Republican News · Thursday 17 January 2002

Sinn Féin TD to visit Sellafield

Sinn Féin TD Caoimhghín Ó Caoláin has said that he will be visiting the Sellafield nuclear plant at the end of the month to demand its closure by British Nuclear Fuels and the British government. The Cavan/Monaghan TD, speaking on Tuesday at a debate on Sellafield in University College Dublin, slammed British Nuclear Fuels Ltd (BNFL) on the latest revelations about safety in the Sellafield complex.

In his remarks, Ó Caoláin pointed out the latest developments in relation to the British nuclear reprocessing plant:

"Just today, we learned that the Atomic Energy Commission in Britain has confirmed that the decommissioning programme on the original Windscale plant, which preceded the present Sellafield plant, has been stopped due to concern over the risk of fuel spontaneously catching fire.

"The Commission now says that the Windscale decommissioning project which is being carried out by British Nuclear Fuels and Rolls Royce may have to be stopped altogether as the procedures may not be safe and could be potentially disastrous.

"The record of British Nuclear Fuels has been decades of lies and deceit. The latest revelation begs the question - what else is being hidden from the Irish and British public by BNFL and the British government?

"The latest news also comes after the appalling admission earlier this month that the EU has not carried out a safety inspection at Sellafield for eight years. EU Environment Commissioner Margot Wallstrom has admitted that the last inspection was made in 1993 and there are no plans for tests in the near future. This is a disgrace and the Irish government must be much more pro-active in opposing Sellafield at EU level. Clearly there are vested pro-nuclear interests in EU states other than Britain who would resist the closure of Sellafield in case it undermined other nuclear plants but we must not fail to confront this lobby."

Ó Caoláin called for unity among all political parties in Ireland on the Sellafield issue. He concluded:

"I would urge a mass public campaign in both Ireland and Britain, spearheaded by the Irish government and the Irish political parties and mobilising people power to have this plant shut down. We must deploy every possible method in this campaign - diplomatic, legal and political. We need to mobilise the wide support the closure demand enjoys within Britain itself.

"I wish the government well in its continuing legal actions. But it cannot and must not rely solely on this approach. Political pressure at national and international level and the deployment of people power is what will close Sellafield. Let us maximise the pressure. Let us send out the demand loud and clear to the British government to decommission its deadly nuclear industry now.

"I will be reiterating these points when I visit Sellafield itself on 28 January as part of a delegation from the British-Irish Inter-Parliamentary Body. I will be making it clear to BNFL and the British government that this plant must be closed and that the Irish people will accept nothing less."