B3-0908 and 0909/93

The European Parliament,

A.whereas the recent OECD study, funded not only by the USA and Canada but also by certain Member States of the Community, proposes to establish two nuclear waste graveyards in the Atlantic, one located 400 km from the Azores and the other 800 km from the Canaries,

B.whereas, in the early 1980s, various countries funded a study, costing approximately $ 33 million, assessing the suitability of the Atlantic seabed for dumping medium-level and high-level radioactive nuclear waste,

C.whereas this proposal is to be discussed in November at the Conference on the London Nuclear Waste Management Convention,

D.whereas the London Nuclear Waste Management Convention approved a moratorium on dumping nuclear waste in the oceans and seas, given the dangers involved for conserving the marine environment and life on Earth,

E.whereas, in its second parliamentary term (1980-84), the Azores Regional Assembly drew international attention to the serious implications of this study for Azorean, Canarian, Madeiran, Galician and Irish waters, which would become a graveyard for high-risk nuclear waste,

F.whereas the establishment of the nuclear waste graveyards will have direct repercussions on regions of the Community, endangering both the survival of their fishing industries, the tourism on which a large part of their livelihood is based and the general health of the population,

1.Protests forcefully against the adoption of any proposal to dump radioactive waste in the Atlantic, with all the consequences it would entail for the marine environment and life itself;

2.Seeks to alert the international community to, and calls on the Council, EPC, the Commission and the Member States resolutely to oppose, any attempt to lift the moratorium on dumping nuclear waste in the oceans and seas, particularly at the Conference on the London Convention to be held in November 1993;

3.Places on those Member States which participated in the Atlantic nuclear waste dumping programme responsibility for the possible consequences of their action;

4.Calls on the Commission and the Council to make the OECD and the governments of the USA, Canada and the Member States aware of their firm intention to oppose the dumping of nuclear waste in the oceans and seas, particularly in the Atlantic and the vicinity of Community waters;

5.Instructs its President to forward this resolution to the Commission, the Council, the OECD and the governments of the USA and Canada.