Hot Waste from UK Subs Draws Legal Threat

BRUSSELS, Belgium, April 3, 2003 (ENS) - The United Kingdom faces legal action for failing to comply with Euratom Treaty requirements on radioactive waste, the European Commission said today. The problem arose when the UK authorized the disposal of radioactive waste from the Devonport Dockyards Ltd. nuclear plant, without allowing the Commission to assess the possible health impact on other EU member states.

The radioactive waste at issue arises from the refitting and refuelling of nuclear submarines at Devonport Dockyards in Plymouth, England, the UK's largest submarine and warship refitting facility.

The company which owns and operates Devonport Dockyards is DML, set up as a private limited company in 1987 to introduce commercial management to the Royal Dockyards. DML has been majority owned since 1997 by Brown & Root, a Halliburton Company subsidiary, through its UK holding company Halliburton Holdings.

Halliburton, of Dallas, Texas, was headed by Dick Cheney before he assumed the vice presidency of the United States in 2001.

A scene at Devonport Dockyards (Photo courtesy DML)

This failure to comply with these provisions led the Commission to open an infringement procedure against the United Kingdom which has reached the stage of the reasoned opinion, the last step before a formal complaint to the European Court of Justice.

Calling the justification principle a "major principle of the radiation protection system," the Commission said it means that the detriment arising from a new or existing practice must not outweigh the benefits that can be drawn from it.

Article 37 of the treaty provides that any plan for the disposal of radioactive waste shall be assessed by the Commission prior to its implementation, in order to determine whether such plan produces a significant impact from a health point of view in another member state.

Each member state must provide the Commission with general data relating to any plan for the disposal of radioactive waste in whatever form.

An assessment of the transboundary effects arising from the implementation of the plan submitted is then made. The Commission delivers its opinion within six months, after consulting the group of experts also provided for under the treaty.

Trident missile submarine HMS Vanguard at Devonport Dockyards (Photo courtesy UK government)

Brown & Root, the engineering and construction division of Halliburton Company, is the project manager for DML. The company's primary function is to support the Royal Navy. DML offers design services, modernizes and refits surface warships and their systems, and refits and refuels nuclear submarines. DML also provides management support to the operational submarine fleet.

In the commercial world, DML undertakes high tech engineered composite work for the offshore oil and gas industry, overhauls railway equipment and builds, converts and refits large yachts.