EESC Urges EU to Export Nuclear Safety Model
June 16, 2009 // Published as a news service by IHS
While stressing the overall importance of these measures for public safety and the environment, the EESC emphasized that the EU must play a proactive role by making proposals on nuclear safety issues beyond its borders, as it does with its climate change package.
"Nuclear safety must be 'a worldwide public good', whilst the Member States must be at liberty to decide whether or not to use this type of energy," said rapporteur Gerard Dantin (Group II, Employees, France).
The EESC also highlighted the importance of requiring EU member states, in line with "good practice," to establish totally independent national safety authorities, making license holders fully responsible and ensuring that information on these issues is transparent. Therefore, the EESC directed this aspect of the directive to be retained along with an extremely high level of responsibility.
In addition, the EESC called for more attention to be devoted to building, maintaining and developing skills in EU member states, especially those that have little or no experience with nuclear energy. Those member states must address this question without delay, in particular by developing the requisite training opportunities.
Moreover, the EESC suggested that consideration must be given to the European certification of competence in the field of nuclear power, and that training must cover technical management as well as the health aspects of nuclear accidents.
"With this opinion, the Committee underlines that safety is also a question of industrial culture and behaviour; it is not just about drawing up regulations and restrictions," Dantin said.
Source: European Commission (EC).