Radioactive children’s teeth linked to Sellafield

TRACES of radioactive plutonium found in children’s teeth are being linked to Sellafield, prompting fresh calls for the closure of the nuclear reprocessing plant.

A British study found plutonium in molars extracted from children as far away as Northern Ireland. It also found plutonium levels were twice as high in teeth taken from children living close to Sellafield compared to those living 140 miles from the plant.

The British health ministry dismissed the traces as so tiny as to carry no significance but Louth TD and Fianna Fáil parliamentary party chairman Séamus Kirk said the findings provided further prove of the dangers presented by Sellafield.

“Plutonium is a man-made radioactive material and the only source of it in Britain is from Sellafield, which continues to discharge plutonium into the Irish Sea, putting at risk those living on Ireland’s eastern seaboard,” he said.

“This latest research provides compelling evidence that there is no safe level of discharge from Sellafield, there is no safe amount of plutonium and that the plant must be closed down.”

The findings were released while efforts continued to resolve a damaging pay dispute at the plant, which has shut operations three times in the last month in the first industrial action there in over a quarter of a century.

Workers last night called off a one-day strike planned for later this week after agreeing to a management offer to refer the row for arbitration. Unions will meet next Monday to review progress and decide whether to proceed with another one-day stoppage planned for December 12.

Hundreds of workers have downed tools in a series of weekly one-day stoppages, prompting safety concerns despite assurances by both sides that safety would not be compromised by the dispute.

The decision to suspend Friday’s planned strike over pay was announced as Environment Minister Martin Cullen was in London raising concerns with the British government about the safety implications of a fresh shutdown.