Vol. 367 No. 3
asked the Minister for Energy if he has been informed by the British Government of an explosion that took place at Dungeness "A" nuclear power station in Kent on 31 March 1986 which caused a release of radioactive gas; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
17.
asked the Minister for Energy the number of accidents or incidents at British nuclear installations of which the Government have been officially informed by the British authorities in the past 12 months; the progress, if any, which has been made on his proposals that an EC inspectorate should monitor the operation of the Sellafield reprocessing plant; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
27.
asked the Minister for Energy if he will make a statement on the progress to date in having an EC inspectorate appointed to inspect and monitor the safety precautions and regulations applied in regard to the operations in Sellafield; and if agreement has been forthcoming from the British Government for such a course of action.
I propose to take Questions Nos. 16 and 17, and priority Question No. 27 together.
The Deputy is aware that the Attorney General has advised that the EC Commission has competence under the Euratom Treaty to set up an inspection force to examine the safety of nuclear installations. A number of separate discussions with Commissioner Clinton Davis have been held at which the Minister for the Environment, Deputy Boland, TD, the Minister of State at my Department, Deputy E. Collins, TD and I have strongly expressed the Government's view that such an inspection force should be established. This view was also expressed by the Taoiseach to the UK Prime Minister and the matter has been raised at various international fora.
The Government's request for the establishment of an inspection force was formally conveyed to Commissioner Clinton Davis by the Irish Ambassador, Permanent Representative in Brussels on 11 April 1986. The ambassador again wrote to the Commissioner on 15 May indicating that concern in regard to nuclear safety had greatly increased in the wake of the Chernobyl disaster and that this accident reinforced the need for an impartial international inspectorate. The Commissioner replied to the Ambassador on 21 May 1986 acknowledging the formal Irish request for the establishment of a Community Health and Safety Inspection Force under Chapter III of the Euratom Treaty. He indicated, among other things, that Commission officials are looking into the request and that they will be contacting the Attorney General's office to organise a meeting between legal experts to discuss the matter further.
The question of a European inspection force has trans-national implications. Therefore, the Government consider it appropriate that it should be raised with the European Commission in the context of the Euratom Treaty rather than with any individual member state.
On the question of accidents or incidents at British nuclear installations, the UK Government informed the Nuclear Energy Board of 11 accidents or incidents which have occurred since October 1985 at nuclear installations in the UK. The incident at Dungeness on 31 March 1986 was notified.
Does the Minister accept that he does not seem to have got very far in his continuing efforts with the British Government in relation to their consent to the establishment of such an inspectorate?
I do not agree with the Deputy that we have not got very far; it is a matter of judgment. Procedures have been put in place for the matter to be dealt with by the European Commission. We have adopted the correct procedures and we must now await the outcome.
Does the Minister agree that the permission of the British Government will have to be forthcoming before such an inspectorate is set up by the European Commission?
We should concentrate on the processing of our request for the independent inspectorate and it is the Government's intention to ensure that the matter is dealt with as quickly as possible by the European Commission. I believe that, in the wake of the decision by the EC, other matters with regard to the attitude of the British Government in the case of Sellafield or other Governments in Europe in relation to their nuclear installations should be addressed.
Does the Minister agree that before the Commission make a decision the attitude of the British Government will have to be known? Is he now saying he has no indication of what their attitude is likely to be to the establishment of such an inspectorate?
The Deputy is probably as aware as I am of the attitude of the British Government which is that they are taking adequate precautions and safety procedures in this matter. However, as has been stated on many occasions in the House, given the number of incidents which have taken place in Sellafield — only one of the plants concerned — we need to know more about safety procedures regarding the obsolescence of such plants. We have stated our concern in this regard to the British Government and have told them about the lack of confidence not just at parliamentary level but among the public. We want to see the British Government taking action and obviously we would prefer them to take a positive action in relation to our request to the EC. However, we should not anticipate that decision and we will have to assess what action we propose when a response from the Commission is received.
It now seems very clear that the British Government will not respond in a positive way because they do not want anyone to interfere with their nuclear industry. Does the Minister agree that under the Euratom Treaty there is no authority for setting up the type of inspectorate to which we referred today and that the only authority under that Treaty is to set up an auditing system for the raw materials used in the nuclear industry? Does he also agree that there is a distinct difference between that and setting up an inspectorate who can freely inspect safety standards and so on relating to the industry?
The advice available to the Government is that we are perfectly within our rights under Chapter III of the Euratom Treaty in asking the European Commission to establish a community health and safety inspection force to deal with the matters referred to. The Deputy seems to think otherwise but I am satisfied, on the advice available, that we are within our rights to apply to the Commission under the Treaty.
The Minister is entitled to apply for an inspectorate but there is a distinct difference——
A question please.
Advice which I have received through various channels in Brussels is to the effect that the Government cannot apply for an inspectorate under the Euratom Treaty because it does not provide for it. It merely provides for an auditing of and accountability for the raw materials being used in the nuclear industry in the UK. The Minister will be on a wild goose chase if he thinks he will get anything in that way.
A formal request for the independent inspectorate has been lodged with the Commission as we are entitled to do under Chapter III of the Euratom Treaty and obviously we will have to await the outcome of that application.
