Motion on Nuclear Plants - 25th May 2005

Motion on Nuclear Plants - 25th May 2005

Mr. Norris: I apologise for my lack of a script.
I gather Senator Ross objected to the number of
people reading from scripts. I would read from
one if I had one but I only have my own disconnected
thoughts.
Although this debate has taken place many
times over the years, and I used to take a principled
and sometimes leading part in it, we are
now so used to it and so accustomed to being
rebuffed by the British that a certain life has gone
out of the debate. The unanimity of the House,
however, is significant. I hope the unanimous
passing of this clear and specific motion will provide
a significant weapon for the Minister. I hope
that the Taoiseach, who enjoys a close relationship
with Mr. Blair, might be able to use this in
discussions with him because it is unacceptable
that there is an accident on 18 April and we are
not told about it until 21 April. That was coyly
skated over in the script I received. It is outrageous
that the British waited three days to let
us know about an accident.
The Minister had to go elsewhere for more
important matters but in his absence, the Minister
of State, Deputy Noel Ahern, made a remarkable
contribution. If anything nasty goes off in Sellafield,
I suggest the Minister of State makes the
announcement because he read his script in such
a reassuring fashion with no hint of excitement
whatsoever, not even the mildest modulation of
tone. If he were to make the announcement the
Irish people would be immensely reassured.
Unlike him, however, I will be unable to take
the cyanide tablets or whatever the Government
provided.
I never got any. The Minister did
not get any either. That is a national scandal, I
feel a tribunal coming on. They are not the slightest
use anyway so I am not too deprived but I
would have liked to have seen what they looked
like. I had to contact the Minister’s predecessor
to get my millennium candle as well so the north
side is deprived, with neither iodine tablets nor
candles. We need the candles because when the
lights go out across Europe, we will need to light
our millennium candles to see where we put the
iodine tablets.
The Minister of State’s speech dealt effectively
with the court cases but the outcome, even
though it is a marginal advance, represents what
in the game "relievio" are called baby steps. The
plant was told they must make a better attempt
to communicate and there was nothing mandatory
in the judgment. That is a pity and I hope
this motion encourages the Minister to continue
his efforts to get this matter properly resolved.
This has all happened in my lifetime. Until
1947, Sellafield was a straightforward munitions
factory. In 1947 it decided to go into the nuclear
business and by 1949 had generated enough
radioactive material to explode a bomb in Australia.
I remember clearly the fire in 1957 at what
was then called Windscale. In 1949 there was
already a 2 km pipeline discharging radioactive
material but that was controlled while the 1957
incident was an uncontrolled discharge of radioactive
material into the atmosphere. There are
lingering suspicions that this has a connection
with clusters of leukemia around Dundalk. I have
a feeling in my bones that there is a connection,
although it is difficult to prove scientifically. Certainly
there are parallel clusters of leukemia
occurring in the children of those who were
workers at Sellafield.
The fire in 1957 was a disaster greater in scale
than the incident at Three Mile Island in America.
That is the risk we face. Why are we facing
it? Even the British accept it is an economic nonsense.
It was always an economic nonsense and a
loss maker, so why did BNFL go into it? It could
not even get that right because it lied and falsified
material, alienating its largest client, Japan. For
no economic advantage to the British Exchequer
and in a manner that alienates not just Ireland
but also Norway, which was co-plaintiff in the
case, BNFL is transporting dangerous materials
to be reprocessed from all over the world through
the Irish Sea and by aeroplane. There are concerns
that these convoys, either at sea or on railway
tracks, could be the subject of a terrorist
attack. That is not likely but it is a possibility that
must be examined. There is also the possibility of
an aeroplane being crashed into the plant, considering
the Americans did not manage to stop a
similar attack on the Pentagon. This would result
in the discharge of 8 million litres of material
which is an enormous amount. We have the most
radioactive sea about which there are music hall
jokes. We are directly concerned in getting the
British Government to take a proper view on
the matter.
The report of the European Parliament’s scientific
and technological options assessment concluded
that radioactive discharges from the Sellafield
and La Hague sites are the largest
anthropogenic releases of nuclides in the world.
It also concluded significant increases in the
incidence of leukaemia has occurred both near La
Hague and the Sellafield reprocessing plant. This
report is not suggesting post hoc ergo propter hoc
which as the Minister of State knows is most
often a logical fallacy.
The report also concluded that the release of a
fraction of high-level radioactive waste at Sellafield
will be several dozen times greater than the
release at Chernobyl and cause over 1 million
fatal cancers. Any Member who has seen what
happened at Chernobyl, even on television, will
be alarmed. It also notes dissatisfaction with the
European Commission’s verification procedures.
I strongly support this motion. In some ways I
looked at it with a certain degree of light-heartedness
but it does not detract from the strong
support I give it. I congratulate the Minister for
the Environment, Heritage and Local Government
and the Government on their work so far,
but more must be done. The Minister must use
this motion, which will be passed unanimously, as
a political instrument with his colleagues across
the Irish sea.