andMr. T.J. Fitzpatrick (Cavan-Monaghan) asked the Minister for Industry, Commerce and Energy if he will make a statement in relation to the reported leakage of about ten tonnes of nuclear waste into the sea off Windscale at the beginning of the summer, indicating when and how the leakage took place, when his Department first became aware of it and whether representatives of his Department have inspected the site and, if so, when.
Ceisteanna—Questions. Oral Answers. - Nuclear Waste.
10.
I assume that the Deputy's question is related to reports in some Irish daily newspapers of 27 July 1979 in which reference is made to the report of British Nuclear Fuels Limited for the year 1978 which stated that in that year about ten tonnes of uranium were discharged into the Irish Sea from the Windscale Works in Cumbria.
I am advised by the Nuclear Energy Board that liquid effluents contaminated by small amounts of radioactive substances are discharged into the Irish Sea from the Windscale Works in Cumbria operated by British Nuclear Fuels Limited. These discharges are made in accordance with authorisations issued by the UK authorities which limit the total quantities and specific substances which may be discharged.
I am further advised that the discharges into the Irish Sea in 1978 were within the limits specified in the relevant authorisations. According to the report of British Nuclear Fuels Limited about ten tonnes of uranium were so discharged during 1978. The Nuclear Energy Board are satisfied that this represents an insignificantly small quantity of radioactivity which constitutes no hazards to this country. It is trivial compared with the naturally occurring level of uranium in the Irish Sea. As uranium is a natural constituent of our rocks, soils and waters all rivers entering the Irish Sea will contain some small quantities of uranium. The board are also satisfied that small quantities of uranium discharged in the effluents from Windscale during previous years have never been of any significance.
Representatives of my Department or of the Nuclear Energy Board have no legal authority to carry out an inspection of any installation outside this country. The Windscale Works are, however, subject to strict regulation and control by the UK authorities with whom close co-operation is maintained by the Nuclear Energy Board particularly on safety related matters.
Is the Minister saying that there are no regulations which will allow the Government to have any information in relation to the activities of the numerous nuclear stations within 100 miles of our coast? Can the EEC not ensure that those stations should be able to notify neighbouring countries when some unusual activity is taking place in nuclear stations?
As I said, the UK stations are controlled by the UK authority with which our Nuclear Energy Board have a very close relationship and they are kept advised by the UK authority of the situation within that country. We have no right as such to go into a sovereign state.
Will the Minister not agree that the EEC should insist that we know beforehand, if that is possible, of any situation that is likely to endanger the lives or the health of people in this country?
Surely the UK authorities would have a very clear interest in protecting the welfare of their own residents who are living close to the plants. We are in close contact with the UK authorities on this matter. The Nuclear Energy Board and the Department of Fisheries monitor the radiation levels in the Irish Sea on a regular basis.
Like the Minister I have a particular interest in this matter because I, too, live along the coast of the Irish Sea. Surely the Minister will agree that if the British authorities ensure that their people are looked after we also should know in case any necessary precautions have to be taken?
As I have said already, we will know immediately because of the very close co-operation between the Nuclear Energy Board——
We have not heard of anything up to now.
The Minister has stated that at present it represents no hazard to Ireland or to the Irish people. Can he give the House a guarantee that a continuation of this dumping for a few years will not have serious repercussions for the Irish people?
I have told the House that the situation is kept under constant review by the Nuclear Energy Board and by the Department of Fisheries in so far as the fisheries aspect is concerned.
Surely the Minister is aware of the serious mistakes that have been made in America. Guarantees like this were given some eight or ten years ago but they find now that these guarantees were groundless and that human beings have been harmed. In America they are supposed to have the most advanced technology in the world.
The Deputy wanted to know if the situation was being monitored. I am advising him that it is being monitored on a regular basis.
They were supposed to be monitoring also in America.
