Vol. 442 No. 7
9 Mr. Rabbitte asked the Minister for Transport, Energy and Communications if the Government has tabled a recommendation regarding nuclear reprocessing for discussion at the regular Paris Commission meeting in June; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
The Paris Commission, which deals with the prevention of marine pollution from all land-based sources, is primarily a matter for the Minister for the Environment. However, as on previous occasions, my Department will be represented at the meeting next month for agenda items concerning the discharges of radioactive substances into the marine environment.
For the forthcoming Paris Commission meeting in June, I have tabled three recommendations in view of my concerns about marine radioactive discharges from nuclear reprocessing plants particularly those from Sellafield, including the new THORP plant.
Will the Minister outline the nature of the three recommendations he tabled for the Paris Commission?
Unfortunately, I do not have my file but I will communicate with the Deputy on the agenda items.
Given the absence of the Minister's file I understand his difficulty, but does he recall specific recommendations adopted at the 1993 Paris Commission meeting to the effect that there should be no further discharges of nuclear substances into the sea, the UK authorities should be required to conduct an environmental impact study and to consult with this State on the commissioning of THORP? What steps does he intend to take at the Paris Commission in June to deal with the breaches by the UK authorities of the recommendations of the 1993 meeting?
The Deputy can be assured the issue will be raised at the Paris Commission meeting. It is raised on every occasion to seek to invoke jurisdiction, which is not mandatory, and to bring pressure to bear on the British authorities by seeking the support of allies. We will continue to seek support in this regard at the Paris Commission.
Will the Minister agree that he encounters a lack of mandatory jurisdiction by dealing with this matter solely through the Paris Commission? Will he agree also that renegotiation in the context of the intergovernmental conference in 1996 of the EURATOM Treaty to provide mandatory inspection and controls at European Union level is needed in respect of such facilities? What preparations are being made in the context of that renegotiation to ensure there is mandatory jurisdiction to deal with such matters?
I agree the basic treaties must be examined to see how we can invoke mandatory jurisdiction. Apart from our view that the complex should not proceed, we continuously raise the matter of an inspectorate as the minimum proposal. I found it incongruous that when the Council of Energy Ministers considered how to make nuclear stations in Central and Eastern Europe safer, they did not have the ability to provide an inspectorate service to give confidence about the state of play of nuclear stations in the European Union. Successive Ministers have consistently made that case at Energy Council meetings and we will continue to do so. Any support we receive from Members in that regard will be welcomed. Given the restraints imposed, the House is united in its effort to deal with this problem.
Appreciating the Minister's difficulty because of the absence of his file, are the proposed recommendations to the Paris Commission based on the submission by Greenpeace which calls for the exercising of the non-reprocessing option of spent nuclear fuel?
In the absence of the file I cannot confirm that position precisely. The Department has worked closely with Irish representatives of Greenpeace and we will continue to do so. The assistance we receive from that quarter is welcome. There is agreement on this matter across the political spectrum. The difficulties under which my Department has to operate in relation to those matters is not fully appreciated by those who share a genuine concern, as do the Members, about how we can resolve the matter to the public's satisfaction. I undertake to correspond with the Deputy and others who are interested in the items we propose to raise at that meeting.
