Ireland has told an international tribunal that harmful, noxious, and persistent substances will be discharged in to the Irish Sea if the new nuclear reprocessing facility at Sellafield is formally commissioned next month. Ireland has taken the case before the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea in Hamburg, which was set up under a 1982 UN convention.
Before a 20-strong panel of international judges, Ireland delivered a robust indictment of the UK's attitude over the development of the new so-called MOX plant at Sellafield, due to become operational on 20 December.
Opening the Government's case the Attorney General said that, as a small State relying on international law, the Tribunal was extremely important to Ireland and that its rights could not be brushed aside or ignored.
Michael McDowell told the Tribunal that the Irish Sea was amongst the most radioactive in the world, and the Government was greatly concerned about the MOX plant, which would increase discharges into the sea and bring about an increase in waste-related sea traffic.
Counsel for the Government, Philippe Sands, accused the British authorities of persistently ignoring Irish concerns, such as relying on outdated and inadequate environmental studies, and disregarding Irish rights under UN conventions.
Ireland said that Britain had turned a blind eye to the potential for a terrorist related disaster at Sellafield. Counsel also told the Tribunal that the radioactive concentrations discharged would have a half-life of 1000 years, and would be irreversible.
The Government wants the Tribunal to agree to interim measures, effectively suspending the opening of the MOX facility, pending a fuller enquiry next year on the merits of the Sellafield plant. At the High Court in London last week, Greenpeace and Friends of the Earth failed to have the plant's commissioning declared unlawful.
