The European Commission has referred three EU member states to the Court of Justice of the EU (ECJ) over infringements of the Spent Fuel and Radioactive Waste Directive.
The Spent Fuel and Radioactive Waste Directive establishes a community framework which helps to ensure the safe and responsible management of waste fuel and radioactive material, to prevent any negative environmental and health benefits that might be suffered by future generations.
The directive includes spent fuel and radioactive waste which originates from non-power uses of nuclear and radiation technologies, including research in science and various medical applications. It. It requires member states to establish high-level safety procedures for disposing of dangerous waste, in order to protect both workers and the general public from the dangers posed by ionising radiation.
Member states were required to transpose the directive into national law by 23 August 2013, which also included the provision of public information about radioactive waste procedures and the undertaking of procedures necessary to effectively adopt safer waste management programmes.
How did member states break the rules?
The European Commission has referred Austria, Croatia and Italy to the ECJ for failing to notify their final national programmes for radioactive waste management to the commission. All three countries have notified draft versions of their programmes, and the European Commission requested estimated dates for adoption and notification of the final versions of these programmes.
However, all three countries have failed to notify these final versions. In April 2016, the commission sent letters of formal notice to the Austria, Croatia and Italy, and further issued reasoned opinions in July 2017.
The final notification of spent fuel and radioactive waste management programmes is important, as safe and effective disposal of dangerous waste is a priority for the European Commission. Therefore, the commission considers it vital that each of the countries in question urgently finalise and notify the relevant authorities of their procedures.
