Dáil Éireann debate -
Wednesday, 20 Sep 1995

Vol. 455 No. 8

Adjournment Debate. - Problems in British Nuclear Industry.

Mr. E. Ryan

The continuing problems in the British nuclear industry are a source of major concern to all Irish people. When the Government came into office it told us it was so concerned about this issue that it would set up a committee to deal with it. However, we are not too sure who is on the committee or who is leading it as both the Minister for the Environment, Deputy Howlin, and the Minister of State, Deputy Gilmore, are claiming it. All I know is that it has no ideas, plans or strategy. We have been told that the matter has been referred to the Attorney General. The Minister of State, Deputy Gilmore, told us he had initiated a diplomatic offensive. This offensive is so diplomatic nobody has heard about it and nothing has happened. That is the record of the Government on this issue.

I welcome the statement by the Minister that letters have been sent to their counterparts in the British Government. I am not saying the Government is not concerned about this issue but despite its statement on taking up office, that it intended to tackle it immediately and set out a strategy, absolutely nothing has been done to date. Stronger action needs to be taken and the issue needs to be raised at the highest level in the British Government. It is unacceptable that the British nuclear industry should try to cover up accidents, as has been revealed in the past few weeks. The Government is obliged to convey the fears of Irish people on this issue to the British Government but it does not seem to have done this. Maybe it has done so and the Minister may be more open in his reply than has been the case to date.

I wish to raise the question of the Wylfa nuclear plant in Wales. This plant is 25 years old. It is an ageing Magnox reactor, and one of the differences between it and other Magnox reactors is that the pressure vessel is made of concrete. Nuclear Electric, the operator of the plant, is saying it wishes to extend the life of this plant to run for over 30 years. I have it on good scientific basis that there is no way to safely extend the life of such a plant, but that is what the company intends to do.

When the British Government said it was going to privatise the nuclear industry, I raised the matter in the House. I was particularly concerned that we did not protest when Mr. Michael Heseltine said in the House of Commons that the safety record of the British nuclear industry was second to none and an example of the world. I asked the Government to protest about that statement but it did not do so and Mr. Heseltine got away with it.

The Government seems unaware that when the privatisation takes place and the name on the licence changes there must be a public consultation period. Between now and 4 October the Government must inform the nuclear inspectorate that it intends to object to a new licence. In that way we can stop the plant getting a new licence and thereby close it.

Mr. Stagg

Unfortunately that is wrong.

Mr. E. Ryan

I have checked it twice, and it is not wrong. Once the name on the licence changes there is a public consultation process in which our Government could become involved. The Government must do that and must raise this at the very highest level with the British Government. The Government does not seem to have done that. I asked the Taoiseach about it this morning and he did not answer the question. There seems to have been no consultation with the British Government except through letters. This is a very serious issue and it should be raised at the very highest level. I will not say the Government is hiding behind the committee because that would be inconsistent of this side of the House, but the Government is getting the same advice we got when we were in Government. When he was Minister, my colleague, Deputy Cowen, was told that it was very difficult to make a case that would stand up. That is what the Minister has been told. He did not believe it when we were in Government. Now his colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy Gilmore, believes it because he has been told it clearly, although he did not believe it nine months ago when he was telling us all what he would do. We should work together on this. I do not believe we cannot do it. It was confirmed this afternoon that 4 October is the date if we want to be in on the consultation process and thereby object to the extension of a licence for this plant.

Minister of State at the Department of Transport, Energy and Communications (Mr. Stagg)

It is traditional to thank a Deputy for raising a matter in the House and I genuinely thank Deputy Ryan for raising this matter. I regret that he availed of the opportunity to be partisan and used this opportunity for cheap point-scoring. This issue is much too important for that. It is a matter for consensus and unity on this side of the Irish Sea.

Last week in a UK court, Nuclear Electric, the Operator of the Wylfa Magnox nuclear power station in Anglesea, Wales was fined £250,000 and costs for waiting nine hours before shutting down a damaged reactor. To put that fine in context, they made profits of £1.3 billion last year. The company pleaded guilty to four charges under the UK's Health and Safety at Work Act following an incident in July 1993 when part of a refuelling crane fell into the nuclear reactor.

The judge involved said he was satisfied that there had been no danger of a meltdown such as happened at Five Mile Island and Chernobyl. The worst possibility was the melting of Magnox fuel cranes in one of the reactor's 6,000 fuel channels, a problem that would have been confined to that channel. Notwithstanding the judge's opinion, it is my view that Britain's chief nuclear installations inspector in his tough condemnation of the Wylfa operators placed a huge question mark over the continuing statements emanating from the UK's nuclear industry about its safety culture. On hearing of the case, I was deeply disturbed at the extent and seriousness of the incident.

