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Dáil Éireann debate -
Wednesday, 25 Mar 1981

Vol. 328 No. 1

Written Answers. - Nuclear Energy Safety.

372.

asked the Minister for Energy if his attention has been drawn to the statement made by the European Commission (details supplied) that the safety record and level of safety in the nuclear industry are markedly superior to those in many other sectors of industry; and if he will make a statement on the matter.

I have seen the statement referred to. The publication referred to does not provide any details on which the safety record of the nuclear industry can be compared with other sectors of industry nor does it identify what other sectors of industry are in question. In view of this I am not in a position to comment on the statement.

373.

asked the Minister for energy if he will outline the work being done by the EEC on the safe decommissioning and dismantling of nuclear power stations and on the safe disposal of nuclear waste.

On March 27 1979 the EEC Council approved a five year 1979-83 programme of research on the decommissioning of nuclear power plants, costing 4.7 million units of account and covering studies of the long-term integrity of buildings and systems, decontamination and dismantling techniques, the treatment of specific waste materials such as steel, concrete and graphite, the influence of nuclear power station design features on decommissioning and estimations of the quantities of radioactive wastes which might be produced during decommissioning.

A Council decision of 18 March 1980 adopted a second programme on the management of radioactive wastes, 1980-84 to succeed a previous Community programme, 1975-79. The first programme involved an expenditure of 19.6 million units of account and it is estimated that 43 million units will be spent on the second programme.

The foregoing programmes on decommissioning of nuclear plants and on the management of radioactive waste are carried out by different national institutes and research organisations throughout the Community.

The EEC Joint Research Centre has also been actively investigating the management of radioactive wastes for a number of years. Its current programme, which has evolved from the earlier programme covers the period 1980-83 and involves studies of safe waste management techniques, of natural and artificial barriers to the migration of radionuclides into the biosphere and of the chemical separation and control of long-lived radionuclides. The main purpose of this programme is the evaluation of the long-term hazard of radioactive waste disposal in geological formations.

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