COUNCIL OF Brussels, 5 February 2001 (07.02) THE EUROPEAN UNION (OR. fr 5602/01 LIMITE PE-&E 53 DRAFT REPL) TO WRITTEN QUESTION P-3584/00 put by Laura GON1ALE1 AL2ARE1 on 14 November 2000 from : Working Party on General Affair to : Permanent Repre entative Committee/Council Subject : Damaged Briti h nuclear submarine HMS Tirele docked in Gibraltar 1. Delegations will find attached: œ the te0t of the above Written Que tion; œ a draft reply prepared by the Working Party on General Affair at it meeting on 29 January 2001. 2. ,hi draft reply will be submitted to the Permanent Repre entative Committee (Part 1) and to the Council for approval. ______________________ 5602/01 ett/HM/mh 1 DG F I EN WRITTEN QUESTION P-3584/00 .ut by Laura Gon7ále7 9lvare7 on (0UE/N0L to the Council Subject: Damaged Briti h nuclear submarine HMS Tirele , docked in Gibraltar ,he Briti h nuclear submarine HMS Tirele ha been docked at the Briti h naval ba e in Gibraltar ince 19 May 2000 for repair to it damaged primary coolant circuit. The Briti h authoritie have given conflicting account regarding the e0tent of the damage, whil t the repair period, initially announced a la ting only three months, ha now been e0tended to summer 2001. The Royal Navy prohibit repair to nuclear-powered submarine in port with facilitie such a those in Gibraltar 5;-cla port 6 and only authori e such repair in X-cla ba e such a tho e at Devonport and Fa lane in the United Kingdom, which have medical equipment, evacuation plans and special machinery. Thi fact, together with the hypothetical danger of a radioactive leak to public health, ha prompted reque t from the Autonomous Government of Andalusia and the mayor of the area of Spain bordering Gibraltar that the submarine be moved back to the United Kingdom. Could the Council approach the Briti h and Spani h authoritie with a reque t that they provide the inhabitant of the Gibraltar area with preci e, ongoing and comprehensive information a to the potential ri ks, the e0tent of the damage and the repair plans, that they guarantee permanent monitoring of radioactivity level in the local water and air and, should the ve el undergo repair in Gibraltar, that they implement a nuclear emergency and evacuation plan, which the Gibraltar area currently lacks? Could the Council recommend that the damaged submarine be moved back to the United Kingdom, .here it could undergo repair at a speciali ed and safe ba e? ________________________ 5602/01 ett/HM/mh 2 DG F I EN REPL) to Written Question P-3584/00 .ut by Laura GON1ALE1 AL2ARE1 (0UE/N0L ,he United Kingdom authoritie have not referred the matter of the submarine docked in Gibraltar to the Council, which cannot therefore reply to the e que tions. 5602/01 ett/HM/mh 3 DG F I EN .