Commission in nuclear disarray

Date: 22/12/05

Disagreement in the European Commission over the future of nuclear power has pushed a package of proposals off its December timetable, European Voice has learnt.

The nuclear package originally scheduled for this month was intended to contain three proposals: on nuclear research, decommissioning funds (money for the safe closure of nuclear installations) and non-proliferation (preventing countries from acquiring nuclear weapons).

But sources close to the talks said there was considerable doubt as to whether the research proposal would ever see the light of day, thanks to disagreement within the Commission over how the money should be spent.

As proposed by the energy department, the proposal would set up a joint undertaking between the Commission and member states for research into advanced nuclear waste management options.

But the research department is reported to think the money would be better spent on advancing nuclear fusion - a process advocates say could offer a safe energy production method, but which is still decades from becoming a workable option.

"There is a strong chance the proposal won't survive," said one source. Another said there was "no way" a joint undertaking would come out.

Commission spokesman Ferran Tarradellas, however, said the joint undertaking was "still certainly in the package" although "discussions are still ongoing with the research directorate". He said he expected the proposals to come out "early next year".

Two 2003 directives on nuclear safety and waste met with such stiff opposition from governments that they had to be withdrawn. They were then re-issued with most of the tougher clauses removed.

The EU executive had to back off from telling member states how to manage decommissioning funds, requiring instead proof only that enough money was available to shut down reactors safely at the end of their life.

A recommendation in the new package could go some way to plugging the gap, setting out non-binding Commission advice on the best way to fund nuclear decommissioning. The proposal will probably recommend securely ring-fencing separate nuclear decommissioning cash, a system used already by a majority of EU countries.

Some member states however currently have no restrictions on how this money can be spent. Nuclear power operators in France and Germany have used decommissioning funds for overseas investments, a system environmentalists say has led to bankruptcies in the past.

Whatever the Commission recommends is likely to run into the same objections as the first nuclear package, with some governments opposed to any EU-level interference in the power sector and green groups saying that only binding legislation will guarantee safe decommissioning.

The third element of the new nuclear package seems, so far, uncontroversial. The communication on non-proliferation sets out the latest International Atomic Energy Agency guidelines on nuclear safeguards, where these differ from EU rules under the Euratom treaty.