An invitation to inspect the safety measures put in place at Sellafield since the September 11th terrorist attacks in the US has been accepted by the Radiological Protection Institute of Ireland, it was announced at a conference in Drogheda at the weekend.
The conference on Safety at Sellafield, organised by Fine Gael, heard that the prevailing south-west winds would be Ireland's best and possibly only real defence against radioactive fall-out arising from a terrorist attack or nuclear accident at Sellafield.
The greatest threat to people on this side of the Irish Sea arising from a disaster at the plant would be the risk of acquiring long-term cancer. Such cancers could result in 30 deaths per 50,000 head of population, especially along the east coast.
Radioactive clouds would be released if an aircraft crashed into the high activity storage tanks used to store radioactive materials or the ageing Calder Hall reactors, which had been operating since 1956, Dr Tom O'Flaherty, chief executive of the Radiological Protection Institute of Ireland, warned.
Analysis by the institute had found that it would take several hours for the nuclear fall-out to reach this country while those who remained indoors would be at one-third the risk of those outdoors.
In the event of a major accident involving the storage tanks, a 23 km an hour east wind would carry a radioactive dose of 35.7 millisieverts to those outdoors and 12 millisieverts to those indoors on the east coast within eight hours, according to Dr O'Flaherty.
"If a population of about 50,000 were affected, the result would be something like 30 fatal cancers in later years," he said.
A disaster affecting one of the Calder Hall reactors would have 20 per cent of the impact of an accident in the high activity storage tanks, but would pose other risks, he added. "There would be radioactive iodine involved resulting from an accident at Calder Hall and that would create a risk of thyroid cancers in children unless iodine tablets were taken."
Mr John Clarke, the head of safety at British Nuclear Fuels, told the forum that the company believed that Sellafield was a safe place and security against terror attacks had always been a factor in the company's plans. He conceded that there would be a serious loss of life primarily among the 10,000 workers on the site if there was an attack on the plant similar to those on September 11th.
The safety regulations for the operation of the plant were set by the Nuclear Installations Inspectorate, part of the British Health and Safety Executive, while the matter of a no-fly zone was an issue for the British Ministry of Defence, Mr Clarke added.
"There is a no-fly zone around Sellafield and there has been for many years. I appreciate that a number of people have called for the extension of the no-fly zone but that is really a matter for the UK government to decide. We will comply with any requirements that are set by the government."
Mr Clarke said safety had been reviewed at Sellafield after the September 11th attacks and he invited the radiological institute to discuss its concerns with BNFL. Dr O'Flaherty said it would accept.
The forum was organised by Fine Gael senator Mr Fergus O'Dowd and was addressed by Minister of State for Energy, Mr Joe Jacob. He said the Government was committed to using every diplomatic and legal means to have Sellafield closed.
The Fine Gael spokeswoman on environmental protection, Ms Deirdre Clune, described the recent go-ahead for the MOX plant at Sellafield as "outrageous".