Officials to be questioned about recent Sellafield visits

The Oireachtas environment committee is due to question officials from the Radiological Protection Institute of Ireland (RPII) today about the ongoing threat posed by the Sellafield nuclear plant.

The RPII officials will be questioned about the environmental threat posed by the British facility and the potential fall-out from a terrorist attack on the plant.

The controversial factory was in the news again this week when part of it had to be shut down following a radioactive leak, prompting fresh calls for its permanent closure.

Speaking ahead of today's meeting, Fianna Fáil TD Sean Haughey, the chairman of the environment committee, said he wanted a report on recent RPII visits to Sellafield.

"We want to know what they established there, what they discovered and we also want to know what levels of co-operation are now in place between [the British and Irish] authorities," he said.