A veteran anti-nuclear campaigner has said Ireland should not be afraid to offend Britain by insisting on the shutdown of Sellafield.

Critics of Sellafield have called for urgent action from the Irish Government on revelations of serious safety failings at the nuclear reprocessing plant.

Update 3.25pm: Sinn Féin MEP Matt Carthy has called for the closure of the Sellafield nuclear plant in England.

Reports that paddle-boarders encountered a humpback whale off West Cork on June 17 have made east coast dwellers green with envy.

The first radioactive sludge has been removed from the Sellafield nuclear site, marking a “major step forward” in its clean-up.

The first radioactive sludge has been removed from the UK's Sellafield nuclear site, marking a “major step forward” in its clean-up.

The cost of decommissioning and cleaning up the nuclear site at Sellafield has risen £5bn (€6.9bn) to £53bn (€73bn), a new report shows.

The first of several new generation nuclear power plants in Britain yesterday got the go-ahead from the European Commission in a controversial decision to allow London hand over huge subsidies.

One way or another, the decision of the European Commission to back the building of a nuclear power plant in Somerset in southwest England, just 150 miles from the Irish coast, closer than Dublin is to Cork, will rekindle debate on the burning question of whether or not Ireland should go nuclear. Despite Government assurances that the new plant will not pose any danger to this country, opposition to the project is already growing among those who fear it will pave the way for more atomic plants across Europe.

Nuclear watchdogs in Britain have ordered the Sellafield plant to improve waste containment and fire safety after inspectors found breaches at the site.

Up to 86% of the radiation that Irish people are subjected to comes from natural sources such as radon gas emitted from the earth.

Naturally occurring radiation was to blame for higher-than-normal readings detected at the Sellafield nuclear plant in Britain today.

The Sellafield nuclear site is being operated at “reduced manning levels” following “the detection of elevated levels of radioactivity”.

The Irish Sea is one of the most nuclear polluted, because of the number of nuclear power stations and facilities on its English, Welsh and Scottish coastlines, and because its partial enclosure leads to a build-up of pollutants.

The British government’s decision to press ahead with a vigorous expansion of nuclear power is clearly of more than a passing interest on this side of the Irish Sea.

I thought I had reached my incredulity threshold.

Part of Sellafield Nuclear Power Station in Britain has been closed today due to "adverse weather conditions".

International experts have told the Government a radioactive leak at the Sellafield nuclear site would cause no observable health effects in the country.

International experts have told the Irish Government that a radioactive leak at the Sellafield nuclear site would cause no observable health effects in the country.

A MAN who decided it would be fun to try and split the atom on his kitchen stove is now facing two years in jail.

THE British government plans to shut part of the nuclear plant in Sellafield, northern England, as soon as possible, and on commercial grounds, following Japan’s nuclear disaster.

The MOX fuel plant at Sellafield, which employs 800 workers, is to close, union leaders said today.

Sellafield has been named among other sites in Britain for the construction of eight new privately owned nuclear power plants.

It is reported that the Sellafield plant in England will not be included in a round of stress tests on nuclear facilities across Europe.

Five people arrested near the Sellafield nuclear plant in Cumbria, in the UK, have been released without charge.

A gang of five terror suspects arrested outside the Sellafield nuclear plant hours after news of the killing of Osama bin Laden broke were expected to be quizzed by UK counter-terrorism officers today.

FIVE terror suspects were last night being questioned by detectives after being arrested outside the Sellafield nuclear plant in Cumbria.

Four houses in east London have been raided by counter-terror detectives today as part of the investigations into the five arrests at the Sellafield nuclear site.

Five men are being held in Britain after being arrested close to the Sellafield nuclear site, police said today.

RADIATION from fish and lobsters near Sellafield suggest radioactive material dumped into the sea from Japan’s Fukushima Dai-Ichi plant isn’t a long-term health threat, scientists said.

THE safety of the Sellafield nuclear plant in Wales will be assessed as part of an EU-wide review following the disaster in Japan.

The Sellafield plant will be part of a Europe-wide nuclear safety review following the crisis in Japan.

MICK and Nora O’Neill are about to have their Co Kerry home re-tested for cancer-causing radon gas – just to be sure that it continues to be safe to live in.

Skin cancer rates in north Down are more than double those in other parts of the North, it was revealed today.

IN his letter headlined ‘Let’s nurture the salmon – not destroy it’ (June 9), Edward Hallinan decries the proposed restoration of a way of life for a small group of traditional fishermen.

CORK’S county manager Martin Riordan is in favour of sealing and capping a toxic waste dump after being told he can’t develop Cork harbour “as a major tourism mecca with a potential Sellafield” in the middle of it.

Experts from the world nuclear watchdog are to inspect security arrangements at Sellafield for the first time.

The Environment Minister John Gormley has said he has deep and valid concerns about the nuclear safety record in the UK.

Plans to build a new nuclear power station at Sellafield were advanced today after a consortium of energy firms bought land earmarked for the development.

It will take more than 100 years before the toxic nuclear site at Sellafield is safe, it was revealed today.

ENVIRONMENTAL campaigners claimed yesterday that the latest revelations about the Sellafield nuclear plant in England ended the argument in favour of nuclear power in this country.