Vol. 470 No. 6
96 Mr. D. Ahern asked the Minister for Transport, Energy and Communications if he has requested the British authorities and BNFL to notify his Department immediately the Sellafield authorities request increased authorisation for a radioactive discharge from the plant; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19607/96]
Following recent media reports that British Nuclear Fuels Plc. was applying for an increase in Sellafield's discharge authorisation limits, officials within my Department pursued the matter with the relevant UK authorities. As part of these inquiries I requested that in the event the UK authorities receive an application for an increase in site discharge authorisations copies of such applications be made available to my Department. I assure the Deputy that the situation regarding discharge authorisation limits at Sellafield continues to be monitored closely.
97 Mr. D. Ahern asked the Minister for Transport, Energy and Communications if his attention has been drawn to an investigation carried out by a leading British scientist, Mr. Peter Taylor, on highly active storage tanks at Sellafield; the direct action, if any, he proposes to take in this regard; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [19608/96]
Recently, at a meeting held in my office with Mr. Peter Taylor and representatives of the UK Nuclear-Free Local Authorities, a presentation was made by Mr. Taylor concerning the safety of waste storage tanks at Sellafield. Mr. Taylor took the opportunity to outline his concerns as identified in his report entitled "Consequence Analysis of a catastrophic failure of highly active liquid waste tanks serving the THORP and Magnox Nuclear Fuel Reprocessing Plants at Sellafield".
The Deputy may also wish to know that in a report entitled "Safety of the Storage of Liquid High-Level Waste at BNFL Sellafield" the UK's Nuclear Installations Inspectorate have recommended the speedy conversion of this liquid waste to a safer vitrified (glass) form. This matter was also raised at a meeting with UK officials in Dublin. My Department requested greater and speedier vitrification of the high-level waste products in the interests of nuclear safety and radiation protection. The UK authorities have indicated that another vitrification plant to transform the waste into glass form would be ready by the year 2000 to reduce the backlog of stocks of this liquid waste.
As I have said on many occasions, as part of the ongoing reassessment of the possibilities for legal action against Sellafield, all relevant information is being made available to the Attorney General for his consideration.
