IRELAND has claimed success in the latest efforts to tackle discharges from Sellafield, by securing agreement on a resolution at international marine conference in London.
The Minister of State for the Marine, Mr Eamon Gilmore, has welcomed the adoption of the Irish resolution at the OSPAR Convention on Marine Pollution, which calls for the immediate reduction and elimination of Technetium-99 discharges from the nuclear plant.
The resolution was adopted by a majority as the conference drew to a close in London at the weekend.
Mr Gilmore said the level of international support for Ireland at the OSPAR Convention was very important in advancing the Government's case.
"We are confident that our recommendation will be formally agreed at the next meeting of the OSPAR Commission," he said. Mr Gilmore has written to Mr Michael Meacher, the new British Labour minister of state with responsibility for environmental protection, drawing his attention to the issue and asking Britain to review its position on the discharges.
Technetium99 is a radioactive isotope, and is one component of waste emanating from reprocessed magnox fuel. Since 1994 it has been produced in the enhanced actinide removal plant (EARP) reprocessing facility at Sellafield. The Radiological Protection Institute of Ireland (RPII) has expressed concern about the increased levels of the isotope found in seaweed in the Irish Sea, as a result of discharges from the plant over the last two years.
The isotope concentrates predominantly in lobsters, but can also be found in other shellfish and some marine weeds. International measures introduced after the 1986 Chernobyl accident set a limit for such nuclides at 1,250 becquerels per kilo, but current levels in certain seafood caught off the Welsh coast exceed this.
While Technetium99 is a radionuclide of low toxicity compared to caesium, any increase in radioactivity in Irish Sea levels is considered to be worrying. The RPII has said there is no danger to health through the food chain.
The EARP unit is part of a £600 million "suite" of plants designed to clean up what British Nuclear Fuels Ltd (BNFL) describes as "the legacy of historic liabilities" on the Sellafield site. The clean up programme has the full support of the British authorities, BNFL says, and no authorised limits for discharges have been breached under the current licensing terms.
However, the company is applying for a 25 per cent reduction in the Technetium99 discharge limit. This would result in a "10 per cent microsievert reduction" in dosage for the "very small group of people" who are assumed to eat almost 20 kilos of locally caught seafood in the Sellafield area annually, BNFL says.
