Dáil Éireann debate -
Thursday, 9 Oct 1997

Vol. 481 No. 3

Adjournment Debate. - Radioactive Substance on Flight.

Mr. Stagg

I thank the Chair for allowing me raise this matter and I also thank the Minister of State, Deputy Jacob, for coming into the House to deal with it.

This week is the 40th anniversary of the nuclear disaster at Windscale and it is appropriate that Ireland restates its non-nuclear status and renews its dedication to the closure of the THORP nuclear complex at Sellafield and also the closure of the aging Magnox reactors which are now well past their sell-by date. Ireland should do this not only because of its objection to the nuclear power and arms industries but because of the real and measurable transboundary consequences for the health and wellbeing of the Irish people, with new evidence on this coming to hand this week.

What do we get from the Government on this anniversary week of the Windscale disaster? First, the Government and the Minister refused to re-establish the ministerial committee on Sellafield or bring together the expert group from all concerned Departments set up by the previous Government which gave a focus and a clear agenda to Government actions concerning the nuclear threat. Second, the Government decided to renege on its firm commitment to fully fund the legal case being taken by the Dundalk residents against British Nuclear Fuels and offered a paltry sum in final and total settlement which would not cover even one item of the required research.

I have sincere sympathy for the Minister of State who has been saddled with the implementation of this betrayal of the people of Dundalk. This inaction by the Government on the anniversary of Windscale will send a clear signal to the

British authorities and British Nuclear Fuels that Howlin and Stagg are no longer in office and that their old friends in Fianna Fáil will not cause them any trouble — they certainly never caused them any trouble before.

To crown this disastrous week for Ireland in terms of nuclear matter, there was a nuclear incident at Dublin Airport yesterday. Will the Minister outline the form and nature of the material involved, its place of origin, destination and purpose, if the authorities became alarmed and the action taken by them? Will he agree that such highly dangerous and volatile material should be surface transported only given the danger of damage to large numbers of people in the event of an air accident? In light of the latter point, will he review the safety regime of such transport and limit the entry to Ireland of nuclear materials to the type required for medical purposes only?

Will the Minister outline his position on the over-flying of Ireland by planes carrying nuclear material or stopping over with such material? Will he put in train the mechanism to file a difference with the ICAO technical instructions which would prevent the carriage of nuclear materials in our airspace and give Ireland a legal basis for such desirable action? Other countries have already done this. I am sure the Minister agrees that, despite the best safety regulations and the most careful regime, as long as human beings are involved accidents will occur. When nuclear materials are involved such accidents can have disastrous consequences. The only way to ensure safety from such accidents is to disallow transport of the material into and across the country.

Mr. Jacob

I thank Deputy Stagg for giving me the opportunity to clarify for the House the position regarding the consignment in question.

The carriage by air of dangerous goods, including radioactive materials, is governed by regulations laid down by the International Civil Aviation Organisation. Under ICAO regulations, consignments by air of such goods must be packed, labelled, stored and loaded in accordance with the ICAO technical instructions. These regulations have been adopted by all airlines and by national aviation authorities, including the Irish Aviation Authority which is responsible for regulating the safety of aviation in Ireland. This includes regulation of the carriage by air of dangerous goods in Irish airspace. Aer Lingus is approved in accordance with international standards set down by the ICAO for the purpose of carrying dangerous goods, including radioactive materials in limited quantities.

On yesterday's incident, I understand that in the unloading of freight at Dublin Airport from an Aer Lingus flight from Paris a package containing a technetium-99m generator was damaged. As a result transit passengers to Cork were brought to the airport terminal to wait for the availability of another aircraft to bring them to their destination. On being notified of the incident an inspector from the Radiological Protection Institute of Ireland immediately visited the site. The inspector carried out careful measurements of the package and was satisfied that the damage was only to the container and there was no damage to the device. It was also determined that there was no radiation contamination of the area arising from the incident. The incident occurred when the package containing the generator was placed on the flat area of the belt loader. Movement of the loader brought it into contact with the package which was damaged. The packaging of the technetium generator complies with the regulations laid down by the International Atomic Energy Agency.

Aer Lingus has carried radioactive materials on many of the scheduled services on its network of routes. The overwhelming majority of such consignments have very low radioactivity and are used by hospitals in the treatment of cancer and other such illnesses. At present 19 hospitals are licensed to use technetium generators which are used to produce technetium-99m, which is the most widely used radionuclide in nuclear medicine examinations. It is used in these hospitals in the diagnosis of disease by enabling the imaging of internal organs. The transport of such materials is a vital element in the medical treatment of some of the illnesses to which I referred.

There are strict regulations governing the transport of radioactive materials and the clearly defined and tested packaging required. I understand from Aer Lingus that there has been no incident of spillage of radioactive materials while they were being processed or handled by Aer Lingus. Yesterday's incident demonstrated the benefit of the regulations because while the packaging was affected during the unloading of the shipment from the aircraft the damage only occurred to the outer packaging. The inner packaging, which contained the radioactive material, was intact, perfectly safe and undamaged. I am satisfied that the shipper, the airline, the airport authority and the RPII reacted promptly to this incident in accordance with procedures.

Any such incident will generate public concern and the RPII is at present awaiting a full report from Aer Lingus and the consignee. However, I would be disturbed if the incident were to cause undue alarm to such an extent that demands were made to prohibit the transport of such cargo. Such a response would be excessive in respect of material which is of such importance to medical procedures here. I will follow up the matter with the RPII and the IAA when consideration of the incident by both bodies has been completed.

Mr. Stagg

I thank the Minister of State for his reply.