Britain to be pressed to reduce Sellafield discharges

GOVERNMENT officials and the Radiological Protection Institute of Ireland (RPII) will demand a reduction of radioactive discharges from Sellafield at an international marine convention in London next week.

RPII assistant chief executive, Mr John Cunningham, said the latest figures on the level of technetium-99 in the Irish Sea was "of particular concern".

"Ireland will be attending a meeting of heads of delegations of the OSPAR Convention on Marine Pollution. We will be presenting a specific recommendation concerning radioactive contamination of the Irish Sea from Sellafield calling for the immediate reduction and elimination of technetium-99 discharges."

Mr Cunningham said the radio-activity levels found in Irish seafood remained low and people should not be concerned about seafood from the Irish Sea. "Nevertheless, any increase in radioactivity levels is a matter of concern."

A New Scientist report, published yesterday, found that radio-active discharges from Sellafield were having a bigger impact on the Arctic than the 1986 Chernobyl nuclear disaster.

The Green Party said the Government should "join forces with the Canadian government in the fight to close Sellafield".

The Democratic Left TD, Mr Eric Byrne, said there was a need for improved international controls on the use of nuclear energy and pressure should be exerted on Britain to cut discharges.

The Progressive Democrat candidate in Louth, Dr Mary Grehan, said the new findings "explain the extremely worrying level of birth defects" in the area. She criticised a North Eastern Health Board study into the health effects, saying it was "a mere cosmetic exercise".