The Government has taken, and will continue to take, a proactive role in campaigning against reprocessing operations at Sellafield. An Agreed Programme for Government states 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 an important initiative in pursuit of this policy objective through its separate legal actions, under the OSPAR convention and the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea or UNCLOS, regarding the Sellafield MOX plant. These actions are proceeding on schedule and are challenging operations at the Sellafield MOX plant on economic, legal, environmental and safety grounds. As regards 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.
In addition, the Government has developed a strong and constructive campaign against nuclear energy in general, and against activities at Sellafield in particular, that focuses clearly on the threat to Ireland from these activities based on genuine concerns regarding safety, security and sustainability.