Nuclear security in the European Union context

At the end of 2002, the European Commission tabled a proposal for the definition of a genuinely Community approach to nuclear security and to advance toward sustainable solutions for the management of radioactive waste, all within the commitments taken on in the monitoring of the Green Paper Towards a European strategy of energy storage security. In this sense, the Commission has worked on a collection of measures with a view to adopting a framework directive on security in nuclear installations, another on radioactive waste and a Council Decision authorizing the Commission to negotiate an agreement between Euratom and the Russian Federation on trade in nuclear materials: all are at the commentary stage. The Commission's Communication to the Council and European Parliament, whose full text is presented, argues the fundamental reasons for the adoption of these measures. (Author)