Nuclear safety: Three member states in hot seat

摘要

In two reasoned opinions (the second step of an infringement procedure), sent on 26 April, the European Commission has given the Greek, Polish and Portuguese authorities two months to transpose into their national law Directive 2009/71/Euratom on nuclear safety. The directive had to be implemented by the member states by 22 July 2011. The directive creates a comprehensive and legally binding framework for the safety of civilian nuclear installations, such as nuclear power plants, research reactor facilities or spent fuel storage facilities. The directive enhances the role and independence of national regulatory authorities. It also makes the requirements established by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) legally binding. It is noteworthy that the three countries that are currently in the hot seat only have low-power research reactor facilities; none of the countries have nuclear power plants, even though Poland is considering building its first plant by 2020. The decision has, however, constantly been pushed back since the Fukushima accident.