Will the Minister state if the decision of the British Government apparently to go ahead with the building of 20 more nuclear reactors is a matter of concern in the context of the question here? With regard to the emission of radioactive waste in the general vicinity of Windscale, is the Minister aware of strongly substantiated reports of continuous leakage from this plant since the summer of 1976? Further, will the Minister state if there are any direct on-site inspections by people from his Department to ensure that the Irish Sea is not being contaminated?
That matter relates to Question No. 11 which has not been reached yet.
11.
asked the Minister for Industry, Commerce and Energy if he is aware of the contents of a recent report concerning the apparent effects of the emission of radioactive waste in the general vicinity of Windscale, if the details of such research have been made available to his Department, if a similar type of research is being undertaken by the Government and if he will make a statement in this regard.
In the absence of a more specific reference by the Deputy I have assumed that he is referring to a newspaper article of 3 October 1979. This article refers to a study carried out on the incidence of myeloid leukaemia after doctors in a group practice centred on Lytham St. Anne's had noted that they had diagnosed 12 cases of myeloid leukaemia over a six-year period. A team from Manchester University checked in the local cancer registry statistics and found that comparing the period 1965-70 with that from 1971-76 the incidence of myeloid leukaemia had apparently increased. There was, however, insufficient data to show whether this increase was statistically significant. Similar data for the rest of the UK either locally or nationally were not available to the team.
I am advised by the Nuclear Energy Board that, although it has been established that certain toxic chemicals or over-exposure to ionizing radiation are causes of myeloid leukaemia, no direct evidence of either of these causes has been adduced for the apparent increase in the Lancashire area recorded by the researchers of the Manchester University team.
Research into the causes of cancer including any effects of ionizing radiation has been undertaken over many years and is continuing in many countries, including Ireland. This work has led, inter alia, to the establishment of radiation dose limits which, if observed, will reduce the probability of the induction of cancer or other health hazards to negligible levels.
The discharges from Windscale and other similar installations in the UK are strictly controlled so as to ensure that no member of the population should be exposed to radiation doses approaching the above mentioned limits and, as I have indicated to the Dáil on many previous occasions, the Nuclear Energy Board keep in close touch with the appropriate UK authorities and keep me and my Department fully informed.
Is the reply of the Minister not indicative of the attitude that says, for example, that because Newton had not formulated his famous law, the law of gravity did not exist beforehand? Is the Minister not aware that there is constant and growing discharge of radioactive waste into the Irish Sea and that the effect inevitably will be calamitous, particularly in view of the recent decision of the British Government to build 20 more nuclear reactors? Will the Minister say what steps he will take to ensure that his Department carry out their responsibility on behalf of the Irish people to make sure they are not being contaminated by radioactive discharge which will be disastrous for them? What is the point in the Minister calling black white?
As I have indicated already, the Nuclear Energy Board together with the Department of Fisheries are continually monitoring the radiation levels in the Irish Sea. The Nuclear Energy Board are in constant contact with their opposite number in the UK. We do not have the right to go on UK soil and examine what they are doing——
Did your Department ask for permission?
Neither do we have the right to go on the soil of any other country to examine what they are doing and they do not have the right to come to Ireland and examine what we are doing. There is co-operation between the two nations and that is quite right. All of us would be concerned if there was a high radiation level in the Irish Sea. The concern does not exist exclusively on the other side of the House. We live in this country too. I live right along the coastline. Obviously we are concerned to ensure that nothing is done that will damage the health of the people of this country. We are content enough with the controls that exist. With regard to the construction of nuclear plants, that was an independent decision made by the UK.
Will the Minister describe the monitoring procedure he referred to and about which apparently he is very satisfied? Will he state if there is even one official of his Department who has been in or near Windscale? I am not talking about some kind of invasion of the sovereignty of another country but of co-operation between the Department here and the appropriate Department in Britain.
I have said already that there is considerable co-operation between the Nuclear Energy Board and the UK authority.
What does that mean? What does "co-operation" mean?
If the Deputy would like to put down a question asking for specific examples of the co-operation I referred to we will be delighted to give him the information.
If the Minister had an answer he would give it now.