Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 17 January 2024
53. Deputy Matt Carthy asked the Minister for the Environment, Climate and Communications if he will report on the most recent visit of officials from his Department and the Environmental Protection Agency to the Sellafield nuclear facility; their findings; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [56807/23]
View answerOfficials from my Department and from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) most recently visited the Sellafield site in July 2023. A similar visit took place in July 2022 and another is planned for later this year. These visits are an important opportunity for my officials and the EPA to see at first hand the decommissioning operations now underway at the various individual facilities at Sellafield following the ending of power generation activities in 2003, and nuclear fuel reprocessing in 2022.
I and my Department want to see that the current levels of progress being made on the site on the various projects dealing with the legacy issues is maintained. I also want to ensure that there is a continued commitment, financial and otherwise, by the UK Government to this work.
To ensure Ireland's input into this process, on-going engagement at a technical and regulatory level through the UK Ireland Contact Group on Radiological Matters allows Ireland unprecedented access to documentation, personnel and reports about the Sellafield facility.
