THE Minister for the Environment has expressed his "concern" over the latest incident at the Sellafield nuclear plant. In a statement last night, Mr Howlin said there was "unacceptable environmental risk" arising from Sellafield and the Government would continue its efforts to have this risk removed.
Green Party TD Mr Trevor Sargent said the Government should demand "immediate and full disclosure of information" on the incident. "We are now reaping the harvest of years of inaction by successive Irish governments," he said, and called on the Government to initiate legal proceedings in the European courts without further delay.
British Nuclear Fuels Limited (BNFL) confirmed that 53 workers were moved from one section of the plant on Friday after an instrument revealed a higher than normal reading of radioactivity. However, a spokesman stressed there had not been a leak and that the workers were only moved as a precaution.
Fianna Fail MEP Mr Jim Fitzsimons called on the Government to make a "formal protest".
He claimed the industry's safety standards would deteriorate following privatisation.
The Democratic Left TD, Mr Eric Byrne suggested BNFL's "legal vulnerabilities" should be exploited by the Government and the environmental lobby in an effort to "lay the nuclear spectre across the Irish Sea once and for all.