Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Wednesday, 10 May 2000

Vol. 518 No. 6

Written Answers. - Sellafield Reactors.

Richard Bruton

Ceist:

176 Mr. R. Bruton asked the Minister for Public Enterprise if she will give details of the Government's assessment of the risks to Ireland arising from both the aged magnox reactors at Sellafield and the reprocessing plant and its waste disposal methods; and if she will indicate the strategy that her Department is implementing to deal with these threats. [13013/00]

Minister of State at the Department of Public Enterprise (Mr. Jacob)

It is the firm view of the Irish Government that the continued operation of the old Magnox reactors at Sellafield and the storage in liquid form in tanks at the Sellafield site of high level liquid radioactive waste constitute the dominant threat of a major accident.

The Magnox reactors are the oldest of the commercial nuclear installations in the UK, some of which date back to 1956, and have exceeded their original design life by over 20 years.

I have raised the concerns of the Government about both of these matters on numerous occasions in correspondence and in meetings with the relevant UK Ministers. In summary, the Government wants to see the Magnox reactors shut down and decommissioned and the speedy vitrification of the high level liquid waste at Sellafield.

The UK Ministers contend that the Magnox reactors can continue to operate safely. They have pointed out to me that the reactors are subject to regular safety reviews by the UK Nuclear Installations Inspectorate, NII, before they are permitted to continue in operation. Nevertheless, I am unconvinced about the safety of these reactors. The number of incidents involving these reactors and the recently published NII reports which were severely critical of safety management and safety culture at the plant, only serve to re-inforce the Irish Government's concerns.

The UK-NII is committed to the vitrification of the liquid high-level waste to buffer stock levels by the year 2015. However, the Government wants to see the vitrification process accelerated and the backlog of liquid waste vitrified by much earlier than that date.

The Government is determined to bring about the closure of the Sellafield nuclear reprocessing facility. While the Radiological Protection Institute of Ireland's radioactivity monitoring programme provides re-assurance that there is no significant risk to the health of the Irish public as a consequence of the radioactivity contamination of the Irish marine environment, any contamination caused by the Sellafield discharges is totally objectionable.

On the matter of radioactive discharges to the marine environment, the Government has submitted a draft decision to be considered at the meeting next month of the OSPAR Commission. This meeting will be considering, inter alia, a report as to how the contracting parties to the OSPAR Convention on the Protection of the Marine Environment of the North-East Atlantic intend to implement the OSPAR Strategy on Radioactive Substances adopted at the OSPAR Ministerial meeting in July 1998 and which has as its objective the virtual elimination by the year 2020 of radioactive discharges to the marine environment. The draft decision tabled by Ireland calls on the contracting parties to the OSPAR convention to agree that the implementation of the OSPAR strategy be accelerated and that there should be a cessation of reprocessing and associated activities and, in particular, there should be an immediate cessation of reprocessing and associated activities at Sellafield.

I have been seeking the support of the Nordic countries, who have expressed similar concerns about the Sellafield discharges, for a concerted and co-operative approach at the OSPAR Commission meeting against nuclear reprocessing, including the Sellafield discharges. I have just completed a recent visit to Nordic capitals in order to strengthen that support. I will also be seeking backing from the other OSPAR countries as well.

In conclusion, and as I pointed out in my reply to Parliamentary Questions Nos. 51 and 53 on 29 March 2000, the Attorney General is currently examining the prospects for litigation against Sellafield following the publication of the NII reports referred to above.