British Nuclear Fuel Ltd is upsetting the Irish

Dublin Criticises Sellafield Nuclear Development

In a strongly-worded statement the Energy Minister, Joe Jacob, said he would use all the means at his disposal to combat Sellafield's expansion. A succession of Irish governments has raised concerns over the nuclear installations there.

Mr Jacob said the latest decision by the Installation Inspectorate marked "another green light to British Nuclear Fuel Ltd's misguided Thorp reprocessing activities", and called the operation "objectionable in principle".

The minister added: "We see Thorp as the type of operation which increases proliferation risk and causes potential hazard because of the transport of spent fuel to Sellafield and the return of reprocessed uranium and plutonium to its point of origin." He said the risk of an accident made the operation "unacceptable".

Mr Jacob pledged that the Irish government would "continue to battle against Sellafield operations" in order "to protect the interest of the Irish people."

He said Dublin had already outlined concerns over an application by BNFL to change limits on discharges into the Irish Sea, and would be submitting further detailed comments once the UK Environment Agency had issued its proposals.