Mr John Hume today expressed his support for the campaign to close the nuclear reprocessing plant at Sellafield.
In a speech at Magee College in Derry, he bitterly attacked the British government's decision to commission a Mixed Oxide Plant (MOX), which he said has increased the levels of toxic waste being stored at the Cumbrian centre.
"The overwhelming majority of the people of Ireland - particularly those living along the east coast who are most obviously exposed to its dangers - oppose the continued operation of Sellafield and want the British government to shut it down.
"That voice is currently being articulated through the Irish Government's legal action which the SDLP fully supports," he said.
The former SDLP leader said recent findings of a soil sample carried out by the University of Bremen had shown that the area around Sellafield was as heavily contaminated with radioactivity as the area around Chernobyl.
"Within the last couple of months we have seen ships carrying Mixed Oxide Fuel from Japan to Sellafield through the Irish Sea, even though no fewer than 80 countries had banned this shipment from entering their territorial water," he said.
In an attack on the government of Mr Tony Blair, he added: "They are displaying a blatant and arrogant disregard, not just for agreed regulations but also for the well-being of the people of Ireland, England, Scotland and Wales who will directly suffer the consequences if anything goes wrong in the future".
Mr Hume was delivering a speech ahead of a 10-kilometre walk today by supporters of the Chernobyl Children's Project. Thousands of students participated in the walk in Dublin this afternoon.
PA