Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Wednesday, 29 Jan 1992

Vol. 415 No. 1

Written Answers. - Sellafield Operations.

Seán Ryan

Ceist:

65 Mr. Ryan asked the Minister for Energy if he will give details of all the representations made by his Department in 1991 to the British authorities in respect of (a) Irish anxieties and concerns over the operations of Sellafield, (b) proposed future developments in that area and (c) the out-of-date nuclear plants on the British west coast; and if he will make a statement on the matter.

Minister for Energy (Mr. Molloy)

I assume the Deputy is referring to the Sellafield operations.

Since I became Minister for Energy I have on every possible occasion expressed my concern and the concern of the Irish people to the UK authorities about (a) reprocessing at Sellafield, (b) proposals for further expansion of activities at the Sellafield plant and (c) nuclear issues in general which might affect this country.

On 23 July, 1991, following the announcement made by UK Nirex expressing their preference for Sellafield as a disposal site for low and medium radioactive waste, I immediately dispatched officials of my Department to meet with their UK counterparts in London to seek full details of the proposed disposal site. Our concerns about the proposal were clearly expressed at that time.

Subsequently, a meeting of the Ireland/UK Contact Group to discuss general nuclear matters, which was scheduled for November last was, at my behest, brought forward to early September as I was anxious to have the Nirex proposal for a repository discussed at the meeting.

On 14 August 1991 I wrote to Mr. John Wakeham, the UK Secretary of State for Energy, and on 15 November 1991 I wrote to Mr. Michael Heseltine, Secretary of State for the Environment, raising again the question of an independent nuclear inspectorate at EC level to oversee the nuclear industry throughout the Community including Sellafield.

I raised the Sellafield matter with the British Ambassador when I met with him on 13 November last.

At the Energy Council meetings held on 31 May and 29 October 1991, which were attended by the UK authorities, I spoke about nuclear energy and its potential environmental difficulties and called for independent verification and inspection safety agreements under Article 35 of the EURATOM Treaty.

I would like to emphasise to the Deputy that the British authorities are well aware of our continued fears about nuclear power plants, and in particular those nuclear reactor plants on the west coast which have exceeded their original life span, and which were not in the first instance designed to meet presentday safety standards. We have been pressing the British Government for the closure of these plants for a number of years.