asked the Minister for Energy whether he is aware that the British authorities have breached their obligations under the EURATOM Treaty; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
Written Answers. - EURATOM Treaty.
23.
I presume the Deputy is referring to Articles 30 to 39 of the EURATOM Treaty which deal with health and safety. The obligations imposed by these articles are not very specific and this probably reflects current attitudes when the Treaty was drawn up in 1957. I am not aware of any current breach of the Treaty by the British authorities and the Deputy may be assured that if I were, I would pursue the matter vigorously.
In my view, the experiment proposed for the Trawsfynydd plant last February was a matter to which the procedures in Article 34 of the EURATOM Treaty should be applied. I immediately requested the Commission, simultaneously with a decision by the Commission itself, to investigate the circumstances in which the experiment was to be carried out and to apply the procedures of Article 34. At the same time the Attorney General was requested to prepare a legal case to protect our interests in the event that the experiment was to take place.
I do believe however that, under the Treaty, the Commission could and should play a much stronger role in nuclear safety, particularly by setting up an independent nuclear inspection force and I will continue to press for progress in this area.