asked the Minister for the Environment if his attention has been drawn to claims recently made by the Green Peace Organisation that the direct discharge of waste from the Windscale nuclear reactor plant into the Irish Sea has resulted in the plutonium poisoning of fish and has had other adverse ecological consequences; if he accepts these charges; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
Written Answers. - Reactor Plant Discharge.
613.
I am aware of the claims made by the Green Peace Organisation regarding discharges of radioactive waste into the Irish Sea from the nuclear reprocessing plant at Windscale in Cumbria. The organisation have recently outlined their views on this matter to the Minister of State at my Department. Basically, the organisation have claimed that the discharges have led to radioactive pollution of fisheries in the Irish Sea. I understand from the Windscale plant and that these statutory body responsible for advising the Government on these matters, that small quantities of plutonium are included in the low level liquid effluents discharged to the north-east Irish Sea from the windscale plant and that these discharges are required to conform with the various safety standards laid down by the relevant international bodies. I am further informed by the Nuclear Energy Board that the radiological significance of the plutonium concentrations in fish caught in the Irish Sea is negligible.
Preliminary discussions have taken place about the possibility of concluding a formal Inter-Governmental Agreement between Ireland and the United Kingdom on the question of exchange of information about nuclear installations generally and the possibility of discharges from them. When the Paris Convention which deals with marine discharges from land based sources has been formally ratified, our position on the question of nuclear waste discharges from such sources will be reviewed with a view to initiating discussions with the United Kingdom authorities in accordance with the terms of the Convention.