BNFL asks court to direct how action by Co Louth residents should proceed

British Nuclear Fuels Ltd yesterday applied to the High Court for directions as to how an action by four Co Louth residents against the company and the Irish State should proceed. The action is aimed at closing the BNFL-operated THORP reprocessing plant at Sellafield.

The construction of Thorp was completed in 1992 and the legal proceedings were initiated in 1994. In 1996, the Supreme Court refused to halt the proceedings against BNFL on jurisdictional grounds but reserved certain possible issues relating to jurisdiction to the trial court.

The focus of the residents' action against the State relates to its alleged failure to take action, including legal action, to prevent the THORP plant coming into operation.

The proceedings were initiated prior to the recent decision by the Government to take an international case against the UK, claiming it has violated the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea by authorising the MOX nuclear fuel production plant at Sellafield.

The case came before the President of the High Court, Mr Justice Finnegan, yesterday through a motion for directions from BNFL as to how the case should proceed. The judge was presented with each side's statements of what they believed to be the issues and heard submissions on these.

The proceedings have been taken by Ms Constance Short, Ms Mary Kavanagh, Mr Mark Dearery and Mr Ollan Herr, all residents of Co Louth. They claim the THORP plant has severe environmental and health implications for the Irish people, particularly those residents on the east coast and that they were entitled to be consulted about the proposed construction of THORP and had a right, under EU environmental law and directives under the EURATOM Treaty, to make submissions on and to have input into decisions on THORP.

They also claim the activities of BNFL at Sellafield should have been subjected to an Environmental Impact Assessment and to the "justification procedure" set out in two EEC Council Directives and want declarations to that effect. They say the High Court should direct that those steps be taken now and consider whether the activities at Sellafield should be halted pending that.

The hearing concluded yesterday and Mr Justice Finnegan said he would give a written decision later.