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Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Thursday, 24 Apr 1997

Vol. 478 No. 3

Written Answers. - British Nuclear Industry.

Ivor Callely

Ceist:

7 Mr. Callely asked the Minister for Transport, Energy and Communications the contacts, if any, he has had with the British authorities regarding their nuclear industry; the actual contacts, the dates of meetings and so on; the views he expressed on each occasion on behalf of the Irish people; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10952/97]

Ivor Callely

Ceist:

151 Mr. Callely asked the Minister for Transport, Energy and Communications the issues he has considered regarding the activities of British Nuclear Fuels Limited; the likely risks, if any, arising out of such nuclear reprocessing; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [10986/97]

I propose to take Questions Nos. 7 and 151 together.

My main concerns in relation to Sellafield and British Nuclear Fuels Ltd, include the reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel at the THORP plant at the Sellafield complex, the ageing Magnox reactors at the site, the facilities for the storage of high level radioactive liquid waste and proposals for establishing a Mox Plant at the site. I also strenuously objected to proposals by UK Nirex Ltd for a nuclear waste repository near the Sellafield site.

Since I assumed responsibility for nuclear matters, there have been numerous contacts with the British authorities in relation to Ireland's concerns regarding their nuclear industry by myself and officials of my Department. Specifically in the past six months I have highlighted the following:

I wrote in December 1996 to the relevant UK Ministers expressing my concerns and requested that they use powers available to them to order the immediate and complete cessation of the discharge of technetium-99 from Sellafield into the Irish Sea. The response up to now has been that they are not prepared to do so; however the UK Environment Agency will be obliged to consider technetium-99 as part of BNFL's application for a revised discharge authorisation.

In February I met at my request, with the British Ambassador. I conveyed to her the Government's concerns about the recent reports of incidents at the Sellafield complex, our concerns about the possibility of an accident at the high level waste tanks at Sellafield, which the Radiological Protection Institute of Ireland has identified as a major accident risk, and our objections to proposed further developments by UK Nirex Ltd of a nuclear waste respository near Sellafield.

On 7 February my Department wrote to the Environment Agency outlining our concerns in relation to the application by BNFL for a variation in the discharge authorisations for the Sellafield complex. Principally we are concerned that the projected effects on Ireland are not clearly stated and that BNFL should speed up proposals for abatement equipment to reduce technetium-99 discharges. I reserved the right to give further detailed comments once the Environment Agency issues its proposals on the discharge authorisations.
In March this year I submitted a document to the UK Department of the Environment detailing Ireland's concerns with the Nirex proposal to establish a rock characterisation facility near Sellafield and commenting on additional information that had come to light recently about the proposal. On 17 March, the UK Secretary of State for the Environment decided not to grant permission to the Nirex proposals for the Sellafield area. In reaching his decision he took account of the concerns expressed by the Government and agreed that the people of Ireland have a legitimate interest in any proposal to locate a nuclear repository for radioactive waste near the Irish Sea. This was a major victory over the British nuclear Industry.
In April I forwarded a strongly-worded submission to the UK Environment Agency stating that a proposal by British Nuclear Fuels for a new mixed oxide (MOX) fuel manufacturing plant was not justified. British Nuclear Fuels is now actively promoting the idea of disposing of surplus plutonium by manufacturing a new nuclear fuel called MOX for conventional reactors, which is a mixture of plutonium and uranium. The bulk of the plutonium for the MOX plant is expected however to come from the fuel reprocessed from the UK's Magnox reactors at Sellafield and from the new THORP plant. A more sensible approach to the oversupply of plutonium would be to cease all spent fuel reprocessing activities at Sellafield.
It will be evident from the above that I am committed to pursuing all realistic and effective courses of action to convey to the British authorities the concerns of the Irish people about the British nuclear industry.
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