Govt to seek clarification on Sellafield reports

The Government has cautiously welcomed newspaper reports that British Nuclear Fuels is planning to close the Thorp reprocessing plant at Sellafield within the next seven years.

In a statement issued this lunchtime, the Department of the Environment said Minister Martin Cullen would write to his British counterpart to seek clarification of the reports and other matters related to the Sellafield nuclear facility.

The department said the Government would continue to "turn the screw" on Sellafield.

Fine Gael has called on the Government to seek immediate clarification on the reports.

Party spokesman Bernard Allen has also called for clarification of the company's apparent plans to increase radioactive discharges into the Irish sea over the coming years.

The Labour Party, meanwhile, has called on the Government to put pressure on the British authorities to fix a specific date for the closure. Spokesman Eamonn Gilmore said: "The sooner that a date is set for its closure and for the management of that closure, the better. I think that that is the direction that the Irish Government should now be taking."