asked the Minister for Energy his policy on nuclear energy; and its implications for Ireland's participation in the European JET programme of joint nuclear research.
77.
Written Answers. - Nuclear Energy.
76.
asked the Minister for Energy if his opposition to nuclear power extends to forms of nuclear fission claimed to be inherently safe such as the pebble bed system being developed in Germany by the Brown-Boveri company; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
I propose to take Questions Nos. 76 and 77 together. The Government consider that nuclear-powered electricity generation, as developed and operated to date, presents unacceptable risks to the public and that the operation of nuclear facilities associated with such forms of electricity generation should be phased out. The Government firmly believe that every country has the right to be free from radioactive contamination arising from nuclear operations in another country and free from the threat of a nuclear accident in another country.
Ireland, as a member of the European Communities, is involved in the programme of research on controlled thermonuclear fusion, of which the JET programme is an element. The generation of electricity from fusion is not expected to be technologically proven until the middle of the next century. As the concept is unlike that of nuclear fission there are grounds to suggest that the generation of electricity from fusion would not entail the unacceptable risks that are associated at present with electricity generation from nuclear fission.
As regard the pebble bed form of nuclear fission, I understand that there is no large industrial scale example of this design in operation. Accordingly, it is premature to make a judgment on whether the risks associated with electricity generation based on this form of nuclear fission are acceptable.