The word Sellafield does not appear on the "draft strategy" document for dealing with radioactive discharges into the sea. But all countries signed up to the OSPAR convention know the reprocessing facility's future operation will take up most of their time when they meet at Sintra near Lisbon next Wednesday.
It, more than any other issue, stands in the way of an agreement in the form of a declaration of political intent to ensure "a sustainable marine environment in the north-east Atlantic". The meeting has been billed by Sellafield opponents as "the best opportunity in a long time to put international pressure on Britain to reduce its discharges". It represents an opportunity for Ireland to assert its opposition to the continued operation of the installation on an important international platform. Sellafield's most vociferous opponents believe the Irish Government has been soft-pedalling in terms of confronting the British government over new evidence of marine contamination, and this meeting will indicate the true degree of its political intent on the issue.
Norway has scaled up its attempts to halt discharges from Sellafield - which if adopted would mean its closure - after its scientists found an eight-fold increase in radioactive technetium 99 (Tc-99) along its coastline and traced it 500 miles back to Sellafield. Tc-99 is a by-product of reprocessing of spent nuclear fuel, the Cumbrian facility's main activity. With a half-life of 213,000 years, it will persist in the environment indefinitely. The levels found in Norway - and in Ireland - are not dangerous, though there is concern it will accumulate in the environment. It is known to accumulate in shellfish.
BNFL's own monitoring indicated concentrations in lobsters off the Cumbrian coast were at unprecedented levels, it emerged in June last year. But in September when the UK government announced the implementation of a ban on the dumping of intermediate and low-level radioactive waste in the sea, under the OSPAR Convention, British Environment Secretary, Mr Michael Meacher, stressed it would not apply to Sellafield.
The Nordic countries have been galvanised by the finding that marine currents have carried radioactivity from the Irish Sea to some of the most important fishing grounds in the north east Atlantic.
It was clear that Britain would be isolated on the issue, given early indications it was against a proposal to bring radioactive waste discharges from nuclear plants to "close to zero". But the Minister of State for Public Enterprise, Mr Joe Jacob, who will represent Irish interests (because of his responsibility for nuclear policy and Sellafield), detects the possibility that the UK may be brought on board. Over the past year, Mr Jacob has shunned megaphone tactics in favour of spelling out Irish concerns quietly but firmly to Mr Meacher. A meeting is expected between the two. While Ireland might like all Sellafield discharges to be stopped, the wording the Government favours, it believes, is pragmatic and will set in motion a process leading ultimately to total cessation by 2020.
In tandem with this, Mr Jacob has called on the European Commission to reflect more adequately public concern about the plant, notably following recent monitoring of discharges. If the declaration reflects the Irish-Nordic position, it will lead to an unprecedented curtailment of Sellafield discharges. But the Irish environmental group, Voice, and the Green Party MEP, Ms Nuala Ahern, do not believe it will go far enough.
Voice spokeswoman, Ms Iva Pocock, said nothing short of an end to discharge of all radioactive substances was acceptable. "It is a weak proposal, given Ireland's proximity to Sellafield. A total ban will eliminate all reprocessing. That is what Norway and Denmark advocate."
Critical decisions on nuclear discharges affecting the Irish sea will be made, said Ms Ahern. "The Irish submission is too weak, focusing on discharges of Tc-99 and ignoring other radioactive isotopes such as iodine, which remain dangerous for a very long time. Sellafield discharges some 40 different radioactive substances, many building up to dangerously high levels in the Irish Sea."
Claims by the Celtic League that the UK Health and Safety Executive had deliberately concealed reports of leaks and accidents at Sellafield were denied yesterday by British Nuclear Fuels.
The League, which has branches in Scotland, Ireland, Wales, Cornwall, the Isle of Man and Brittany and works to promote co-operation between these areas, said that the latest leak and shutdown at Sellafield was a worrying reminder of the potential menace the plant posed.
In a statement, the group said it was revealed this week that the UK Health and Safety Executive, which was supposed to monitor the plant, had deliberately concealed evidence about its record. It also claimed that scores of reports of leaks and accidents had been concealed.
However, BNFL said yesterday: "BNFL utterly refutes these groundless claims. There is absolutely no evidence whatsoever to suggest the Health and Safety Executive has concealed evidence about Sellafield's safety record," it said.