UK minister says viability of MOX not on trial

The viability of the MOX plant at Sellafield is not on trial at an arbitration tribunal between Ireland and Britain, the British Minister for Energy Mr Brian Wilson said this morning.

Speaking on RTÉ radio, Mr Wilson said: "It is utterly misleading to suggest that this is a trial of Sellafield or that dramatic statements about Sellafield are appropriate to this hearing.

"It [the tribunal] is on the narrow legal point of the withholding of some commercially sensitive information. If it was any other business nobody would think that is was remarkable that some information of that kind was being withheld".

Mr Wilson said he was happy to attend the three-man tribunal set up by the Permanent Court of Arbitration to deal with Ireland's claim for access to complete versions of reports commissioned on the economic and environmental aspects of the MOX plant by the British government.

The tribunal was set up under the under the OSPAR Convention to protect the marine environment and is being held at the Peace Palace in the Haugue. A judgment is expected within six months.

Mr Wilson said it was right and correct that parts of the reports, by PA Consultants and Arthur D Little, had been withheld by the British government - owner of British Nuclear Fuels - because they contained commercially sensitive information.

"There were reports commissioned which were specifically about the manufacture of MOX fuel and the case for justifying it. And some of that information inevitably collected with the co-operation with with third parties is commercially sensitive", he said.

He accepted Ireland was entitled to "take close interest in Sellafield" but argued that segments of Irish opinion are not entitled to "grossly misrepresent what happens at Sellafield, or how safety is managed".

Yesterday the Attorney General, Mr Rory Brady SC, opened Ireland's case against Britain by saying it was "manifest that Ireland has a direct material interest" in operations at Sellafield, especially as the Irish Sea is already "one of the most radioactively polluted in the world".

The full reports had not been released despite repeated requests by the State for their release - which was why "this saga [of Sellafield] has ended up before an international tribunal", said Mr Brady.

He said Ireland was seeking access to the full reports to assess the likely effects of the MOX plant's operations on the marine environment of the Irish Sea and to make an objective assessment of whether it complies with the Ospar Convention and other international instruments.