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Dáil Éireann debate -
Thursday, 25 Oct 2001

Vol. 543 No. 1

Written Answers. - Nuclear Plants.

Richard Bruton

Question:

110 Mr. R. Bruton asked the Minister for Public Enterprise the initiatives taken here under international conventions or agreements to seek the closure of Sellafield; the grounds on which, in each case, the initiative was taken; and the outcome of the initiative. [25694/01]

Consideration of legal means to bring about the closure of Sellafield, in its entirety, has been on the agenda of Government for very many years. We now have, for the first time, the possibility of preventing the commissioning of a new plant at Sellafield – the MOX plant.

Ireland is a contracting party to a number of international conventions and agreements which deal with aspects of nuclear energy and the operation of nuclear installations. While it has been the Government's stated aim to seek the closure of Sellafield, the international conventions and agreements in question do not provide mechanisms for seeking the closure of nuclear installations. Rather, they focus on the issues of protection of the environment and operational safety.

Ireland has always sought to avail of these conventions to ensure that operations at nuclear facilities, such as Sellafield, are closely monitored, with a view to ensuring the highest safety standards of operation and to addressing the environmental and health concerns that we have about such facilities.

As the Deputy is aware, the Government decided to initiate a case against the UK under the OSPAR Convention last May, on grounds of justification of the proposed Sellafield mixed oxide – MOX – plant and, secondly, on freedom of access to information regarding the MOX plant.

The Government's view is that the information made available does not provide a basis for concluding that the MOX plant is justified within the meaning of EU Directive 80/836/EURATOM as amended by Directive 84/467. This directive requires that any activity involving exposure to radiation shall be justified in advance by the net benefits it produces. Furthermore, the Government is also considering legal actions at European Court level and under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.

As well as the OSPAR Convention and EU directives, Ireland is also a contracting party to the Convention on Nuclear Safety and the Joint Convention on the Safety of Spent Fuel Management and on the Safety of Radioactive Waste Management. Both of these conventions will have review meetings in the coming months, and Ireland will be seeking to ensure that all the provisions in these conventions are fully applied to Sellafield.

The Government remains resolved to remove the threat to Ireland posed by the Sellafield plant. The cessation of all activities at Sellafield remains a priority for the Government and we will pursue every possible means, diplomatic and legal, to achieve this objective.

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