Greens want Blair pressured on Sellafield
Friday, 15 April 2005 16:45The Green Party has demanded that Taoiseach Bertie Ahern secure re-assurances from British Prime Minister Tony Blair that enough is being done to protect the Irish people from the risk of plant failures and terrorist attacks at Sellafield.
Following yesterday's report by the Radiological Protection Institute of Ireland, Green Party Environment Spokesman Ciaran Cuffe said the process of getting rid of liquid waste should be speeded up as it poses a 'considerable threat'.
He added that it was only two months since Sellafield management revealed it could not account for 30 kilograms of plutonium the previous year.
The RPII found that the Sellafield nuclear plant will need to be monitored for the next 150 years and remains a significant risk for three to four decades.
The institute believes that a nuclear accident could lead to contamination of the food chain, but the impact of a terrorist attack on Ireland is unquantifiable because the British authorities are withholding security information.
