Dáil Éireann debate -
Tuesday, 28 May 1996

Vol. 466 No. 1

Written Answers. - Sellafield Nuclear Incident.

Trevor Sargent

Question:

233 Mr. Sargent asked the Minister for Transport, Energy and Communications the information the Government has received from the British authorities in relation to an incident in Reactor 3 at Calder Hall on the Sellafield nuclear site, which necessitated its temporary shutdown; and the representations, if any, the Government has made to Britain in respect of this incident. [10888/96]

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

I presume the Deputy is referring to an on-site incident that occurred on 4 May 1996 at the Calder Hall power station in connection with reactor number Two's annual maintenance shutdown programme. I have been informed that instrumentation detected a fault in equipment while the reactor was being prepared for a return to power. Following tests the reactor was permitted to return to power. This particular equipment failure was below scale on the International Nuclear Events Scale (INES).

During the reactor's return to power it was discovered that one connection on the reactor pile cap was not properly sealed. All the safety precautions worked and the reactor was shut down and depressurised. After repairs were made the reactor was returned to power.

Based on the information received, the RPII advised me that the incident had no radiological or health implications for Ireland and there was no release of radioactivity into the environment. The incident was formally rated as a level one on the International Nuclear Events Scale (INES), i.e., an anomaly. I do not consider that it is necessary to seek further information from the UK about this incident.

While the incident in itself was of no radiological or environmental significance to Ireland, I am always concerned about the continuing problem of operational incidents in the UK's nuclear industry, particularly Sellafield. My concerns have recently been conveyed to the UK authorities on this matter.