Government welcomes news but will continue with legal actions seeking closure of entire Sellafield complex.
The Government has sought an urgent update from the British authorities after the disclosure that the Thorp nuclear reprocessing plant at Sellafield will be closed within seven years.
The Minister for the Environment, Mr Cullen, wrote last night to the British trade and industry secretary, Ms Patricia Hewitt, seeking clarification of the plans for the future of the plant.
Mr Cullen gave a cautious welcome to the news that the plant will be closed, but said the Government will continue with legal actions seeking the closure of the entire Sellafield complex.
While a senior source in Dublin said the Government had received informal indications of a closure plan in advance of yesterday's disclosure, Mr Cullen said there was "confusion" about the plans.
The director of the plant, Mr Brian Wilson, confirmed the closure in an interview with the Guardian in which he said that British Nuclear Fuels Ltd (BNFL) was moving from production to nuclear waste disposal. But BNFL said yesterday that it was not possible to be definitive about a closure date for the Thorp plant. However, it confirmed that Sellafield "is shifting from commercial reprocessing to clean up".
Thorp has been criticised for producing plutonium and uranium not needed on the international markets. The plant has been running at about half its capacity. With the current order book extending to at least 2010, the company said that all existing contracts would be honoured.
Control of BNFL will move in 2005 to a government-controlled nuclear decommissioning authority because the company is technically bankrupt, with debts of more than €58 billion. British government sanction would be required for any new commercial contracts after 2010.
The company also said that any new contracts would be reviewed against the "priority" issue of cleaning up "the legacy of historic wastes and redundant facilities at Sellafield".
With Sellafield a source of friction with the British authorities, the Government has demanded closure of the operation for safety reasons. Mr Cullen said it was imperative that the Government received an accurate update on the British government's plans for the Thorp plant.
Indicating uncertainty about the plans for the site, he said the debate must be based on "accurate, reliable information from credible authoritative sources".
Mr Cullen said: "Public confusion on Sellafield is not acceptable. Time and again we find that information on the operations at the Sellafield plant is muddled and unclear."
Mr Cullen's spokesman said that the Government would continue with a legal action against Sellafield under the OSPAR convention for the protection of the marine environment of the north-east Atlantic.
"Another seven years of nuclear waste being dumped in the Irish Sea is too long," he said.