Vol. 427 No. 3
6 Mrs. T. Ahearn asked the Minister for Transport, Energy and Communications the initiatives, if any, he has taken to protect the Irish people from the developments in Sellafield particularly in view of the recent leak from the plant; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
10 Mr. Dukes asked the Minister for Transport, Energy and Communications the steps, if any, the Government has taken since 25 November 1992 to express the grave fears which exist in this country concerning future discharges from Sellafield; whether the Government has made a submission in the context of consultations concerning radioactive liquid and gaseous emissions from Sellafield; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
53 Proinsias De Rossa asked the Minister for Transport, Energy and Communications if he has yet received a response from the British authorities to the submission prepared by the Radiological Protection Institute and submitted by his Department calling for the closure of the Sellafield Nuclear Reprocessing Plant; if it is intended to proceed with international legal action over the plant; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
I propose to take Questions Nos. 6, 10 and 53 together.
The Deputies will be aware by now that I have sent a detailed and wideranging submission to the UK Minister for the Environment and the UK Inspectorate of Pollution. This submission conveyed in the strongest possible terms the Government's total opposition to the continued operation of all nuclear activities carried out at Sellafield and to any expansion of these activities, and I wish to restate this position to this House. In particular, the submission expressed the Government's grave concerns about commissioning the proposed new THORP plant on the site and the proposed new levels of authorised discharges from Sellafield into the atmosphere and the Irish Sea. The British authorities have acknowledged receipt of our submission and have also informed us that they are currently considering whether there is a need to make changes to the draft authorisation in the light of comments received. Once they have decided whether, and if so how, the authorisations should be amended, the Secretary of State for the Environment and the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food will consider whether to afford the opportunity of a hearing in accordance with the terms of the legislation.
Copies of the Government's submission were made available to all Deputies. I have since sent copies of the submission to the EC Commissioner for the Environment and the Energy Commissioner. I can inform the Deputies that many environmental organisations have conveyed their appreciation to me on the submission.
I have also written to the UK Minister for the Environment recently expressing my serious concerns at radioactive discharges into the environment from Sellafield which occurred during the week ending on 13 February. Deputies will be aware also that at a meeting on 25 February with a delegation of directors from British Nuclear Fuels who were in Dublin for an all-party meeting, I reiterated all our concerns in relation to Sellafield and repeated the Government's call for a full public inquiry on THORP.
With regard to the question of international legal action over Sellafield, the Attorney General has advised that there is no evidence to date to suggest that operations at the entire complex, including the proposed operation of the THORP plant, are or will be in breach of EC law and international conventions which would sustain a successful legal action. However, the situation is being kept under continuous review. In this connection, the High Court case in London against British Nuclear Fuels, involving childhood leukaemia, is being closely monitored by my Department and the Radiological Protection Institute of Ireland.
Deputies will be aware that we have in place a national emergency plan for nuclear accidents, which is a plan of action designed to provide a response to accidents involving a release of radioactivity into the environment which would pose a danger to the Irish public. A copy of the plan will by now have been received by all Deputies. The Radiological Protection Institute of Ireland have a special responsibility for radioactivity monitoring and for the provision of information to the public.
Am I correct in saying that the Government's submission would have been too late but for the fact that the British Government extended the closing date? The closing date was 11 January and we at that date did not have our submission prepared. Could the Minister explain why there was that delay? Will the Minister insist that the Irish Government get a hearing irrespective of any rules in UK legislation that may prevent us from receiving a hearing following our submission?
The submission was submitted within the time available. The Department was anxious, as was I when I took up office, to give the necessary authorisation and support for the excellent submission which has been made. In relation to the possibility of a public hearing being held, UK legislation provides that the Secretary of State at the Department of the Environment must allow a hearing to take place in the case of the draft authorisation limits if BNFL should wish it. The Secretary of State and the Minister for Agriculture, Fisheries and Food also have the statutory responsibility for considering whether local authorities or other persons should be given the opportunity of a hearing. I understand that any such hearing would almost certainly be in public. There is nothing in the legislation to limit the scope of the hearing, so on this basis I called on the UK authorities for a full public inquiry into the THORP plant.
May I ask the Minister, further to the meeting of representatives from Sellafield with representatives of this Parliament, if he is aware that we were informed by Mr. Bonson that information regarding the leak in Sellafield in early February was given to us as a matter of courtesy? Has he asked his British counterpart, the Minister for Energy, why certain guidelines are not given to the authorities in Sellafield to make information available on any unexpected emissions to both the British and Irish Governments, or will we have to depend on the courtesy of the authorities in Sellafield to know what exactly is happening in the plant?
When I met that delegation privately I expressed my strong concern in relation to this matter. Deputy Liam Lawlor was in attendance and can confirm that. In relation to the arrangements for reporting to this country incidents arising from operations in Sellafield, there is an arrangement operated by the United Kingdom authorities. Nuclear operators in the UK have agreed to report all incidents involving a release of radioactivity to the Department of the Environment's Inspectorate of Pollution.
He does not see it that way.
In 1986, at a meeting of the Irish-UK contact group on nuclear issues, the UK agreed that we would be notified of all incidents notified to the Inspectorate of Pollution. This arrangement has been quite effective in operation; but there are still some incidents not involving a release of radioactivity, but considered newsworthy, which are not reported to Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Pollution and consequently are not passed on to us. In practice the Department of the Environment in London and the British Embassy try to meet this gap. Under a separate incident reporting system in the UK, nuclear operators are required to report all on-site incidents to the Nuclear Installations Inspectorate of the Health and Safety Executive. This requirement forms part of the licensing conditions. The incidents reported are published in a quarterly bulletin listing all incidents reported during the relevant quarter. A copy of this bulletin is sent to this Department.
Question No. 7, please.
A Cheann Comhairle, mat I ask the Minister——
Sorry, I have called No. 7.
Just one brief supplementary.
Let us not forget the time in dealing with these questions. If we are to dispose of the four questions involved we need all the time. We have lost some time already.
That is not my fault.
