Local view for "http://purl.org/linkedpolitics/eu/plenary/2001-05-02-Speech-3-145"
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"en.20010502.10.3-145"2
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"Mr President, the closure of the Chernobyl nuclear plant has, of course, been widely applauded by Members in political groups in this House, but it could have happened earlier and the reasons why it did not are instructive. The Ukraine does not wish to increase its dependence of supplies from Russia and therefore it wished to complete the reactors at Khmelnitski and Rovno and in their eyes we have been rather slow in operating the memorandum of understanding that was concluded in 1995. However, the decision to make the Euratom loan available to complete those reactors marks a very important step towards improving EU/Ukraine relations because the loan agreement marks the willingness of Ukraine to operate its nuclear plant to safety standards equivalent to those in the European Union.
It is one thing talking about the operational standards of safety, the other important aspect is the regulation of the industry. I am pleased that the Commissioner made such reference to the support that we give to regulators throughout eastern Europe, because this is the area that gives us the greatest concern. It is not in any way to challenge the competence of the regulator or his staff in Ukraine. It is a question of the power of the regulatory body to authorise start-up procedures to ensure stoppage for maintenance and to be the final arbiter for loading and restarting. There is still an outstanding need to satisfy the West that the status of the regulator in Ukraine, and in some other eastern European countries, is equivalent to western practice: it certainly should be established before K2 is finally commissioned.
Paragraph 12 of the joint resolution calls for closer cooperation and dialogue between Ukraine and the European Parliament on energy-related matters. This is crucial to building up the Ukraine economy, because structural and technical improvements are also needed in the gas, oil and coal sectors and while the commitment of Ukraine to improving energy efficiency and developing renewable energy sources is welcome, the dominant factors for the foreseeable future will be fossil fuel and nuclear power.
It is essential that this Parliament, its committees and its delegation to the Ukraine are linked into the work of the subcommittee of the political cooperation agreement which handles energy and environment issues. Parliament should also be kept fully informed of progress in the shelter construction, the decommissioning of the site and the completion of the two reactors. These are the pressing practical matters which must follow from the voting of this resolution."@en1
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