Written Answers. - Nuclear Safety.
Bernard Allen
Question:
111
Mr. Allen
asked the
Minister for Public Enterprise
the discussions, if any, she has had with her British counterpart regarding the falsification of plutonium data at British nuclear fuels Sellafield plant, particularly in view of the statement made by the British Secretary of State for Trade and Industry that the events at Sellafield showed a fundamental flaw in the management of BNFL which has to change.
[6240/00]
A report of the findings of an investigation carried out by the UK's Nuclear Installations Inspectorate into the falsification of MOX fuel pellet quality assurance data at the BNFL MOX Demonstration Facility at Sellafield was published on 18 February 2000 by the NII.
The MDF has been closed since revelations about the falsified data emerged in September last from which time the Radiological Protection Institute of Ireland has, at my request, been maintaining contact with the NII.
The NII report concludes that systematic management failure and significant shortcomings in the suitability of the MDF plant and safety culture contributed to the falsification of data. The report requires that the MDF plant will remain shut down until key recommendations in the report relating to rectification of quality checking processes and improvement of plant management and operations to bring about the required safety culture at the plant are implemented by BNFL to the NII's satisfaction.
The falsification of quality assurance data represents a serious indictment of safety standards at Sellafield. This report, along with two other reports on Sellafield, also published on the same date, raises serious question marks about the control and supervision of the plant and is a matter of the utmost concern to the Irish Government.
Immediately following the release of these reports, I instructed the RPII to meet the NII chief inspector. This meeting took place last week. I also wrote to the UK Ministers, M. Helen Liddell, whose Department oversees the NII, and Mr. Michael Meacher, expressing the Government's strong concerns about the findings of these reports and requesting that they give careful consideration to the suspension of operations at Sellafield, at least until the shortcomings at Sellafield are addressed. I also informed them that the onus is on the UK Government to demonstrate that its regulatory systems are adequate to overcome these problems and sought assurances that the risk to Ireland would be minimised. I have also sought an urgent meeting with Mini ster Liddell which I expect will take place as soon as she returns from the United States. I am awaiting a response to my letters.
Even though the MDF plant is closed and the NII has assured the RPII that the current operations at the site are safe, the fact remains that the NII, in its report on the control and supervision of operations at the Sellafield site, has questioned the safety standards at the Sellafield plant and has given BNFL two months to produce a programme for responding to the safety recommendations in the report. I will, therefore, be pressing UK Minister Liddell, in the strongest possible terms, for a suspension of operations at Sellafield at least until the safety deficiencies at the plant are addressed. In the meantime, I have asked the Attorney General's office to examine the NII reports to see if there are any grounds for taking legal action against BNFL. If I believe following the advice of the Attorney General that there is non-compliance with the provisions of international law, I will not hesitate to undertake appropriate litigation.
