Euratom Treaty Safeguards reporting requirements

Commission Regulation (Euratom) 302/2005 updates the previous regulation (No. 3227/76) on Euratom Treaty safeguards reporting requirements. The regulation was published in the Official Journal of the European Communities on 28 February 2005 (L54/1) and entered force on 20 March 2005. It includes provisions:

that allow for simplified reporting by organisations which hold only small amounts of nuclear material subject to Euratom safeguards;
for limited safeguards reporting on nuclear material contained in certain types of waste;
to enable the submission of reports in electronic formats.

Commission Regulation (Euratom) 302/2005 also includes provisions to ensure effective and efficient implementation of the European Commission’s reporting requirements that derive from the Additional Protocols agreed between Euratom, its Member States and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

Arrangements for the transition from reporting according to Commission Regulation (Euratom) 3227/76 to reporting using the updated reporting formats specified in Commission Regulation (Euratom) 302/2005 are as follows:

organisations should aim to report using the updated formats within three years of entry into force of the Regulation. Once any changes necessary to be able to report according to these formats have been made, the organisation concerned should write to the European Commission through HSE(UKSO) advising when such reporting will start ¹;
if there are delays, which mean transition to using the updated formats may take more than three years following entry-into-force of Regulation 302/2005, the organisation concerned should write to the European Commission through HSE(UKSO) to request an extension to continue using Regulation 3227/76 reporting formats for an additional period of no more than two years. This request should also include an implementation programme that describes how/when the organisation will be ready to use the updated formats. The European Commission may monitor this programme to ensure that the formats are in use within five years of entry-into-force of the Regulation ².

The European Commission has, as indicated in the footnotes to this information, prepared Guidance to accompany Commission Regulation (Euratom) 302/2005. This was published as Commission Recommendation 2006/40/Euratom in the Official Journal of the European Communities on 15 December 2005 (L54/1).

Footnotes

¹ Article 39 ( ‘Transitional period’) of Regulation 302/2005 states:

“The Commission may grant an exemption from the obligation to use the reporting formats set out in Annexes III, IV and V. The exemption shall apply to persons or undertakings using the reporting format of Annex II, III and IV of Regulation (Euratom) No 3227/76 on the date of entry into force of this Regulation. It shall be granted for a maximum of five years from that date.

The persons or undertakings referred to in the first subparagraph of Article 3(1) shall, within a period of three years of the date of entry into force of this Regulation, inform the Commission of the date on which they intend to start using the reporting formats set out in Annexes III, IV and V. Upon duly justified request and the presentation of an implementation programme the Commission may, on a case by case basis, extend the period by up to two years.”

² The Guidance (Commission Recommendation 2006/40/Euratom) prepared to accompany Regulation 302/2005 states that:

on entry-into-force of the Regulation, the reporting Annexes in 3227/76 should continue to be used to comply with the Regulation;
if, within 3 years of entry-into-force, an operator is ready to use the updated reporting formats, he should advise the European Commission in writing before starting to use the formats.
if, after three years following entry-into-force an operator is still not ready to use the updated reporting formats, he should write to the European Commission to request an extension to continue using 3227/76 reporting formats for a period of up to no more than 2 years. This letter should justify why the extension is necessary and describe the ‘implementation programme’ that will enable the operator to begin reporting in the updated format. The European Commission is likely to 'monitor' this programme to ensure that the operator is using the updated formats within 5 years of entry-into-force.

Nuclear home