Dáil Éireann debate -
Tuesday, 15 Jun 1993

Vol. 432 No. 3

Written Answers. - Transport of Nuclear Material.

Trevor Sargent

Question:

162 Mr. Sargent asked the Minister for Transport, Energy and Communications the Government's policy on the transportation of nuclear weapons-making material and reprocessed plutonium between British military establishments such as AWE Burghfield, RNAD Coulport, RAF Honnington and AWE Aldermaston; and if he has con-sulted the British authorities about these transports and the threat an accident involving any of them would pose towards the British public, including the Irish community in Britain and, possibly, towards residents of the Irish Republic.

Minister for Transport, Energy and Communications (Mr. Cowen)

The transport of nuclear weapons between British military establishments is a matter for the British Government. It is noted that an official review conducted by the UK Ministry of Defence's Chief Scientific Advisor, published in July 1992, concluded that warheads are carried by road in vehicles which are secure and equipped with satisfactory means of internal containment and protection. It would be inappropriate for me to contact the UK authorities about such transports.

Trevor Sargent

Question:

163 Mr. Sargent asked the Minister for Transport, Energy and Communications the way in which the Government intends to prevent the transportation of plutonium by air and sea from Germany, Japan and other countries to Sellafield, following the commissioning of the Thermal Oxide Reprocessing Plant (THORP), in view of the fact that all of these transports will come within sixty miles of the Irish coastline and that the consequences of a serious accident involving these transports could prove catastrophic.

Minister for Transport, Energy and Communications (Mr. Cowen)

The new THORP reprocessing plant at Sellafield cannot go ahead until revised authorisations are given by the UK authorities for the discharge of liquid and gaseous emissions from Sellafield. No final decision has yet been taken on whether or not it will proceed. Following a public consultation process undertaken by the UK Inspector of Pollution, HMIP, some 80,000 submissions were received by HMIP and a report has recently been submitted to the Secretary of State for the Environment for his consideration. The Secretary of State will now decide if a hearing is to be granted on the THORP issue to interested parties or whether to issue discharge authorisations.

The transportation of plutonium will only be a possibility if the THORP plant is given the go-ahead. In this connection, I have already expressed the Government's concerns about such shipments.