Commission Opinion of 27 September 2017 relating to the plan to modify the disposal of radioactive waste arising from the Sellafield Magnox Swarf Storage Silo, located in the United Kingdom (Only the English text is authentic) 2017/C 321/01 The assessment below is carried out under the provisions of the Euratom Treaty, without prejudice to any additional assessments to be carried out under the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union and the obligations stemming from it and from secondary legislation . On 18 January 2017 , the European Commission received from the Government of the United Kingdom, in accordance with Article 37 of the Euratom Treaty, General Data relating to the plan to modify the disposal of radioactive waste arising from the Sellafield Magnox Swarf Storage Silo.
On the basis of these data and additional information requested by the Commission on 14 March 2017 and provided by the United Kingdom authorities on 18 May 2017 , and following consultation with the Group of Experts, the Commission has drawn up the following opinion: 1. The distance from the site to the nearest border of another Member State, in this case Ireland, is 180 km. 2. Under normal operating conditions, the discharges of gaseous and liquid radioactive effluents are not liable to cause an exposure of the population in another Member State that would be significant from the point of view of health, in respect of the dose limits laid down in the Basic Safety Standards Directives .
3. Operational as well as secondary radioactive waste will be transferred to on-site treatment and conditioning facilities. Conditioned low-level waste will shipped to the nearby licensed Drigg disposal facility. Conditioned intermediate-level waste will be temporarily stored on-site, awaiting the availability of an adequate repository on the United Kingdom territory. 4. In the event of unplanned releases of radioactive effluents, which may follow the accident of the type and magnitude considered in the General Data, the doses likely to be received by the population in another Member State would not be significant from the point of view of health, in respect of the reference levels laid down in the Basic Safety Standards Directives.
In conclusion, the Commission is of the opinion that the implementation of the plan to modify the disposal of radioactive waste in whatever form, arising from the Sellafield Magnox Swarf Storage Silo, located in the United Kingdom, both in normal operation and in the event of the accident of the type and magnitude considered in the General Data, is not liable to result in a radioactive contamination, significant from the point of view of health, of the water, soil or airspace of another Member State, in respect of the provisions laid down in the Basic Safety Standards Directives. Done at Brussels, 27 September 2017 .
For the Commission Miguel Arias Cañete Member of the Commission