Vol. 423 No. 8
95 Mr. D. Ahern asked the Minister for Energy if he will raise with the UK authorities the genuine fears of people in Ireland regarding the increased shipments in the Irish Sea of spent nuclear fuel; and if he will insist that no further shipments take place until there is independent monitoring of the safety of the ships and equipment involved; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
I have been in contact with the British authorities to express my particular concern at the proposed shipment of plutonium and high-level wastes in the Irish Sea as a direct consequence of international contracts for increased reprocessing at the THORP plant. In addition I have asked the Japanese Government to arrange for the cessation of any such shipments between Japan and Sellafield.
I have been told by the UK authorities that a shipment of plutonium from the UK to Japan is not scheduled for a few years. It is the UK's practice only to process and return plutonium if the recipient country adheres to the non-proliferation Treaty and has an appropriate internationally recognised safeguards regime in force to prevent any diversion of material for non-peaceful uses.
I have been assured that all shipments will meet or exceed all the relevant international safety standards. These include the use of containers designed to provide an extremely high degree of protection against fire, impact and other dangers. These international standards are kept under constant review and regularly updated to take account of experience and keep pace with technical developments; the most recent revision was published in 1990.
My Department will continue to raise this matter at all appropriate opportunities with the British authorities.
