Sellafield, Moves to force closure
British Nuclear Fuels has said that calls for an end to nuclear reprocessing are impractical. Sellafield workers have also accused the Irish government of trying to close down the West Cumbrian economy. This follows today's meeting between the Danish Energy Minister and his Irish counterpart Joe Jacob, at which they decided to step up pressure for an end to reprocessing.
However, the Minister for Energy said that the Sellafield nuclear reprocessing plant could be forced to close by the end of June. Speaking after the meeting with Mr Auken, Joe Jacob said that a proposal for closure would be going before a meeting of an international body that monitors marine pollution. Britain is a signatory to the agreement. Mr Jacob said that the proposal would call for reprocessing at the plant to be terminated immediately.
The Danish Environment Minister said earlier that he believes the British Government now realised the damage that nuclear reprocessing at Sellafield was doing to the marine environment. Speaking to RTÉ News, Mr Auken said that he placed the safety of the sea above everything else. There have been increasing concerns about Sellafield in Nordic countries, over recent revelations that that records at the plant were falsified. Speaking on Morning Ireland this morning, Joe Jacob said that, in the wake of recent revelations about Sellafield, it was time to press for the closure of the plant.
