Vol. 572 No. 5
27 Mr. Sherlock asked the Minister for the Environment Heritage and Local Government the response which has been received from the British authorities to his further representations regarding reports that there were serious concerns regarding the structural stability of the roof of a waste storage facility at the Sellafield nuclear plant; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [23615/03]
On 24 July and 26 August 2003 I wrote to the British Minister for Energy, e-Commerce and Postal Services, Mr. Stephen Timms, MP, concerning widespread reports that both the Health and Safety Executive Nuclear Installations Inspectorate and the Environment Agency in Britain had expressed serious reservations about the structural integrity of the roof on the building at Sellafield which houses storage tanks containing the radioactive waste stream known as medium active concentrate, MAC. I had also raised this matter in May 2003 when I met with Minister Timms's predecessor whom I had asked for a report.
Minister Timms has informed me in response that while the HSE is content that it is currently safe to continue using the building at which the MAC is stored, it has concerns about the acceptability of using that building for the storage of significant quantities of MAC beyond 2006. He also informed me that in 2000, HSE became concerned about the longer-term structural integrity of the building and, as a consequence, required BNFL to carry out surveys of the building structure to an agreed specification. According to Minister Timms, both BNFL and the HSE, as a result of this work, have a greater understanding of the structural condition of the building. He also tells me that HSE continues to keep a close interest in BNFL's ongoing commitment to monitor the condition of the building as well as the waste stored there. In his letter, the Minister reiterated British Government policy on the confidentiality of security sensitive information.
The Radiological Protection Institute of Ireland also raised the issue of the structural stability of the roof with its counterparts in Britain. The information obtained by the RPII from the Health and Safety Executive Nuclear Installations Inspectorate was essentially the same as that conveyed to me by Minister Timms. The inspectorate also informed the RPII that, for security reasons, it was not in a position to provide any information about the building other than what is already in the public domain.
Clearly, the British authorities are concerned about the long-term use of this building and the information which I obtained from Minister Timms raises significant questions. I will be meeting Minister Timms within the next few weeks to discuss the Irish Government's concerns about Sellafield and I will be raising this particular matter again.
