MEP voices doubts over French nuclear test data

Date: 21/12/1995

By Michael Mann

MEPs seem unlikely to begin serious debate on the scientific data from the French nuclear testing programme until the end of January, by which time the tests will be virtually over.

Environment committee chairman Ken Collins has asked his colleagues to spend the next month looking at the data given to them by the European Commission, and will start the detailed examination at the committee's meeting on 23-24 January.

The news will be greeted with scepticism by those who were hoping for firm action from the Parliament, which from the outset has been a vocal opponent of the resumption of testing in the South Pacific.

Collins rejected the idea of beginning work on the question at the committee's session on 8 January, preferring to allow MEPs time to consider the papers in depth and to wait until business got properly under way after the Christmas holiday.

MEPs who have already looked at the documents are far from convinced that the Commission was justified in deciding against proceeding against France under Article 34 of the Euratom Treaty.

Belgian Green MEP Paul Lannoye this week expressed grave doubts about the apparent readiness with which the Commission's scientific institute in Karlsruhe accepted the data submitted to it by the French authorities.

“Karlsruhe's judgement seems very questionable to me from a scientific point of view. It seemed to accept what it was told without much criticism,” he said.

According to Lannoye, the Commission's findings include its judgement on the “worst case scenario” as put forward by the French authorities. But Lannoye was unable to find any details of that scenario among the papers sent to the Parliament.

He is also highly critical of the decision to judge potential health risks on the basis of long-term radiation only, completely disregarding the possibility of a short-term leak of radioactive materials.

“There is absolutely no guarantee that a rupture in the atoll will not happen in the next few years,” he stressed.

Lannoye is also bemused by the Commission's decision to judge contamination levels on the basis of norms established by the International Commission on Radiation Protection, even though these are above maximum levels set out in EU regulations.

But he is realistic about how much the Parliament can actually achieve in concrete terms. “If the Commission wanted to placate the French government, I don't know what we can actually do. But at least we can attack the Commission. It's important that we make ourselves respected,” he said.