Sellafield accident is 'unthinkable'

THE Irish people could cease to exist if there was a major accident at Sellafield, an international tribunal hearing Ireland's case against the British Government was warned yesterday.

The Government was in fact left with no way of evaluating the risks to the Irish people or to the environment from the MOX nuclear plant at Sellafield because of Britain's refusal to give them relevant information, Environment Minister Martin Cullen said.

Instead, they have to rely on the word of the state-owned company that manages the plant, British Nuclear Fuels Ltd, about what is happening at the plant just across the Irish Sea in Cumbria, he told the tribunal in The Hague.

Even the environmental statement before the plant was built did not include any assessment of the consequences of an accident at the plant.

More worrying, it did not deal with the result of accidental releases of radiation if there was a fire or other accident at the plant and its effect on people living near Sellafield or in Ireland.

Minister Cullen, attending an Arbitration Tribunal where the Government is seeking access to information about Sellafield which BNFL is withholding because it claims it is commercially sensitive, said: "The worst-case scenario is unthinkable that we would cease to exist if something went cataclysmically wrong."

The case is the first of its kind under the OSPAR Convention, which sets out internationally agreed rules on the protection of the marine environment. It is expected to go on for the week and is the first step in what the Irish Government hopes will be the final chapter in the life of the MOX nuclear plant at Sellafield.

If they win access to the information dealing with the environmental effects of the plant and on whether the plant is economically viable, it could have major consequences for the nuclear industry throughout the world.

"If this tribunal takes the attitude that neighbouring countries have a right to full information and disclosure, then nobody would be able to do what the British did here in setting up the MOX plant," said Mr Cullen. The Government wants to see Sellafield closed and are working towards that, he said.

"We have another case coming up next year and a number of actions in the EU. Irrespective of the outcome here, we are building towards closing this and we will doggedly pursue this now.

"But we are shooting in the dark because we do not have all the information. We need the hard facts to make a real judgement," he said. "We cannot accept any longer that we cannot see and inspect this information. Up to now, we have been talking about this whole industry without core facts."

Attorney General Rory Brady told the three-man tribunal that states adjacent to those with nuclear plants must have the right to information to allow them to carry out their own assessments.

The plant began operating in December 2001 but every Irish request for information, even at the planning stage, was denied on the basis that it was commercially sensitive.

Jonathan Cook of the British Department of Trade and Industry said a very lengthy and transparent operation into the harmful effects of the MOX plant was carried out in which Ireland participated fully. "We have demonstrated to the public that the environmental impact is virtually non-existent", he said.

The Tribunal is expected to take six months before issuing its decision.