The Minister for the Environment has asked the Attorney General to determine what support the Government can give to the EU Commission in its legal action on Sellafield.
Mr Cullen yesterday welcomed the Commission's decision to take the British government to the European Court of Justice over safety concerns at the nuclear reprocessing plant.
The Commission had given Britain until June 1st to take adequate measures in accounting for the nuclear material at the Sellafield B30 nuclear storage pond. It decided that the British response to its directive was inadequate and has referred the matter to the Court of Justice.
Mr Cullen said it was unacceptable that the British government had not addressed the Commission's concerns."It shows the UK's reluctance to change without being subjected to determined legal, political and diplomatic action," he said.
The British authorities' failure to meet the Commission's demands added to "the mistrust of all operations at Sellafield".
"It is unacceptable that the UK has not assuaged European Commission concerns regarding the plutonium held at Sellafield, and I will be asking the Attorney General what action we can take to support the Commission's case in court," the Minister added.
The Green Party leader, Mr Trevor Sargent, said the Commission's step must not be a "one-off", but the start of phasing out Europe's reprocessing plants.
Commission to take UK to court: page 8
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