 million per year has been made available from 1999 to 2002. Six studies were financed with the 1999 budget and these studies have been concluded in 2001. The main studies for 1996, 1997 and 1999 are listed in Annex 1.

Work under way:

In order to follow-up the current implementation of the programme SURE, a new Call for Proposals on TRAM has been published in the Official Journal of the European Communities on 23 June 2002. The Budget available for this Call for Proposals is 0.350 M EUROS.

Future Work of the European Commission:

Two factors which condition the acceptability of the nuclear sector are the transparency and safety of its activities. In this context it is important to create data bases recording the number and characteristics of shipments of radioactive materials and events (incidents/accidents) that could occurring during transport of RAM.

These databases should provide information about the number and type of packages transported in the EU. They would contribute to improve the safety of these shipments and facilitate the application of harmonised emergency arrangements in the event of an accident/incident occurring during these shipments.

Harmonisation of documents and of the data contained in the accompanying transport certificates is a prerequisite for the creation of these databases and is also an essential factor for the full completion of the Internal Market, especially as shipments of radioactive isotopes used in medicine, industry and research represent a large part of the sector.

A methodology to achieve simultaneous certification of packaging would facilitate the development of the Internal Market in this area. Development of a unique format and a similar structure of the Safety Report for all types of packages would go a long way in this direction.

Furthermore, development of a mechanism to achieve simultaneous validation in the other Member States of the approval issued by the competent authority of the state of origin of the shipment would facilitate the free circulation of these type of materials in the European Union.

INDUSTRIAL COOPERATION WITH THE COUNTRIES PARTICIPATING IN THE TACIS PROGRAMME

What has been done:

In 1995, DG TREN signed a memorandum with the Russian Minitry for Atomic Energy ( MINATOM )to launch a joint initiative to support the creation of partnerships between industries of Russia and Europe which are supplying goods and services to nuclear installations. This is a critical approach if one wants to improve the safety on the longer term, beyond the assistance programmes.

A first two years project, financed through Synergy, clarified the industrial, financial and legal difficulties to overcome during the creation of industrial partnerships. A generic Business Plan was drafted and tested in the Russian environment by the production of specific Business Plans for three potential partnership projects. A preliminary review of financial mechanisms has also been performed and an information dissemination scheme within the EU industry is in the process to be established.

Justification of the action:

• The recent discussions within the framework of the partnership between the European Union and Russia, the adoption by the Commission of the proposals for a revised Directive for a new stage of liberalisation of the market of electricity, including the question of trade with the third countries, and finally the uncertainties of the legal framework for nuclear safety in Russia make it necessary to re-examine cooperative efforts with Russia for the sector of nuclear power.
   
• The Synergy programme had made it possible to initiate work (1995/1998), of a limited amount, in order to investigate the technical, financial and legal conditions of this cooperation the objective of which was to create the conditions to build concrete projects between the companies. The result was a flat « business » model of it which can be used for the creation of joint ventures.
   
• An additional stage had to be launched via the TACIS programme. To this end, a project was designed and was approved by the TACIS Committee. However, this project is in review and is called into question by Europe Aid Co-operation Office (AIDCO)

Priority Areas:

Cooperation with Russia:

A Call for Proposals has been published on 7 June 2001 in the Official Journal of the European Communities. The budget available for the Call for proposals is 0.2 M EUROS.

The aim of the activities to be performed under the proposed call for proposal is to contribute to the creation of a Partenariat between EU and Russia on nuclear energy, and to foster the further Cooperation between industrial companies of the EU and Russia.

SAFEGUARDS IN COUNTRIES PARTICIPATING IN TACIS PROGRAMME:

What has been done and Justification of the Action:

As result of the political events of the Eastern bloc and in the light of the cases of illicit traffic of nuclear and radioactive materials from the East, it was essential to envisage, in accordance with the resolutions of the European Parliament and in accordance with the policy of the Council and of the Commission, the local staff's training responsible for the control of the nuclear materials in the facilities of these countries.

The objective of the programme, already started in 1993, is to develop actions on the ground in close cooperation with the performers. The initiated actions affect upon the fields of accountancy nuclear materials, of the taking of physical inventories, of the monitoring computerised of the nuclear material at the level of the installation and at the level of an Central Control Organism, at the level of the organisation of a board of inspectors independent of control and of the implementation of surveillance and measure systems.

The actions started up to now gave encouraging results.

Priority Areas:

• Expert’s Training and Retraining in Safeguards:

• Implementation of a system of accountancy and of control of the nuclear material in CEEC and NIS countries.

• Installation of control equipment.

It is important to point out that, contrary to the PHARE and TACIS projects, the experts' training and the implementation of the projects have been primarily ensured by Euratom Safeguard inspectors, who have the necessary experience.

Actions carried out by the European Commission:

• organisation of courses and vocational training courses, given in the European Union and/or in the CEECs and NIS countries,

• organisation of seminars for experts in the European Union and/or in the mentioned countries,

• visits of the experts in the nuclear facilities of the European Union and/or in the NIS,

• provision of surveillance and measure equipment to be installed in nuclear facilities of these countries,

• mission of the personnel of the Euratom Safeguards Office and of experts of the EU selected in the context of the activities mentioned above,

• taking, transport and sample analysis, including those taken within the framework of the illicit traffic of nuclear materials.

PROJECTS FUNDED BY THE EUROPEAN COMMISSION WITH THE BUDGET CORRESPONDING TO THE YEARS 96 TO 2004

Projects funded under the 1996 budget 

Projects funded under the 1997  budget

Projects funded in 1999 by the European Commission

Project funded in 2003 by the European Commission

Statistics on the Transport of Radioactive Materials and Statistical Analyses

Project funded in 2004 by the European Commission

Examination of the Certification Methodology of EU States and Applicant Countries and Associate Recommendations for Allowing Joint Agreement/ Certification of Packages Related to the National and International Transport of Radioactive Materials

EUROPEAN UNION LEGISLATION IN THE FIELD OF RADIOACTIVE TRANSPORTS

What are the relevant items of EU legislation Institutions in the field of radioactive transports? What are the wider international considerations ?

To answer to these questions, consult the data base containing all the legislative instruments having a bearing on the radioactive materials transport.

This data base contains all Council Directives, Regulations and other legislative instruments as Recommandations and Decision as well International Conventions.

DOCUMENTATION

Safe transport of radioactive waste materials in Europe
The European legislation on transport of radioactive materials