Vol. 399 No. 2
15 Proinsias De Rossa asked the Minister for Energy if he has carried out or plans to carry out any assessment of the likely implications for marine life in the Irish Sea of the recently announced decision by British Nuclear Fuels Limited to process 452 tonnes of West German radioactive fuel at the Sellafield plant; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
22 Mr. T. Kitt asked the Minister for Energy if he will make a statement on the British Nuclear Fuels Limited proposal to reprocess radioactive waste from Germany at Sellafield.
42 Tomás Mac Giolla asked the Minister for Energy the representations he has made to the British authorities regarding the recently announced agreement by British Nuclear Fuels Limited to process substantial quantities of West German radioactive waste at the Sellafield plant; the response he has received; if he intends to take any further steps on this matter; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
64 Miss Flaherty asked the Minister for Energy the scale of those proposed expansion or reprocessing at Sellafield; the expected frequency of shipments of fuel for reprocessing to the plant; the impact it will have on the level of radioactive waste discharged into the Irish Sea; and his assessment of the impact of the proposal on radioactivity in the Irish Sea and associated health hazards.
65 Miss Flaherty asked the Minister for Energy the approaches he has made to the West German authorities regarding their decision to ship in nuclear waste for reprocessing to Sellafield; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
I propose to take Questions Nos. 15, 22, 42, 64 and 65 together. The planned Thermal Oxide Reprocessing Plant (THORP) at Sellafield will when completed have the capacity to reprocess 7,000 tonnes of spent fuel in its first ten years.
I am very concerned at UK plans to import spent fuel from other countries for reprocessing at THORP. Last year, when I first learnt of the proposal to reprocess German waste at THORP, I made protests to the UK and German authorities. In particular it was pointed out to the German authorities that they had abandoned the completion of a reprocessing plant in Germany because of environmental concerns, and that it is not acceptable to us for them to transfer the problems associated with reprocessing close to Ireland.
The increased transport of spent and reprocessed fuel and waste through the Irish Sea, with the attendant increased risk of accidents is of particular concern. I raised this matter again with the UK as recently as last Friday, when I met the UK Secretary of State for Energy, Mr. John Wakeham. It was also raised at the Council meeting of EC Energy Ministers which I chaired on Monday last. Ireland's concerns over Sellafield were reiterated with particular reference to the processing of waste from other countries.
The Nuclear Energy Board, who monitor radioactivity levels in the Irish Sea, have stated that the operation of THORP will increase radioactive discharges into the Irish Sea but that there will be no significant health risk to either marine or human life from this increase. The board will continue their monitoring to ensure that radiation risks to the Irish public are minimized. The board's monitoring programme also provides an independent check on information on discharges into the Irish Sea provided by the UK authorities.
The Minister has really expressed all the concerns I have and which I suppose most people have, in regard to Germany abandoning its own reprocessing plant and sending the waste to Britain. The Minister has emphasised two major factors. One is the increase in the reprocessing of waste in Sellafield which increases the discharges etc. The second is the passage of this waste through the Irish Sea up to the Sellafield plant. Can anything be done in that regard? We can do little about Sellafield itself, or so it seems up to now. Are there other methods by which the waste can be brought over and can we stop it coming through our side?
I have raised this matter. The Government are very concerned about it and are examining the issue to see whether there is any option open to us to seek to protect ourselves in some way against the transporting of such a dangerous cargo so close to our shore without our consent. I must admit that inquiries so far do not seem to lead to any great hope of being able to do very much about it under present international law of the sea regulations, but we are continuing to look at the matter.
Does the Minister foresee any possibility of the European Commission extending the principle now under consideration in Directive form that countries have to look after their own waste to the nuclear area? Under the existing Euratom Treaty would it be possible for the Commission to set limits on discharges such as the discharges into the Irish Sea? Would that be a possible way of limiting the expansion in this activity?
From my examination and from the advice given to me on the Euratom Treaty, as I said in reply to an earlier question, the Commission seems to have certain powers which it is not anxious to exercise. I see that as the position, and the task facing Ireland is to try to get sufficient support from member countries to make the Commission act in these matters. I have suggested that we might also begin to think of taking an initiative in regard to the reviewing or rewriting of the Euratom Treaty with a view to strengthening its provisions which seem to me to be weak, inefficient and totally inadequate to our needs in the position we find ourselves in.
