The Government has decided to take legal action against the British government on three fronts in an attempt to block the commissioning of the controversial MOX plant at Sellafield.
A spokesman for the Minister for Public Enterprise, Mrs O'Rourke, said last night there would now be a "three-pronged attack" on Sellafield steered by a Cabinet sub-committee, which was set up yesterday.
The spokesman said the Coalition would now pursue the issue legally under the OSPAR treaty, under the Euratom treaty at European Court level and under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea. The action under OSPAR has been in train for some time, but the others are new legal options the Government has decided to take.
The spokesman confirmed the new approach last night as the Dβil debated a Labour party motion calling for such action. Labour's Public Enterprise spokesman, Mr Emmet Stagg, described the Government's reaction so far as a "feeble response". However Mrs O'Rourke's spokesman said last night there was already "a team of lawyers" in the UK examining the prospects for success in any legal action. The establishment of the sub-committee to handle the issue was "a declaration of intent" to pursue all three legal avenues. While the Government was not assured of success, "they are convinced the law is on their side", he said.
The Cabinet sub-committee will have as its members the Taoiseach, the Tβnaiste, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, the Minister for Social Welfare, the Minister of State responsible for Energy, and the Attorney General.
The heightened Government action on Sellafield follows the announcement earlier this month that the British government had given the go-ahead to the controversial new MOX (mixed-oxide)fuel production plant. The MOXplant is designed to process nuclear reactor fuel from uranium and plutonium imported from a large number of countries.