The Government has today been urged to oppose British plans to build more nuclear plants.
A review of British energy requirements into the futurepublished today recommended the expansion of its nuclear generation programme.
The report called for the building of six new nuclear power stations, and a spokesman for British Prime Minister Tony Blair today said nuclear power will form part of the Britain's energy strategy.
The spokesman said."Nuclear is not the only answer, but neither is renewables the only answer or energy efficiency the only answer. What you need is the mix. What we have to do is move beyond wishful thinking to the hard realities."
Opposition parties here have warned that British nuclear expansion would be disastrous for Ireland.
Friends of the Earth Ireland (FEI) said any power generated from the plants should not be bought by Ireland.
"It would be hypocritical in the extreme for the Government to campaign to close Sellafield on the one hand and then turn around and let the ESB buy electricity from a new nuclear station there," said FEI director Oisín Coghlan.
The Government should ensure that electricity is only bought from British firms generating renewable energy, Mr Coghlan added.
Ireland already imports British electricity - which critics say is a de facto support for the Britain's nuclear industry - and plans are advanced for both countries to trade electricity extensively.
The Government is due to publish a Green Paper on Irish energy requirements towards the end of the summer. Although it is vehemently opposed to nuclear power, the State's science and technology agency, Forfás, in April said Ireland would need to consider nuclear energy.
Opponents were further alarmed the following month when Mr Blair surprised observers by saying nuclear power was back on the agenda "with a vengeance" after reading an early draft of the review due to be published today.
But FEI disputes Mr Blair's claim that nuclear power is a "low carbon" energy that cuts down on greenhouse gas emissions, qualifying for the same price supports granted to renewable energy.
Mr Coghlan said construction, uranium extraction, waste storage and decommissioning should be included when considering nuclear energy's "green credentials".
He also said the British government's own sustainable development commission has dismissed nuclear power as a solution to addressing Britain's energy needs while combating climate change.
Labour's Emmet Stagg today said Ireland was already endangered by the potential for accidents and attacks on nuclear plants, and harmful discharges into the Irish Sea from Sellafield.
"The Irish Government must redouble its efforts to force the British authorities to close each and everyone of its nuclear junkyards, rather than rehabilitating them," Mr Stagg said.
Fine Gael's Bernard Allen pointed out that the Sellafied nuclear waste reprocessing plant had a track record of accidents and inadequate practices that it has tried to cover up.
Mr Allen said: "It has been the case for over 50 years in Ireland that although we don't enjoy any of the economic benefits of nuclear power, we are open to all of its massive risks."
Sinn Féin's environment spokesman Arthur Morgan is to write to Mr Blair opposing the construction of new plants and calling for the closure of Sellafield.
"We want a proper clean-up operation and we want more openness and no more cover-ups from the British Government on this issue," Mr Morgan said.
Speaking on RTÉ radio today, Minister for Foreign Affairs Dermot Ahern echoed Opposition concerns and said the Government was "anti-nuclear".
"I believe that the British government have got this policy wrong," Mr Ahern said.
He expressed concern that Ireland "could be looking at Sellafield Mark II" but said he had been assured by Northern Secretary Peter Hain that a plant would not be built in Northern Ireland.