Ireland opposed to EU backing for nuclear fuel

The Government has spelt out its opposition to a move within the EU to endorse nuclear power as a "clean technology" option under the UN's Kyoto Protocol, which aims to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and tackle global warming, The Irish Times has learned.

Including the nuclear option under what is known as the "clean development mechanism" (CDM) - as is being sought by Europe's main nuclear powers - would provide a fillip to troubled British Nuclear Fuels, which has its main operations in Sellafield.

The British government is encouraging BNFL to build nuclear power stations in China so that Britain can claim "carbon credits" under the UN agreement. The Kyoto Protocol allows developed world countries to claim credits if they help developing countries install technologies which do not emit carbon dioxide. China and India have indicated their wish to use nuclear power, should the CDM allow for it.

The EU is formulating its attitude to the terms of the CDM, which will feed into key Kyoto negotiations later this year. But at a recent meeting in Brussels, Ireland said the mechanism "should not provide for the inclusion of nuclear projects". That was supported by eight member-states, with the notable exceptions being Britain and France, the EU's main nuclear players.

A spokesman for the Department of the Environment, which is responsible for Irish Kyoto policy, said the EU was "developing a negotiation position". While talks are taking place in Bonn the issue would probably come before the council of environment ministers next week, with a possible resolution at UN level by November.

Following the debacle over its Japanese contracts, when falsification of tests was confirmed, and taking into account safety worries and sagging profits for British Energy, Britain's nuclear generating company, a decision to allow the nuclear option under the CDM would provide a financial lifeline to BNFL at a time when many contracts are in doubt.

BNFL, through subsidiary companies Westinghouse and ABB Combustion Engineering, is competing with France and Canada to sell nuclear power stations to China, using the carbon credits idea as a selling point.

Friends of the Earth cautiously welcomed the CDM move. Mr Mark Johnston said it was "the least worst option", which could coincide with an end to reprocessing within a decade, and probably sooner.

A move by the Irish and Danish governments to force an end to reprocessing of nuclear waste at Sellafield would result in nuclear workers being exposed to higher radiation doses with only modest gain for the environment, a British Nuclear Fuels spokesman claimed yesterday.

Both governments have tabled motions for a meeting this month of signatory countries to the OSPAR convention on marine pollution. If passed unanimously, they would in effect accelerate implementation of a 1998 agreement to reduce nuclear discharges into the North Atlantic to "close to zero" by 2020.

BNFL media relations manager Mr Alan Hughes said the motions were "narrowly focused on Sellafield discharges" and would lead to increased storage of nuclear waste, and failed to acknowledge the impact of radioactive material generated by the chemical industry.

In the Irish case, there was to be an attempt to raise the issue of a UK Nuclear Installations Inspectorate report highly critical of the Sellafield operation, but this was unconnected to the OSPAR agreement, he said.