The Government has no power to prevent a shipment of British nuclear fuel rejected by the Japanese from passing close to the coast because the State's territorial waters extend only 12 miles, the Department of the Marine has said.
The Green Party MEP, Ms Nuala Ahern, called on the Government yesterday to refuse permission for the shipment by British Nuclear Fuels Ltd (BNFL) to enter Irish waters.
But, according to a spokesman for the Department of the Marine, anything farther than 12 miles from the baseline is classified as international waters.
"Ireland, or any other country, does not have a right to interfere with the free navigation and free passage of vessels in international waters," he said. Greenpeace has claimed that the shipment could pass as close as 40 miles from the Irish coast.
A shipment of MOX fuel (a mixture of uranium and plutonium) was produced at Sellafield and delivered to Japan last October. In December BNFL admitted that it had misled the Japanese about quality checks on reprocessed plutonium pellets.
Following seven months of negotiations, BNFL agreed to take back the fuel and to pay £40 million in compensation. Over 50 countries objected to the original shipment of the MOX fuel, under armed guard, passing close to them en route to Japan.
Mr Shaun Burnie, a Green peace nuclear campaigner, called on the Government to oppose the return of the vessel in every way it could.
"This agreement to return the MOX fuel is a desperate attempt to secure vital contracts for the new, but unopened, Sellafield MOX plant, which so far has less than 7 per cent of its order book signed and no Japanese contracts," Mr Burnie said.
Mr Joe Jacob, Minister of State with responsibility for nuclear safety, said he was extremely surprised and disappointed at the decision by the Japanese to resume business with Sellafield. He added that the Government was totally opposed to the commissioning of a new MOX plant.
"I can assure the people of Ireland that I will exert sustained and maximum pressure on the UK authorities to ensure that the MOX plant does not proceed," he said.
Ms Adi Roche, director of the Chernobyl Children`s Project, described the planned shipment as "a sad case of international business concerns taking priority over the health and safety of our children".
She said it saddened her that the lessons of Chernobyl had not been learnt 14 years after the disaster. "We owe it to future generations to make sure that Sellafield does not become the 21st-century Chernobyl and that the plant is shut down immediately," Ms Roche said.
The Fianna Fail MEP, Mr Jim Fitzsimons, urged the European Commission to initiate an independent review of safety at Sellafield.
BNFL said it was pleased that it was resuming a normal business relationship with Kansai Electric Power, the Japanese company in question.
Mr Norman Askew, its chief executive, said BNFL fully recognised Kansai`s need for continuing improvements in quality control.
