Dáil Éireann debate -
Tuesday, 18 Jun 2002

Vol. 553 No. 2

Adjournment Debate. - Transportation of MOX Fuel.

Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin

I thank the Minister for attending.

There is an urgent need for the Minister for Foreign Affairs to protest to the British Govern ment and to strongly oppose the shipping, by way of the Irish Sea, of a cargo of reprocessed MOX fuel in two ships from Japan in the coming months. The grave nature of this development cannot be underestimated. I am grateful for the opportunity to raise this issue in the Dáil by way of matter on the Adjournment. I urge the Minister and the Government to consider other ways in which this House can express our unanimous rejection of this latest outrage from British Nuclear Fuels and the British Government. We should create this opportunity before the summer recess.

The seeds of this debacle were sown three years ago. The highly dangerous and radioactive MOX fuel in question was transported from Sellafield to Japan in 1999. Upon its arrival in the Far East, staff at BNFL admitted they had faked the materials safety records. The Japanese Minister for Trade and Industry described the affair as deplorable and said "Confidence in BNFL has been destroyed." The end result was that the Japanese authorities ordered the British authorities to take back the deadly cargo. I would like to emphasise that this is a deadly cargo. It contains enough plutonium to create 50 nuclear bombs. Governments are protesting all along this cargo's likely route on its 18,000 mile journey from the port of Takahama to Barrow in Furness. The two vessels carrying the nuclear cargo, the Pacific Pintail and the Pacific Teal have been armed but will not have an armed escort. The danger of attack is obvious.

The British Government has argued quite absurdly and outrageously that this shipment has nothing to do with operations at the MOX plant at Sellafield. This latest lie is an attempt by the British Government to slip out of its legal commitment under the United Nations International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea made last November in Hamburg. However, the return of the MOX fuel is one of five conditions set by the Japanese Government and Electrical Utilities for new MOX contracts with Britain. This deadly transport is, therefore, vital for the future of British Nuclear Fuels and if successful could lead to tens of thousands of kilos of plutonium being shipped out of Sellafield over the next ten to 20 years.

This shipment must be stopped not only for its own sake but in order to thwart the future of the MOX plant which the Irish Government and people have rejected. This is an act of international piracy and sabotage by the British Government and we in this House must vehemently and unanimously oppose it. We must join with other Governments around the world to stop what is a grave danger and what will be but the herald of even greater dangers to come.

I would like to pose a couple of questions. Why in the face of the unanimous opposition of the Irish people as represented by the Irish Government and significant opposition in Britain did BNFL proceed with its MOX plant? Is it not the case that the plant processes nuclear fuel from all over the world thus creating greater traffic of this material on the Irish Sea? Why did BNFL falsify its quality control standards for MOX fuel leading to the sending back of this cargo of fuel from Japan? How can anyone trust BNFL when a State like Japan, which uses nuclear power, cannot do so? I strongly urge the Minister and his colleagues in Government to significantly increase their efforts and to join with an ever widening international community in concerted action in opposition to this planned transportation of deadly cargo into Irish waters and all the dangers that presents for us in the immediate future and years to come.

Minister for the Environment and Local Government (Mr. Cullen)

Successive Irish Governments have protested to the British Government about Sellafield and these protests and contacts are well documented in the House. The Government will maintain opposition to the continued operation and any expansion of Sellafield and will continue to pursue its campaign to bring about the closure of the plant.

The shipment of nuclear material to and from Sellafield, which is principally associated with Sellafield reprocessing activities, is among the many concerns of the Government about Sellafield, as is the recently commissioned MOX plant. The Government has strongly and consistently opposed the MOX plant. As the House will be aware, our concerns are now being pursued at a higher level; in this regard, the Government has initiated legal action against the United Kingdom under the OSPAR Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment and under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.

The commissioning of the MOX plant will add further to the multiplicity of operations at Sellafield. It will also result in an increase in the movement of radioactive materials and of plutonium in particular. The shipment of such materials through the Irish Sea represents an unacceptable risk to the environment of Ireland and the health and economic well-being of its population. There is now also the enhanced risk of the shipments being the target of a terrorist attack or the materials being diverted into the hands of terrorists.

The concerns of the Government and the public regarding the use of the Irish Sea for shipments of nuclear materials have been made known on many occasions to the UK. My colleague, the Minister for Communications, the Marine and Natural Resources, Deputy Dermot Ahern, who is primarily responsible for the marine environment and safety at sea, is concerned to ensure that the vessels carrying such cargo do not pass through waters under Irish jurisdiction. Currently there are assurances from the UK authorities that they will not do so. The UK authorities have previously stressed that voyages by such vessels through waters solely under UK jurisdiction are kept to a minimum and are already limited to one or two per year to ensure that the highest possible levels of safety are applied both in terms of the vessels employed and the operational requirements applied to them.

Arrangements are in place with both the UK and France that Ireland will be notified in advance of shipment dates in regard to transport of nuclear materials, the nature of cargoes and all other relevant details. The Department of Communications, the Marine and Natural Resources has also been advised that, in the event that a shipping route involves passage through the territorial waters of any State, the State involved would be notified in advance.

In relation to the possible shipment of nuclear materials in the coming months, the outcome to date of the legal proceedings against the UK, under the 1982 UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, imposed, by order, obligations of co-operation on the UK. This order places on the UK a requirement for the exchange of information and construction of appropriate measures to prevent pollution of the marine environment, pending the hearing of the substantive case by an arbitration tribunal early next year. This tribunal will consider a number of issues that Ireland regards as essential to protecting the marine environment of the Irish Sea, including the increase in the transportation of nuclear materials arising from commissioning of the MOX plant.

The order was an important achievement for Ireland. It requires the UK to co-operate with Ireland to construct measures for a safe environment in the Irish Sea. My Department has continued to press the UK in particular on the shipment of MOX fuel from Japan. Assurances have also been sought that the precautions taken for such a shipment uphold the UK's obligations under the 1980 Convention on the Physical Protection of Nuclear Materials and the various codes of the International Maritime Organisation regarding the shipment of radioactive materials.

I assure the Deputy and the House that we are continuing to monitor developments and are in constant contact with UK authorities on this matter.

The Dáil adjourned at 9.05 p.m. until 10.30 a.m. on Wednesday, 19 June 2002.