Government begins legal bid to shut Sellafield

THE Government yesterday demanded Britain be forced to immediately shut down the MOX plant at Sellafield at the opening day of its legal action in the International Criminal Court in The Hague.

Attorney General Rory Brady yesterday told the court the plant pollutes the Irish Sea, increases the danger of a terrorist attack and violates the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

The MOX plant was opened in Sellafield in December 2001, almost six years after public hearings begun into it. It manufactures mixed oxide fuel, made from uranium and plutonium, for export and use in nuclear power stations.

The plant is run by the state-owned company British Nuclear Fuels Ltd (BNFL).

Mr Brady said the shipments of radioactive material from the MOX plant through the Irish Sea increased the risk of accidental discharges. It also extended the risk of terrorist attacks on the nuclear facilities themselves, and on the transport carrying the radioactive material.

He said the Irish Sea was covered by UNCLOS, to which Britain and Ireland are signatories.

Mr Brady said Britain had not taken all measures possible to minimise the discharges, as it was required to by the convention, and they had not properly assessed the risk of a terrorist attack.

“The issues at the heart of this case are straightforward,” he told the court. Britain had not co-operated with Ireland in giving it the information necessary about the plant and any information it did share was given grudgingly, he said.

Environment Minister Martin Cullen yesterday said the case was among the most significant legal actions ever taken by Ireland.