Written Answers. - Irish Involvement in Euratom.
Tony Gregory
Question:
179
Mr. Gregory
asked the
Minister for Public Enterprise
the involvement of Ireland in Euratom; the reasons for our involvement; if this is contrary to the Government's position regarding Sellafield; and if she will make a statement on the matter.
[25249/01]
Ireland's involvement in Euratom stems from our membership of the European Union. Euratom was established in 1957 by one of the treaties of Rome. When Ireland joined the European Economic Community, as it then was, this country also acceded to the Euratom Treaty.
The policy of successive Irish Governments has long been firmly opposed to nuclear energy because of the safety and environmental risks it poses. The Government's nuclear policy places a heavy emphasis on nuclear safety and on radiological protection. While recognising that certain European countries, including Britain, have retained nuclear energy as an option for power generation, and while one of the tasks of Eura-
tom is to promote the establishment and growth of nuclear industries in the Community, Ireland has remained vehemently opposed to nuclear energy. I do not accept that Ireland's membership of Euratom is contrary to the Government's position regarding Sellafield. The Government's concerns about Sellafield have informed Ireland's priorities within Euratom, which have been to steer the Euratom programme of activities towards nuclear safety and radiological protection, and the implementation of the non-proliferation treaty and protocols. Euratom has been active in both of these areas. The Euratom treaty encompasses, in Chapter III, some important provisions in the area of health and safety. For example, Article 30 provides for basic safety standards, which must be laid down within the community for the protection of the health of the general public and workers against the dangers of ionising radiation. This article led to the Euratom Directive 96/29, major legislation that sets out new revised standards of safety in this field, and was in turn transposed into Irish law by S.I. 125 of 2000, the Radiological Protection Act, 1991 (Ionising Radiation) Order, 2000.
Euratom is a contracting party to the 1998 additional protocol to the 1977 agreement on the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons between the non-nuclear weapons states of Euratom, including Ireland, Euratom itself and the International Atomic Energy Agency.
Another example of the work of Euratom is a recent report, Nuclear Safety in the Context of Enlargement, produced in June 2001 by a Euratom working party which sought to define the objective of a high level of nuclear safety in the candidate countries wishing to accede to the EU. Ireland took an active part in the deliberations leading to this report. The Euratom treaty contains other provisions, for example, relating to the disposal of radioactive waste and nuclear safeguards, which are designed to give assurance that nuclear plants within the Community are operated to the highest possible standards of safety and security. The Government will continue to work through the various Euratom groups to ensure, in as far as the treaty allows, that Euratom's focus is on nuclear safety rather than nuclear promotion.
