Bang out of order: Ireland has taken the UK to an international court
to find out how much radioactive material the Sellafield nuclear plant in
Cumbria is pumping into the Irish Sea.
The UK government isn't keen on giving out figures. That kind of information
is 'commercially sensitive', it argues.
But sales figures and details about future contracts are an important part
of understanding what's happening at Sellafield and so should be released,
says Ireland. [Independent].
Under EU law, if Ireland can prove that Sellafield's radioactive discharge
has no economic benefit, it may be able to shut the nuclear plant down.
It's easy to understand why the Irish might not be too keen on Sellafield.
From Ireland, it's only 110 miles to the nuclear plant on England's northwest
coast.
MI5 warned last December that Sellafield was a prime target for terrorists.
Its proximity to transatlantic flight paths means that there would be no opportunity
to intercept a hijacked plane before it hit the plant.[Guardian]
A successful terrorist attack would leave the north of England uninhabitable,
a House of Commons defence committee was told in January. [Guardian].
In July, the nuclear installations inspectorate told British Nuclear Fuels
that two sets of tanks at Sellafield were dangerous because they were too
old. [Guardian].
Irish Environment minister Martin Cullen told the arbitration court, acting
under the OSPAR convention: 'The worst-case scenario is unthinkable, that
we would cease to exist if something went cataclysmically wrong.' [Irish
Examiner].
