Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Thursday, 30 May 1991

Vol. 409 No. 3

Written Answers. - Soviet Nuclear Reactors.

Bernard Allen

Ceist:

49 Mr. Allen asked the Minister for Energy if, in view of the environmental implications for this country arising from transnational pollution, he will outline the approaches which have been made to the Soviet Union authorities regarding the 15 fundamentally flawed RBMK-type reactors similar to the one which exploded at Chernobyl including three still working at the Chernobyl site and one in Leningrad; and if he has had any discussions either directly or through the European Community with his Soviet counterparts on this issue.

Minister for Energy (Mr. Molloy)

I am informed that the Soviet authorities have completed modifications to the design of some of the RBMK-type reactors and that such modifications are well advanced in all the others. Operational procedures with regard to these reactors have also been changed and have been put into effect.

The Soviet authorities have also taken steps to improve the training of operators and the effectiveness of their nuclear regulatory system. The Nuclear Energy Board consider that these changes will make these reactors more stable, improve the response of their shutdown system and increase their overall reliability.

Ireland has consistently advocated the acceptance of internationally recognised minimum safety standards by all nuclear power countries, because of the transboundary implications of nuclear accidents. We have long called for an inspection force within the European Community countries which would be independent of national authorities and would examine all safety aspects of the nuclear industry throughout the European Community. Western countries should be seen to have exemplary standards of safety in their own nuclear industries, given the increased transparency about the nuclear industry in the USSR and Eastern Europe, which I welcome. Improved co-operation with the West is to be encouraged to solve existing problems.

At EC level, Ireland has supported the concept that nuclear safety should be an integral part of the economic co-operation agreements between the Community and Central and Eastern European countries. The agreement with the Soviet Union provides for a series of agreements, one of which is specifically on nuclear safety. Ireland will also be pressing that the question of nuclear safety be fully addressed within the European Energy Charter, in which Central and Eastern European countries, including the Soviet Union, are expected to participate.

The Soviet authorities are well aware of our position through their membership of the International Atomic Energy Agency which this September will host an international conference on nuclear safety as a result of an initiative launched by Ireland during our Presidency of the EC. The agency have also co-operated with the Soviet Union in projects to assess the radiological consequences of the Chernobyl accident, to establish the Chernobyl Centre for International Research and to launch a major international effort concerning the safety of older nuclear power stations in Eastern Europe, including the Soviet Union. Ireland supports all these initiatives.