Trevor Sargent
Question:197 Mr. Sargent asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government the Government's current efforts to seek closure of the Sellafield nuclear plant. [12515/03]
Vol. 566 No. 2
197 Mr. Sargent asked the Minister for the Environment and Local Government the Government's current efforts to seek closure of the Sellafield nuclear plant. [12515/03]
The Irish Government will continue to take a proactive role in opposing reprocessing operations at Sellafield. An Agreed Programme for Government has stated that we regard the continued existence of Sellafield as an unacceptable threat to Ireland; that it should be closed, and that we will use every diplomatic and legal route available to us to work towards the removal of this threat.
The Government has taken a demonstrable initiative in pursuit of this policy objective through its separate legal actions, in relation to the Sellafield MOX plant under the OSPAR Convention and the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, UNCLOS. These actions are proceeding on schedule and are challenging operations at the Sellafield MOX plant on economic, legal, environmental and safety grounds.
In relation to the OSPAR case, oral hearings took place before the Permanent Court of Arbitration in the Hague in October 2002 and a determination in the case is awaited. Oral hearings in respect of the UNCLOS case are expected to take place over three weeks beginning on 10 June 2003.