Green MEPs say the commission's draft proposals on a nuclear waste directive contains "serious and alarming gaps."
EU energy commissioner Oettinger will unveil the commission's ideas for a directive on the management of spent fuel and radioactive waste on November 3.
Members of the European Parliament's budget committee on Monday night voted to cut planned funding for the ITER experimental nuclear fusion project in 2011, the Green group in the European Parliament said Tuesday. The budget committee adopted an amendment to cut the ITER budget by Eur 57 million to Eur304.76 million ($419.77 million) in 2011 in a revision to the EU's research budget.
The European Commission will table a legislative proposal on the treatment of radioactive waste before the end of the year, commission president José Manuel Barroso told a conference on nuclear energy in Paris on Monday.
Energy commissioner Günther Oettinger hinted at legislation on nuclear waste management at a European Parliament hearing in January. He said setting the "highest possible" safety standards for disposal would be a priority. "Further costs cannot be a consideration," he warned.
The revival of atomic energy in Europe and a new nuclear-friendly mood in both the EU Commission and the EU Parliament has given the industry's powerful lobby in Brussels a
shot in the arm.