In this case there was a blatant failure to meet the high safety standards required in such a hazardous industry with the potential for an accident with transboundary consequences. The chief nuclear installations inspector in the recent court case revealed a situation whereby a significant debris source was confirmed as not being in its only safe location. Furthermore, it then took the management several hours to decide to shut down the reactor. This represents a failure of Nuclear Electric's safety policies and it serves to highlight that while the regulations are there to prevent such accidents, they may not always be adhered to.

This incident, described by the chief inspector as the most serious during his tenure, raises wider concerns about attitudes to safety in the UK nuclear industry ahead of its proposed privatisation next summer. The nuclear review and privatisation proposals presented in the White Paper, "The Prospects for Nuclear Power in the UK", place great emphasis on the importance of safety, but the Wylfa incident and a more recent one at Dungeness, to which I will refer later, serve to fuel the Government's continuing fears about the safety standards of the British nuclear industry. These incidents show that commercial considerations can outweigh safety considerations in the industry and that commercial pressures might become greater after privatisation.

The seriousness of the Wylfa incident should not be understated, and it is clear that there was a potential significant risk to the health and safety of the Irish public and to the Irish environment. Based on this, I have written in the strongest terms to the UK Minister for Energy, Mr. Tim Eggar, and to the Secretary of State for the Environment, Mr. John Gummer, expressing grave concern about the safety and reliability of the ageing Magnox nuclear reactors and on the adequacy of safety in the UK's nuclear industry generally. Some of these reactors were built as far back as 1956 and are clearly not as reliable as more modern reactors.

In addition, the Attorney General has been asked to examine the scope for taking action under the EURATOM Treaty in respect of the Wylfa incident.

I make no apology for using the expertise of the Attorney General's office to advise me, as Minister, on what legal action I can take.

Mr. E. Ryan

I am not asking the Minister to apologise.

Mr. Stagg

The Deputy was derogatory about the involvement of the Attorney General and the fact that that was all that was happening. We must get advice before we can take legal action and I am sure the Deputy is more fully aware of that than I, an ordinary layman.

Mr. E. Ryan

Nine months.

Mr. Stagg

I have examined all possible avenues that would permit us to launch a formal appeal against the licensing of Wylfa nuclear power station with the UK nuclear inspectorate.

Mr. E. Ryan

The Minister is wrong in that.

Mr. Stagg

The onus for granting operating licences to nuclear power stations lies with the nuclear installations inspectorate of the UK's Health and Safety Executive, which require that the strict safety standards are met before a licence may be renewed. The older Magnox reactors, like Wylfa, receive a licence renewal every two years, upon which the NII require that the station be shut down and subject to full examination. The inspectorate then set out the safety requirements that a station must fulfil in order to be allowed to operate again. There is no formal machinery available for public involvement in the renewal of a licence. However, I requested that the UK Government should immediately phase out all the existing Magnox reactors in the interest of nuclear safety, radiation protection and for avoidance of a similar incident. I have sought an immediate review by the nuclear installations inspectorate of the closure and decommissioning strategies of the nuclear companies and stressed that decisions on the defuelling and shut down of individual stations, particularly those Magnox stations at Sellafield and Wylfa, should be taken as soon as possible.

On a more general level, the Ministerial Task Force on Sellafield and the Irish Sea is examining all possible avenues open to the Government to reduce the serious threat by the UK's nuclear industry.

The Deputy will be aware that Nuclear Electric has shut down another Magnox reactor at Dungeness in Kent in south-east England on 6 September in order to carry out precautionary checks following the discovery of some external damage to one of the metal standpipes which form part of the fuelling system.

I was informed yesterday that the UK's Health and Safety Executive's nuclear installations inspectorate completed its preliminary investigations into the facts pertaining to this particular event. It is satisfied with Nuclear Electric's response to the discovery of the problem. Nuclear Electric is currently producing a safety case to justify the restarting of the reactor. This is expected to be submitted to the nuclear installations inspectorate around the end of September. Nuclear Electric will require the nuclear installations inspectorate's acceptance of the case before the reactor can be restarted. It is likely to be several weeks before this can happen because of the need to undertake more detailed inspection work and to assess the safety case. My Department has sought a full report on the Dungeness incident.

Nuclear safety is a matter of concern to all Irish people and is one issue about which there is consensus among all political parties here. That consensus ought to be reflected in the various parties cooperating in what is, after all, a national attempt to remove the threat imposed on the Irish people by the UK's nuclear industry.