TNAG-1497-FCO40-2055-Guangdong-nuclear-power-station-project-at-Daya-Bay-safety-c-1986 — Page 201

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4. THE FOLLOWING ADDITIONAL MAJOR POINTS WERE MAE:

(A) MRS CHALKER SOUGHT ASSURANCES THAT EXPORTS FROM EAST GERMANY

WOULD BE RIGOROUSLY CONTROLLED. STAVENHAGEN (GERMANY) GAVE THESE.

SUCH EXPORTS WOULD BE CAREFULLY MONITORED AND WOULD BE SUBJECT TO

THE SAME TOLERANCE LIMITS AS THOSE USED IN WEST GERMANY, WHICH WERE

MORE STRINGENT THAN THOSE SET BY THE COMMISSION. VAN DEN BROEK SAID

THAT THIS WOULD BE RECORDED IN THE COUNCIL MINUTES.

(B) ANDREOTTI (ITALY) EMPHASISED THAT FOR HIM PUBLIC HEALTH WAS THE PRIMARY CONSIDERATION. THE COMMUNITY SHOULD IN THE LONGER TERM LOOK

AT BASIC SAFETY STANDARDS AND IMPROVE ITS PROCEDURES FOR HANDLING

THIS KIND OF EMERGENCY. STAVENHAGEN SUPPORTED THIS AND POOS

(LUXEMBOURG) AND TINDEMANS (BELGIUM) BOTH DREW ATTENTION TO IDEAS OF

THIS KIND WHICH THEY HAD ALRADY CIRCULATED.

(C) STAVENHAGEN SAID THAT GERMANY WOULD BE CONVENING AN INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON THE IMPLICATIONS OF CHERNOBYL AND THE

PREVENTION OF ANY RECURRENCE.

(D) BARRY (IRELAND) SAID THAT THE DISASTER HAD REINFORCED IRISH CONCERNS ABOUT NUCLEAR PLANTS, SUCH AS SELLAFIELD, CLOSE TO THEM. THE COMMUNITY SHOULD NOW TAKE UP THE IRISH PROPOSAL FOR A NUCLEAR SAFETY INSPECTORATE. MRS CHALKER SHARPLY UNDERLINED THE ABSENCE OF ANY CONNECTION BETWEEN THE CHERNOBYL DISASTER AND SELLAFIELD. (E) KRANIDIOTIS SAID HIS GOVERNMENT WOULD BE PUTTING TO THE HAGUE EUROPEAN COUNCIL IDEAS FOR MORE TRANSPARENCY IN NUCLEAR MATTERS AND

A FREEZE ON BUILDING NUCLEAR REACTORS.

5. AT LUNCH VAN DEN BROEK MADE FOUR POINTS. FIRST, IT WAS NOT SENSIBLE FOR THE FRG TO CONVENE A MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE ALONGSIDE IAEA ACTIVITIES. SECOND, THE TWELVE SHOULD CALL ON THE USSR NOT TO REACTIVATE THE THREE REACTORS ON THE CHERNOBYL SITE UNTIL IAEA VIEWS WERE KNOWS. THIRD, THE EXCHANGE OF INFORMATION NOW BEING OFFERED BY THE USSR WAS WELCOME, BUT SHOULD BE OPENED UP MORE FULLY. FOURTH, VAN DEN BROEK REFERRED TO THE UK COREU ON ADVICE TO TRAVELLERS: IN SUBSEQUENT DISCUSSION, THIS WAS MORE OR LESS AGREED.

6. A RAMBLING DISCUSSION THEN ENSUED, WITH STAVENHASEN STRESSING THE NEED TO REVIEW NUCLEAR SAFETY RESEARCH IN ORDER TO IDENTIFY GAPS, AND WANTING SOME COLLECTIVE ACTION ON THE CONSTRUCTION AND OPERATION OF NUCLEAR PLANTS. THERE WAS GENERAL ACCEPTANCE OF THE NEED TO STABILISE CONFIDENCE IN THE EXISTING NUCLEAR POWER FRAMEWORK, AND THEREFORE PRESSURE FOR EARLY EC ACTION. THIS IN TURN LED TO PRESSURE TO BOW TO GERMANY ON THE FIGURES FOR CONTAMINATION LEVELS: BUT MRS CHALKER EXPRESSED SERIOUS RESERVATIONS ABOUT THIS.

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