I thank the Ceann Comhairle for allowing me to raise this urgent matter. I also thank the Minister of State, Deputy Gilmore, for attending once more for a matter on the Adjournment. I seem to drag him in quite often.
Adjournment Debate. - Shipment of Irradiated Nuclear Fuels.
I must stop doing it. I am giving the Deputy bad habits.
Over the years, all sides have complained bitterly about the nuclear industry on the west coast of Britain. Given that the THORP station will soon be on stream, everybody on this island is worried about the increased transportation of spent nuclear fuel, as admitted by BNFL, on the Irish Sea, one of the busiest marine routes in the world.
I received a call late on Saturday night from a local person who had been in contact with a Scottish colleague involved in CND. People in Scotland were very worried about the transportation which took place that night during the hours of darkness. The ship left Douneray and headed out to sea towards its apparent destination in Sellafield. I understand the ship, European Sheerwater, is owned by BNFL although there may be some doubt in that regard. It was a large ship, approximately 200 feet in length, and its sole cargo was two small flasks containing approximately eight litres of plutonium nitrate, which is extremely volatile and dangerous if damaged in any way.
As a result of this call, I immediately contacted the duty officer in the Department of Foreign Affairs. He took my points on board and I asked for a response on Monday. I saw fit to ring the Department earlier to find out the exact position because I received further contact from people in the locality between Saturday night and Monday morning who were concerned about this issue. I was informed by an official in the Department of Foreign Affairs that, through the Department of the Marine, they had investigated this matter. Perhaps the Minister could clarify this point but it appears that no Department or agency on this side of the Irish Sea was informed about this transportation. The Minister of State is nodding and it is totally unacceptable that there was no notification.
Communiqués in relation to the peace process and better relationships are issued after meetings of the British-Irish Inter-Parliamentary Body. However, Britain could start having better relations with its neighbour in this area by at least telling us the position. We do not want such material travelling on the Irish Sea but if it is to happen without our consent, we should at least be told and warned about it. I understand the code of practice only involves notifying the local coast guard. They maintain it is none of our business because it does not enter out territorial waters and remains within its territorial waters. I do not accept this point because if a major accident involving such a vessel occurred, it would have implications for everybody on each side of the Irish Sea.
The Minister of State and his colleagues made great play in the programme, A Government of Renewal, of the fact that they intended to do everything possible in relation to this subject. It continues to amaze me that some contact was not made with the British authorities to find out why we were not informed of this matter.
This is one of many such transportations; I understand there was another last week involving a similar load. One worrying aspect is that this ship sailed in extremely inclement weather conditions; force nine to ten southwesterly winds were imminent. It was very windy last weekend and conditions at sea apparently caused the ship to be delayed for almost 12 hours. It finally docked today at approximately 1 p.m. in an area near Sellafield. The material was then transported by road under armed guard to Sellafield.
This all took place without our knowledge. The Minister of State will say his Department is raising this matter at all types of fora and that we are trying to secure agreement on a code of practice in relation to the transportation of such material in the world's seas. However, that is not good enough and the same applied in relation to Wylfa and other incidents during the Minister of State's stewardship. This side has called on the Minister and the Government to call in the British Ambassador and say it is not good enough. It is high time that was done. There is a suspicion, which is long held, that we are pussy footing with the British in this area because of the peace process. I do not accept that and I did not accept it when this side was in power. I do not accept it now and we should demand that the British Ambassador comes in and explains why this is happening without our consent.
I fully share the Deputy's concerns in this matter. The Deputy is aware of the Government's strong opposition to the reprocessing facility at Sellafield. Our concerns about the shipment of spent nuclear fuel and plutonium through the Irish Sea are fundamental. The implications of an accident or collision need no spelling out to this House.
Such shipments are governed by the requirements of the International Maritime Organisation Code on the Safe Carriage of Irradiated Nuclear Fuels, known as the INF Code. Before direct shipments can begin these requirements must be met and registered as such with the United Kingdom's Marine Safety Agency. However, the requirements themselves are deficient and I wish to inform the Deputy and the House of the steps which I am undertaking to have them changed.
The INF Code, drawn up jointly by the International Maritime Organisation (IMO), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) requires that the ships used be of a special type and construction, in full compliance with the Safety of Life at Sea Convention, 1974, as amended, and the International Maritime Dangerous Goods Code of that Convention and meet strict requirements as regards damnage stability, fire protection, temperature control of cargo spaces, radiological protection equipment and management, training and shipboard emergency plans etc. Each ship must hold a document from its Flag Administration indicating full compliance with all requirements. The IMO adopted the code at its 18th Assembly in November 1993.
The following deficiencies have been identified in the code relating to the handling of the most hazardous of all dangerous cargoes transported by sea. There is no route planning, or notification of or consultation with coastal and island states en route on the movement of vessels carrying nuclear cargoes. Deputy Ahern is right. Under the existing international maritime organisation code there is no requirement, unfortunately, on states or the shippers concerned to notify bordering coastal states like ours when a shipment of this type is passing by our seas. There is no restriction or exclusion of certain routes. I would like to see an exclusion of the Irish Sea as a route on which this type of cargo can be carried.
There is no emergency response preparedness and reaction to emergencies should they arise along the route, there is lack of data on the actual cargoes being carried, lack of hazard assessment of nuclear cargoes or proper evaluation of the flasks used in transport. There is a lack of salvage equipment capable of retrieving either ship or nuclear cargo in the event of an accident occurring, particularly if the ship were to sink in deep water. There is no means of locating nuclear cargoes which might be lost from the ship, or the ship itself, in the event of an accident and no liability regime for compensatory damages in the event of an incident involving nuclear cargoes or leakage therefrom. These issues are complementary to the code and I am giving them my full attention at present.
I am actively seeking to have some, if not all, these deficiencies remedied as early as possible and already my Department has instituted steps to have them looked at through the mechanism of IMO which is the international body responsible for such matters. There is a meeting of IMO next month which I propose to attend to advance the matter and I hope to meet IMO's Secretary-General in advance of the meeting to the same end.
I am also seeking provisions for improved reporting arrangements for vessels transiting the territorial waters of EU member states generally and in particular I am seeking amendments of the HAZMAT Directive which governs the movement by ship of hazardous materials in European waters. As the Deputy knows, it is Government policy not to admit entry to an Irish port of any vessel carrying nuclear materials and in line with that policy I decided earlier this year to refuse entry to Dublin port of a vessel carrying nuclear materials.
I agree with Deputy Ahern that there is agreement across the floor on this issue generally but I regret that he introduced a partisan note at the end of his contribution. I do not want to respond in kind to that other than to say that I wish that more work had been done by previous administrations in amending the international maritime organisation codes dealing with the transportation of these type of shipments, and that I did not have to start virtually from scratch on taking up office on this issue.