RESOLUTION B3-0533, 0595, 0602 and 0610/93

The European Parliament,

-having regard to the Dobris Castle Ministerial Conference in June 1991 and subsequent meetings of Environment Ministers from all European countries,

-having regard to the next pan-European Ministerial meeting to be held in Lucerne, Switzerland, from 28 to 30 April 1993,

-having regard to the work already carried out on the state of the European environment for the Parliamentary meeting in May 1991 on the 'European Common Garden',

A.having regard to the accident which took place in the reprocessing unit of the nuclear complex at Tomsk in the CIS, which resulted, according to the initial information, in a discharge of 0.5 kg of plutonium and the pollution of an area of at least 200 km2,

B.whereas radioactive substances leaked into the atmosphere as a result of this nuclear accident, which involved a gas explosion in a vessel containing radioactive substances, breaking through the roof of the plant,

C.whereas the Dobris Castle process has not yet led to concrete environmental action,

D.whereas it has already been established that financial resources are often more cost effective for the European environment as a whole if they are employed in Eastern and Central European countries,

E.mindful of a report by the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) in 1991 which blacklisted ten nuclear reactors that should be closed or modernized as a matter of urgency on the grounds that they were veritable powder-kegs,

F.mindful of the Community's declared political determination to contribute through the PHARE and TACIS programmes to bringing Eastern Europe's nuclear industry in line with the safety standards in force in the Community,

G.whereas, as a result of commercial cooperation between the Community and the CIS involving the implementation of certain reprocessing or enrichment operations by the CIS's nuclear industry, factories which are particularly dangerous and operate under conditions which are unacceptable so far as workers are concerned could be kept operating,

1.Is deeply concerned at the conditions governing the use of nuclear energy in Russia and the precarious safety standards at its nuclear plants, which this accident has once again demonstrated;

2.Calls on the IAEA, as part of the conduct of its own responsibilities, to undertake the inquiries necessary to obtain a rapid and precise assessment of the extent of the accident and its foreseeable consequences and to submit an official report containing its conclusions;

3.Stresses once more the considerable risks involved in the use of nuclear energy in the former USSR and certain countries in Central and Eastern Europe, and calls on the European Community and the IAEA to take urgent action with respect to these countries, whose peoples are sitting on an ecological powder-keg;

4.Warns against the dangers posed by most nuclear sites in the former Communist bloc and calls for the urgent implementation of a plan for their closure or modernization and improvements to their safety;

5.Requests that the implementation of all commercial contracts between Member States and the CIS in the nuclear field be suspended for obvious safety reasons;

6.Deplores the delay which has affected programmes of aid for the modernization and improvement of nuclear sites in the former USSR and Central and Eastern Europe;

7.Requests in particular that the subsidies for which provision is made in the TACIS and PHARE programmes should finance not only studies by international experts but also the purchase of equipment for which those in charge of the sites have been waiting in vain;

8.Recalls that it is not just the Russians' responsibility, but also that of the European Community and other Western countries who have not kept their promises in sending financial aid after Chernobyl to improve the safety of nuclear installations;

9.Calls on the Commission and the Member States to play a full and active role in the Lucerne Ministerial Conference and its follow-up;

10.Calls on the governments of the Member States to cooperate with Eastern and Central European countries to establish an exchange system for scientists working on environmental policy in Europe in order to exchange expertise; calls on the Commission to support the inclusion of these countries in EC programmes;

11.Calls on the Commission to keep it completely informed of the work being carried out by the PHARE and TACIS programmes;

12.Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Commission, the Council, the Russian Government and the International Atomic Energy Agency.