COMMISSION OPINION of 12 January 1996 concerning the plan for the disposal of radioactive waste from the decommissioning of the Windscale advanced gas-cooled reactor located at the UKAEA Windscale site, Cumbria, United Kingdom in accordance with Article 37 of the Euratom Treaty (Only the English text is authentic) (96/171/Euratom)

On July 17 1995 the European Commission received from the United Kingdom Government, in accordance with Article 37 of the Euratom Treaty, general data relating to the plan for the disposal of radioactive waste resulting from the decommissioning of the Windscale advanced gas-cooled reactor located at the UKAEA Windscale site, Cumbria.

On the basis of these data and following consultation with the group of experts, whose report is attached, the Commission has drawn up the following opinion:

(a) the distance between the plant and the nearest point on the territory of another Member State, in this case Ireland, is 180 km;

(b) under normal operating conditions, the discharges of liquid and gaseous effluents will produce an exposure of the population in other Member States that is not significant from the health point of view;

(c) low-level solid radioactive waste is to be disposed to the Drigg site operated by BNF plc. Intermediate-level waste is to be stored on-site until a suitable national repository is available. Non-active waste is to be released from regulatory control after suitable monitoring of levels of contamination. While part of this waste is to be placed on the market for recycling, the competent authorities are invited to keep the Commission informed on the amounts and type of material involved;

(d) in the event of unplanned discharges of radioactive waste which may follow an accident on the scale considered in the general data, the doses likely to be received by the population in other Member States would not be significant from the health point of view.

In conclusion, the Commission is of the opinion that the implementation of the plan for the decommissioning of the Windscale advanced gas-cooled reactor located at the UKAEA Windscale site, both in normal operation and in the event of an accident of the magnitude considered in the general data, is not liable to result in radioactive contamination, significant from the point of view of health, of the water, soil or airspace of another Member State.

For the Commission

Ritt BJERREGAARD

Member of the Commission