Radioactive Waste and Euratom: Towards a More Effective Regime of Regulation

The accumulation of radioactive waste is increasingly becoming a world environmental crisis. Radioactive waste poses a special problem to the countries of the European Community. Europe has committed itself to nuclear power and has become one of the world\u27s largest producers of nuclear energy. Moreover, with the 1992 unification of the European Community, nuclear energy output will increase, resulting in a growing production of radioactive waste. Within the European Community, the disposal of radioactive waste is governed by the Euratom Treaty. However, its effectiveness is sharply limited. Individual Member-states retain significant discretion under the Treaty to direct their nuclear energy policies. As a consequence, radioactive waste regulation operates in an ad-\u27hoc and uncoordinated manner on the Community level. Regionally, severe problems have emerged concerning radioactive waste disposal. These problems range from direct contamination of Memberstates\u27 and third party countries\u27 environments, ineffectual tracking of radioactive waste transported within the European Community, to the failure to respond adequately to emergency situations. This Note proposes modifying specific provisions of Euratom Treaty in order to centralize authority to govern more effectively radioactive waste in the Community